Science of Reading: The Podcast

Amplify Education
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Science of Reading: The Podcast

Science of Reading: The Podcast will deliver the latest insights from researchers and practitioners in early reading. Via a conversational approach, each episode explores a timely topic related to the science of reading.

  1. JUN 4

    The truth behind learning, with Nathaniel Swain, Ph.D.

    In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by Nathaniel Swain, Ph.D. He’s a teacher, instructional coach, and author of the recent book Harnessing the Science of Learning: Success Stories to Help Kickstart Your School Improvement.  Emphasizing the science of learning as an ever-growing resource for updating instruction practices, he provides a comprehensive look at how knowledge powers learning, how to identify knowledge-rich curricula, how cognitive load affects learning, and how to understand several common learning misconceptions.  Show notes: Access free, high-quality resources at our brand-new companion professional learning page: http://amplify.com/science-of-reading/professional-learning  Connect with Nathaniel Swain, Ph.D.: Website: nathanielswain.comResources:Book: Harnessing the Science of LearningThink Forward EducatorsDeans for ImpactListen: Chalk Dust Join our community Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/scienceofreadingConnect with Susan Lambert: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-lambert-edd-b1512761/Quotes: “The greatest thing about the science of learning is that it's never really gonna be finished. Much like the science of reading, it's constantly being updated and it's something that we should be constantly turning to.” –Nathaniel Swain, Ph.D. “When we have knowledge at our fingertips—or in this case, in our synapses—ready to be used, we can overcome all these limitations that cognitive load theory talks about.” –Nathaniel Swain, Ph.D. “We're kidding ourselves a little bit if we think that we can replace that rich content knowledge with generic skills and generic competencies.” –Nathaniel Swain, Ph.D. Episode timestamps* 02:00 Introduction: Who is Nathaniel Swain? 03:00 Science of learning book 11:00 Knowledge powers all learning 15:00 Addressing common learning myths 18:00 Knowledge retrieval 21:00 Misconception: Productive struggle 22:00 Misconception: “Preparing students for the 21st century” 26:00 Enriching schema 29:00 Background knowledge and confirmation bias 30:00 Knowledge rich curriculum 32:00 Knowledge that is manageable and achievable 37:00 Skills AND knowledge 44:00 Chalk Dust podcast 45:00 Final thoughts and advice *Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute

    49 min
  2. Science of Reading Essentials: Writing

    MAY 21

    Science of Reading Essentials: Writing

    In this special Science of Reading Essentials episode, Susan Lambert pulls from past episodes of the podcast to give you everything you need to know about science-based writing instruction. Experts include Steve Graham, Ed.D.; Young-Suk Grace Kim, Ed.D.; Natalie Wexler; and Judith Hochman, Ed.D. Listeners will walk away from this episode with a solid foundation for creating a classroom of confident and capable writers, and gain a better understanding of the connection between reading and writing, the role of handwriting and spelling, the power of sentences, and the importance of applying cognitive load theory to writing. Show notes: ResourcesAccess the listening guide—and other free, high-quality resources—at our brand new professional learning page: http://amplify.com/science-of-reading/professional-learning Join our community Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/scienceofreadingQuotes: “This is not learned by osmosis. And it's not learned by vague feedback, like, ‘make it better’ or ‘add more details.’ You've got to be very granular.” —Judith Hochman, Ed.D.  "What we see with exceptional teachers is they have their kids write." —Steve Graham, Ed.D. “The Science of Reading encapsulates decades of research about both reading and writing—because if writing was never invented, we would not have to teach kids how to read.” —Susan Lambert

    36 min

  3. MAY 7

    A guide to integrating knowledge building into your classroom, with Jackie Relyea, Ph.D.

    In this special episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by Jackie Relyea, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Literacy Education at North Carolina State University, who’ll give you a comprehensive guide to integrating background knowledge into your teaching as, you create a content-rich classroom. Jackie offers insights on why time-tested classroom staples such as read-alouds and word walls are effective tools for building background knowledge … and how to make them even better. She also digs into why vocabulary is just one facet of conceptual knowledge and what the research says about background knowledge for multilingual learners. Show notes: Connect with Jackie Eunjung Relyea, Ph.D:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackie-e-relyea-82953242/ NC State University: https://ced.ncsu.edu/people/jrelyea/ ResourcesThe CLICK LabEffects of Tier 1 Content Literacy Intervention on Early-Grade English Learners’ Reading and Writing. Transactional Development of Science and Mathematics Knowledge and Reading Proficiency for Multilingual Students Across Languages of InstructionListen: The joy of reading aloud, with Molly NessListen: Supporting multilingual/English learners with the Science of ReadingJoin our community Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/scienceofreadingConnect with Susan Lambert: www.linkedin.com/in/susan-lambert-ed-d-b1512761/Quotes: “Literacy for my students meant more than just reading and writing;  it was about access, access to the world, and access to knowledge and opportunities, and even independence—finding their voices.” –Jackie Eunjung Relyea, Ph.D. “You can think of a schema like… mental maps or the frameworks that help us store and organize new information and knowledge. The richer and the more detailed your schema about a particular topic, the easier it is to understand and remember new information about it.” –Jackie Eunjung Relyea, Ph.D. “Vocabulary oftentimes is the tip of the iceberg of the whole: the conceptual knowledge. It's not a simple definition of the single word; it's really conceptual knowledge and understanding that is represented by the word.” –Jackie Eunjung Relyea, Ph.D. Episode timestamps* 02:00 Introduction: Who is Dr. Jackie Relyea? 10:00 Importance of knowledge building 14:00 Reciprocal relationship between reading and knowledge building 18:00 Reading comprehension strategies as scaffolding 21:00 Using interactive read-alouds 24:00 Concept mapping and word walls 26:00 Vocabulary is the tip of the iceberg 28:00 Multilingual learners 37:00 Research on knowledge building *Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute

    44 min

  4. APR 23

    A better way to teach our teachers, with Dr. Karen Betz

    In this special episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by Assistant Professor of Literacy and Coordinator of Reading Science Programs at Marian University Karen Betz, Ed.D., to discuss a key topic in the Science of Reading movement: higher education. Betz describes how we can better prepare new teachers to provide evidence-based instruction, and her tool to help teachers in higher education assess whether their courses align to reading research. Betz also offers advice for current practitioners on how they can support change at the university level. Show notes: Connect with Karen Betz:Connect via Facebook: Klipsch CollegeResourcesWebsite: Marian University’s M.S. in reading scienceWebsite: Higher Education Community of Practice for Professors of LiteracyDownload: Course Alignment Planning ToolThe Center for Reading Science: Implementing the Science of Reading in Higher EducationThe Reading League Compass: Educator Preparation Programs Map: The Reading League Compass: Policymakers and State Education AgenciesRead: Teaching Reading SourcebookRead: Essentials of Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading DifficultiesWebsite: Stronger Together: The Alliance for Reading Science in Higher EducationListen: What I should have learned in college, with Donna HejtmanekJoin our community Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/scienceofreadingConnect with Susan Lambert: www.linkedin.com/in/susan-lambert-b1512761/Quotes: “Don't be afraid to say ‘I don't know.’ I think people respect that, that you say, ‘I just don't know’ and ‘how can you help me learn more?’”—Karen Betz, Ed.D. And it ultimately always is going to come down to the children, and we can never lose sight of that. It's about the kids.” —Karen Betz, Ed.D. Episode timestamps* 02:00 Introduction: Who is Karen Betz 07:00 First lightbulb moment 09:00 Why is higher education teacher education a hot topic right now? 12:00 Relationship between schools and universities 14:00 Partnering with reading science aligned grade schools 17:00 Legislation for teacher development 20:00 Collaboration between universities 23:00 Professional development for higher education 25:00 Creating a tool to help higher education teachers 32:00 Key takeaways for Dr. Karen Betz 35:00 Final thoughts *Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute

    39 min

  5. APR 9

    S9 E14: Your questions answered, with Claude Goldenberg, Ph.D., and Susan Lambert

    In this special episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by Claude Goldenberg, Ph.D., professor of education at Stanford University, to answer questions from our listener mailbag. Together they address a wide range of topics facing today’s educators, such as what to do when your school implements conflicting materials, how to support students that are two or three grade levels behind, best practices for teaching multilingual learners, and more! Show notes:  Connect with Claude Goldenberg:Substack: https://claudegoldenberg.substack.com/ ResourcesLiteracy Foundations for English Learners, A Comprehensive Guide to Evidence-Based Instruction by Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan, Ed.D.Join our community Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/scienceofreadingConnect with Susan Lambert: www.linkedin.com/in/susan-lambert-b1512761/Have a burning question? Submit at amplify.com/sormailbagQuotes: “Incrementalism is just not going to serve our purpose unless you want to keep things as they are. And I hate to say this, Susan…some people wouldn't mind leaving things as they are. And we can't do that, and we can't do it incrementally. We've got to really move, like last year.” —Claude Goldenberg “You’ve got to understand how [two programs] fit together and what the purpose is. Giving teachers materials that are literally incoherent and don't fit with each other is not the answer.” —Claude Goldenberg “We need to have a system ... using the best knowledge that we have systematically throughout the state, throughout the country, with systems that pick up kids who are at risk and don't let them fail.” —Claude Goldenberg Episode timestamps* 02:00 The latest from Claude Goldenberg 04:00 Literacy and the urgency of now 7:00 Question 1: What about the pendulum swing? 15:00 Question 2: What to do when your school implements conflicting materials? 21:00 Question 3: Why are running records and leveled texts discouraged? 22:00 Decoding v.s. Word recognition 29:00 Question 4: How do we support kids that are two or three grade levels behind? 30:00 Dyslexia and the importance of universal screening 35:00 Question 5: How would you increase reading proficiency in a school in which nearly every student is a multilingual learner? 45:00 Question 6: How do you apply the science of reading to an ELL student in middle school that doesn’t yet know the language? 48:00 Question 7: Is it best practice for bilingual students who are being taught to decode and encode in English and Spanish to be screened in English and Spanish? *Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute

    59 min

  6. MAR 26

    S9 E13: Empowering instruction through mental models, with Young-Suk Grace Kim, Ed.D.

    In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by Young-Suk Grace Kim, a professor at University of California at Irvine's School of Education. Dr. Kim begins by defining a theoretical model, outlining its value to teachers as it pertains to literacy instruction. She describes her own interactive dynamic literacy (IDL) model, which seeks to more fully explain reading and writing connections. Dr. Kim emphasizes how reading and writing function as a powerful and closely related system, and examines how this system interacts with developmental phases, linguistic grain size, and reading and writing difficulties, including dyslexia. After navigating the complexities of this conversation, Susan ends the episode by sharing her unique insights and takeaways from her time with Dr. Kim. Show notes: Connect with Young-Suk Grace Kim:X: @YoungSukKim19ResourcesRead: Enhancing Reading and Writing Skills through Systematically Integrated InstructionRead: Reading and Writing Relations Are Not Uniform: They Differ by the Linguistic Grain Size, Developmental Phase, and MeasurementJoin our community Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/scienceofreadingConnect with Susan Lambert: www.linkedin.com/in/susan-lambert-b1512761/Want to hear more of Dr. Kim? Join us for our upcoming Spring Science of Reading Summit where she’ll be giving the keynote address on the relationship between reading, writing, and language. Save your spot: amplify.com/springsorsummitQuotes: “Lower order skills are necessary for higher order skills; that means skills and knowledge have a series of causal effects. So if you flip it the other way, any challenges or weaknesses in lower order skills, it's going to have a series of impacts on higher order skills.” —Young-Suk Grace Kim, Ed.D. “Theory is an explanation about how things work. …It's a structured framework, a mental framework, that helps us explain, and predict, and understand phenomena.” —Young-Suk Grace Kim, Ed.D. “If an educator goes to a professional development and learns about something like phoneme awareness…but you don't have a framework in which to attach it, you can sort of go down a rabbit trail on one thing instead of thinking about how it relates to the whole.” —Susan Lambert Episode timestamps* 03:00 Introduction: Who is Young-Suk Grace Kim? 05:00: Defining a theoretical model 07:00 Origins of Young-Suk’s model 08:00 Interactive Dynamic Literacy Model Overview 14:00 Why interactive and why dynamic 15:00 Hierarchical relations between low order skills and high order skills 18:00 Breaking down “Interactive” 19:00 Young-Suk’s ideal classroom 20:00 Breaking down “Dynamic” 21:00 Linguistic grain size 22:00 Why linguistic grain size matters for teachers 26:00 Why word reading and spelling are more strongly related than reading comprehension and writing composition 29:00 Dynamic relationship of developmental phases 30:00 Measuring reading and writing 33:00 Interactive Dynamic Literacy Model summarized 35:00 Understanding reading and writing difficulty, including dyslexia 42:00 Dr. Kim’s Final Thoughts 44:00 Susan’s takeaways from the conversation *Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute

    50 min

  7. MAR 12

    S9 E12: Explicit instruction of academic language, with Adrea Truckenmiller, Ph.D.

    In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by Adrea Truckenmiller, Ph.D., associate professor of special education and school psychology at Michigan State University. Their conversation starts with defining academic language and breaking it down on the level of the word, the sentence, and full text. Adrea then touches on topics such as informational vs. narrative text structure, morphological complexity, and effective writing assessment. She also gives advice on how to implement explicit instruction on informational text and academic language, and details a few examples of what it can look like in the classroom. Adrea ends by discussing her passion for special education and encouraging educators to get involved. Show notes: ResourcesRead: “Academic language use in middle school informational writing”Read: “Academic language and the challenge of reading for learning about science”Read: “Writing to read: Parallel and independent contributions of writing research to the Science of Reading”Read: “What is important to measure in sentence-level language comprehension?Read: Making the Writing Process Work: Strategies for Composition and Self-RegulationJoin our Facebook community group: www.facebook.com/groups/scienceofreading.Connect with Susan Lambert: www.linkedin.com/in/susan-lambert-b1512761/.Quotes: “ Academic language is really a new language for everyone to learn.” —Adrea Truckenmiller, Ph.D. "When we're thinking about teaching academic vocabulary, it's not just one time around. Sometimes we have to layer that instruction for deeper and deeper and deeper meaning.” —Susan Lambert Episode timestamps* 02:00 Introduction: Who is Adrea Truckenmiller? 07:00 Defining academic language 11:00 Differences in academic language at different levels: word, sentence, text. 12:00 Word level: morphological complexity 17:00 Sentence level 18:00 Connectives 21:00 Text level: Informational text structure vs narrative text structure 24:00 Reading research for middle schoolers 26:00 Writing assessment structure for middle school 32:00 What does this type of instruction look like in the classroom? 34:00 Importance of grades 4 & 5 to the development of informational reading and writing skills 35:00 Advice for teachers on teaching information reading and writing 39:00 Get involved in special education *Timestamps are approximate

    44 min

  8. FEB 26

    S9 E11: Writing the way to better reading, with Judith Hochman, Ed.D.

    In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by Judith Hochman, Ed.D., co-author of “The Writing Revolution.” Their conversation begins as Dr. Hochman recalls the early days of writing instruction and research, then delves into the connection between better writing and better reading. Dr. Hochman touches upon topics such as writing comprehension, her experience implementing writing instruction as a classroom teacher and as an administrator, and how the writing revolution came to be. She also answers a question from our listener mailbag, providing a detailed overview of the scope and sequence for transitioning student writing from sentence composition to paragraphs to whole texts. Show notes: ResourcesRead: The Writing Revolution 2.0: A Guide to Advancing Thinking Through Writing in All Subjects and Grades Website: The Writing RevolutionRead: “The Writing Revolution” in The Atlantic Join our community Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/scienceofreadingConnect with Susan Lambert: www.linkedin.com/in/susan-lambert-b1512761/Quotes: “I had an epiphany that our students really had to learn writing as a second language.” —Judith Hochman “Having students write a lot is not teaching writing. It's just like if you put a lot of books in a classroom, students don't magically begin to read.” —Judith Hochman “This is not learned by osmosis, and it's not learned by vague feedback like, ‘Make it better,’ or, ‘Add more details.’ You've got to be very granular. This is not a naturally occurring skill in human development for any of us.” —Judith Hochman Episode timestamps* 03:00 Introduction: Who is Judith Hochman? 06:00 Time as an administrator 09:00 Judith’s early days of teaching writing 11:00 Classroom activities for teaching students to write 12:00 Atlantic article and NYC high school case 15:00 The writing revolution 16:00 How kids learn to write based on the research 20:00 Listener mailbag question 21:00 Writing and comprehension 27:00 Transitioning from writing sentences to writing paragraphs 34:00 Final thoughts *Timestamps are approximate

    40 min
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Science of Reading: The Podcast will deliver the latest insights from researchers and practitioners in early reading. Via a conversational approach, each episode explores a timely topic related to the science of reading.

Information

  • Creator
    Amplify Education
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2025
  • Episodes
    160
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Science of Reading: The Podcast
  • Show Website
    Science of Reading: The Podcast

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