Join us for an inspiring conversation with Dr. Louisa Moats, author of LETRS® professional learning and LANGUAGE! Live® reading intervention, as we talk candidly about the power of printed books and materials and how educators can best select and use them to encourage student motivation and engagement—while helping all students build essential reading skills.
Dr. Moats will share her thoughts about digital fatigue, the power of print, in what ways teachers and students should be trusted to select what they read both inside and outside of the classroom, and more.
This conversation will provide thought-provoking information for all administrators and teachers who work with struggling readers, especially those in middle school and beyond.
Dr. Louisa Moats is a renowned teacher, psychologist, researcher, and author. In this episode, she talks about her beginnings in the field, why there are still barriers to translating evidence to teaching practice, the essential next steps we need to take to ensure all teachers can teach all kids to read, and her greatest hopes for the teachers and children of this country.
Teachers have the difficult tasks of not only teaching a child how to read, but also determining how to help them if they are struggling. Dr. Louisa Moats gives examples of how teachers can be better prepared to enter the classroom and identify potential reading difficulties in their students. For instance, she discusses the importance of not only teaching children the alphabet, but also showing them how to associate sounds with letters. She also shares an inspirational story about one teacher who came to her distraught because his students were moving onto the next grade level without being able to read. After learning some effective methods for teaching children to read, he is now passing students with flying colors.Visit www.readingrockets.org for more information and resources on how young kids learn to read, why so many struggle, and how caring adults can help. Reading Rockets is a national education service of public television station WETA. Funding is provided by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
Why is teaching reading so important? Melissa and Lori have a conversation with Louisa Moats grounded in this article: Teaching Reading is Rocket Science: What Expert Teachers of Reading Should Know and Be Able to Do. Moats asserts that 95% of students can learn to read when taught to do so using evidence-based practices. In this episode, listen as we discuss and define the term science of reading, while connecting decades of research and theory to classroom practice.
In this episode of The Wired Educator Podcast, I had the pleasure and honor to interview Dr. Louisa Moats. She pioneered the science of reading and is the leading authority on the planet on how to teach students to read. It was not only my honor and pleasure to interview her, I was able to connect Louisa with three of our educators, Stephanie Kieffer, Amy Quillen, Morgan Siefke, and our primary principal, Kendra VanDoren, to learn about Louisa’s work and how we can improve literacy at our district. Our teachers got to ask Louisa questions!
