by Jan and Kari | Apr 23, 2022 | Language Comprehension
In Chapter 1 of Shifting the Balance, we untangle a widespread misunderstanding about reading comprehension. It is “Misunderstanding 4” in the chapter that is about language comprehension. Misunderstanding 4 goes like this,“Successful comprehension in beginning...
by Jan and Kari | Apr 9, 2022 | Literacy Leadership
We didn’t know this word a few weeks ago. But since we first became aware of it, we seem to be noticing it more and more. Maybe it’s because we’re immersed in thinking about children’s language development these days. Maybe it’s because we’re thinking a lot about the...
by Jan and Kari | Mar 4, 2022 | Literacy Leadership
We’ve been thinking lately about the opposing tensions in our lives and the ways these tensions often leave us longing for a perfect balance. The idea that our lives will be in perfect balance is, of course, absurd. Nevertheless, balance as an imprecise descriptor of...
by Jan and Kari | Feb 25, 2022 | Phonics
We think of offering brain-friendly phonics instruction as being a bit like saying, “Hey, would you like to learn to decipher a secret code? I can teach you.”So, this week, we thought it might be fun to take this secret code metaphor a bit further and offer an...
by Jan and Kari | Feb 11, 2022 | Literacy Leadership
It has been almost a year since Shifting the Balance: Bringing the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom hit real and virtual bookshelves. We’ve been so moved by the robust response to this little book, to say the least. Quite honestly, what started...