by Jan and Kari | Apr 12, 2025 | Literacy Leadership
It’s surprisingly common to find upper elementary students who still need help with foundational spelling patterns, like short vowel sounds in closed syllable (CVC) words. But with older kids, not only is time of the essence—they need to catch up without missing out...
by Jan and Kari | Mar 29, 2025 | Literacy Leadership
It’s surprisingly common to find upper elementary students who still need help with foundational spelling patterns, like short vowel sounds in closed syllable (CVC) words. But with older kids, not only is time of the essence—they need to catch up without missing out...
by Jan and Kari | Mar 2, 2024 | Literacy Leadership
We all know that teachers, not programs, make the difference when it comes to effective instruction. Scientific research bears out this idea that teachers matter more than programs, especially when it comes to beginning reading (Bond 1966; Readence & Barone 1997)....
by Katie Egan Cunningham, Jan Burkins, Kari Yates | Dec 10, 2023 | Literacy Leadership
Last week, we shared the first part of our two-part Q&A series about how the newest Shifting the Balance 3-5 book that we wrote with Katie Egan Cunningham came to be. Today, we will continue to explore common questions readers have about the newest Shifting the...
by Katie Egan Cunningham, Jan Burkins, Kari Yates | Dec 3, 2023 | Literacy Leadership
Q: Want to learn more about the newest Shifting the Balance book, which explores 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Upper Elementary Classroom? A: Keep reading because today’s blog is Part 1 of a 2-part Q&A series that answers some common questions...
by Jan and Kari | Nov 19, 2023 | Literacy Leadership
We have been touched by readers’ responses to our books, including our latest title, Shifting the Balance: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Upper Elementary Classroom, which we wrote with Katie Egan Cunningham. Along with your positive feedback, our...
by Jan and Kari | Oct 21, 2023 | Literacy Leadership
We’re really excited to share this study guide with you today, especially since so many people have been asking about it! As we were preparing to share this new study guide–written to support you as you dig into Shifting the Balance: 6 Ways to Bring the Science...
by Jan and Kari | Oct 14, 2023 | Literacy Leadership
Over the past two years, we’ve been touched and humbled by your overwhelming response to our first Shifting the Balance book, which we wrote to support those of you who work with beginning readers. After it was published, we quickly realized that educators were also...
by Jan and Kari | Sep 16, 2023 | Literacy Leadership
With Shifting the Balance: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Upper Elementary Classroom about to be released, you might be wondering how this second Shifting the Balance book came to be. Well, there’s a story there that Jan, Kari, and I thought was...
by Jan and Kari | Aug 26, 2023 | Literacy Leadership
While it’s true that most of the conversation about literacy practices these days seems to focus on the earliest grades, there is plenty of confusion and uncertainty about literacy instruction for older students, too. In Shifting the Balance: 6 Ways to Bring the...
