Despite all the interest in the "science of reading" (SOR) there are still some serious misunderstandings when it comes to recognizing and using research evidence. Even many proponents of SOR, in their zeal to get their way, misuse research as more of a rhetorical device than as a method for determining what would be best for children.

A teacher asks how to plan a reading comprehension lesson. Tim Shanahan talks about the research and then suggests a series of steps that should be taken to plan a reading comprehension or to revise the lesson provided by your district.

Over the past decade there has been a public outcry for more phonics instruction in our schools. This has resulted in legislation across the country. Now, the discussion seems to be shifting -- reading authorities who played a significant role in this movement are complaining that we are overdoing the phonics thing. This podcast explores how much phonics there should be.

Many schools have adopted fluency learning targets based upon fluency norms. Recent research shows that students are able to comprehend text reasonably well even with lower fluency levels. Does that mean that we are overdoing it with fluency instruction? The answer may surprise you.

If you would like to get into a good argument, tell someone when reading instruction should begin. I'm always surprised at how many people have an opinion on that topic, and how vociferously they sometimes share it. This podcast will reveal what we know about the best time to start teaching reading -- maybe it will help you the next time you're in that argument -- but it will likely be of more value to parents and primary grade teachers.

This podcast explores the unfortunate implications of confusing curriculum and instruction. Teachers would do better to distinguish those concepts and to coordinate the one with the other.

Reading ability is often measured through oral reading fluency. These days that means having students read passages aloud and counting the numbers of words per minute read accurately. While this has value, it can lead teachers to encourage reading speed over the other elements of fluency (accuracy and prosody). It is important to remember that speed and automaticity are not the same thing, though we use speed as a proxy for the latter. This podcast reviews research that suggests another possibility for evaluating automaticity.

For years, teachers were told that teaching English grammar had no impact on reading comprehension or quality of writing. A more recent substantial body of evidence reveals the importance of sentence comprehension in comprehension. This podcast examines that evidence and makes instructional suggestions that can help increase reading achievement.