Literacy Blogs

Blast from the Past: This blog first appeared on May 16, 2020, and an updated version was released on June 22, 2024. The research references have been updated. If you would like to read the 26 comments that the original release attracted click here: https://www.shanahanonliteracy.com/blog/what-about-tracing-and-other-multi-sensory-teaching-approaches  Teacher question:  I have read the work of researchers like Louisa Moats, Stanislas Dehaene, and Linnea Ehri and understand of how reading works in the brain. I understand the critical role of connecting graphemes to phonemes. My question is what is the true role of the kinesthetic activities promoted in many intervention programs? In a webinar that I watched ...

Blast from the Past: First published August 25, 2018; updated June 1, 2024 This blog considered the value of decodable text. Since then, there has been more research on the issue, so I thought it a good time to update. There have been several thoughtful reviews of the empirical research over the years, and these reflect a great deal of consistency among the scientists who think deeply about this issue. None of them rules out the use of decodables, but none claims that their use improves reading achievement. Those who recommend a heavy and/or long-term dose of decodable text in beginning ...

Parent Question: Our school district is using a program that has received many bad reviews, including by EdReports. We raised that with our School Superintendent, and she indicated that EdReports is revamping its review process so their evidence doesn’t mean anything. What do you think? Teacher Question: EdReports and Knowledge Matters Campaign and others are requiring that high quality texts build background knowledge—a good thing.  However, they are expecting it to be through a topical approach not a broader thematic approach. One curriculum that is touted as strong in this area addresses one topic for 18 weeks!  So the question I am asking is ...

Teacher question: I would love to know your advice on pre-teaching. My colleague does this for math instruction and has seen great gains. She teaches the whole group lesson for the day to those students she suspects of needing a double dose of instruction in small group before the whole group lesson is presented. She’s seeing great gains in confidence with these students during whole group instruction due to them having had this pre-teaching beforehand. What would this look like for ELA? I’m eager to try it, just not sure how. Shanahan responds: I know of no research on this scheme, but it ...

Blast from the Past: This blog entry first posted on May 5, 2018, and re-posted on April 20, 2024. The reason for this re-post is twofold: I received the letter below from an educational consultant who was troubled about how some school districts were using commercial reading programs and wanted my take on it. Also, recently, some critics have been making claims about the appropriate design of commercial reading programs if they were to be used successfully to enhance literacy achievement – unproven design claims that seem to come out of the same camp that this letter was reacting to. ...

Blast from the Past: This piece first posted on February 7, 2017, and was reposted on March 23, 2024. Nothing to change or update here, but given recent questions and discussions on social media, I think it would be worthwhile to revisit the topic. I’ve been beavering away at a book manuscript that will go into much greater detail on this topic, that I hope will be available to everyone in 2025. It won’t reach different conclusions either, even given new scholarship on the issue. Boy, oh, boy! The past couple weeks have brought unseasonably warm temperatures to the Midwest, and ...