For The Love Of Literacy with Bruce Howlett

Do you want to get excited about teaching words, vocabulary, spelling, and writing instruction? Do you want to see your students embrace these subjects as enriching and empowering abilities — not just another academic task? Sean Morrissey points the way with The Word Mapping Project, a series of clear, consistent 35-minute lessons that integrate these language and literacy abilities using cognitive learning principles that make instruction stick. Sean, a school psychologist who became a classroom teacher, discusses the excitement that comes from seeing diverse groups of students embrace reading, spelling, vocabulary, and writing tasks they once avoided. Sean makes integrating this innovative and enriching approach simple enough all teachers to embrace, including classroom and content area teachers, EL and intervention specialists, SLPs and tutors. Website: www.wordmappingproject.com X handle: https://x.com/smorrisey @smorrisey Substack: https://seanmorrisey.substack.com/

Do your students struggle to stay focused, avoid distractions, begin and complete assignments, or remember directions? Would you like to help them resist impulses, switch between tasks, and manage their thoughts and behaviors? Speech-Language Pathologist Beth Coppic Gunshor discusses how these executive function (EF) skills play out when working with students, turning abstract concepts into practical activities that build academic and life-defining skills. Learn how Beth uses self-talk, whiteboard clocks, and flashlights to help her students remember past events so they can visualize the future to decide what action to take right now. Resources mentioned during For the Love of Literacy’s podcast on literacy and executive function with Beth Coppoc Gunshor Cognitive Connections : Sarah Ward and Kristin Jacobson Video about working clock , starting at 30 minutes Tera Sumpter: Seeds of Learning Gretchen Wegner: Anti-Boring Learning Lab Michael Mcleod: GrowNow ADHD Video of Dimensional Change Card Sort Test Center on the Developing Child: Building the Brain’s “Air Traffic Control” System: How Early Experiences Shape the Development of Executive Function

“If only we, as dyslexics, had learned how the English writing system works—from words to sentences—when we were in elementary school! Maybe we wouldn’t have struggled with language and literacy.” For decades, non-dyslexic individuals have been telling dyslexics how they learn, often focusing strictly on early literacy skills. This offers a very limited view of dyslexia. Listen to two adult dyslexics, literacy instructor Marie Foley and For the Love of Literacy host Bruce Howlett, discuss their decades-long struggle with reading comprehension, complex word spelling, and written expression. Your understanding of dyslexia will be transformed. In this episode, Bruce hands over hosting duties to linguist Sara Lee. Sara works with Marie and Bruce on grammar and syntax, taking them beneath the surface of words and sentences while exploring new learning methods. Today, Marie and Bruce are utterly fascinated by language and its many connections to literacy. Best of all, written and spoken English finally make sense!

If your students read accurately but with limited fluency, comprehension or interest then Elfrieda “Freddy” Hiebert’s talk will be of great benefit. Freddy summarizes her decades of research, showing how vocabulary depth and richness are key components of reading comprehension and written expression. Dr. Hiebert has created two essential materials: Teaching Words and How They Work , and TextProject.Org. Teaching Words centers literacy instruction on vocabulary development and how children learn, understand and read complex words. She notes that most students read with high accuracy, but with limited fluency and vocabulary depth. To address this widespread problem, Freddy’s TextProject.org provides free resources for teaching vocabulary development and semantics, or word meaning. The site includes ready-to-use word webs, Exceptional Expressions and Super Synonyms as well as reading material for emerging readers, content areas and Teen Reads. The subtitle of Teaching Words is Small Changes for Big Vocabulary Results. Dr. Hiebert talks about the importance of small changes, not wholesale shifts, for improving instruction. TextProject.org

Many students who struggle with literacy also struggle with math. Understanding the number system requires engaging linguistic, cognitive, executive functions and conceptual understanding -- just like literacy. Meaning is as important to math learning as it does in literacy. Math that is taught as a series of isolated procedures, facts and “islands of knowledge” disconnected from meaning will make little sense - just as it does with reading. Math makes sense when students learn the structure of math, including its syntax and vocabulary, and approach it as a coherent system. This also diminishes math anxiety. Bruce Howlett’s Seven Layers of Literacy Approach: ReadingShift.com Megan Hicks: scienceofthesentence@gmail.com The Sentence Studio www.scienceofthesentence.com Jen Petrich: Literacy Dr website: https://www.theliteracydr.com · D.O.T.S. course info and registration: https://www.theliteracydr.com/pd/dots · Wednesdays with Literacy Dr (free drop-in) info and registration: https://www.theliteracydr.com/drop-in · Literacy Dr videos https://www.theliteracydr.com/videos · List of Resources for Further Learning

Why do so many students continue to struggle with spelling and writing even after years of phonics instruction? In this episode, Sarah Mitchell explores the missing layer between decoding instruction and deeper literacy transfer: integrated word study. Drawing on research, classroom experience and practical teaching examples, Sarah explains how word-building using a six-layer “word study map” that develops sounds, meaning, spellings, connections, morphemes and sentences in the same lesson. The more connections a child has with a word the easier it is to recognize, comprehend and use it while writing. The conversation explores the implementation gap many teachers experience — understanding the theory but still feeling unsure how to apply it during real lessons — and introduces practical ways to make literacy instruction more connected, efficient and meaningful for older students. Sarah Mitchell Author - Teaching Structured Literacy Series Contact Info: admin@teachingstructuredliteracy.com Structured Literacy for Older Students: https://www.facebook.com/groups/360409786946482 Founder - Morphology Hub Website: www.morphologyhub.com Social media: YouTube @sarahmitchell3941

Teaching about morphemes (the meaningful components of words), sentence structure (syntax) and grammar (the framework for organizing words and sentences) isn’t hard, once you learn about two new resources: Mary Beth Steven’s Dramatic Scripts and Meghan Hicks and Louise Hewitt’s The Sentence Studio. In fact, you can learn about these vital components of language as you teach your students by using their scripts, sentence and text practices. Their common goal is to create insightful readers and articulate writers. These educators recognize that word study, syntax and grammar go to the heart of reading comprehension and written expression. They also focus on responsive teaching that brings these topics alive through rich highly engaging activities. Mary Beth Steven book, Enhancing the Teaching of Morphology and Grammar with Dramatic Scripts for the Classroom , uses plays to build reading comprehension while creating a collaborative classroom. Meghan and Louise’s new instructional guide, The Sentence Studio , teaches grammar and syntax with fables and a groundbreaking BubbleMap analysis strategy. Educators and students discover the artistry of sentence structure while unlocking the meaning that lies within every sentence You can find more information about Mary Beth’s book on her classroom blog mbsteven.edublogs.org You can purchase The Sentence Studio and access free downloads and other supporting resources at Meghan and Louise’s website www.scienceofthesentence.com

Title: Meet the Students / Humans of the Boring (into words) Scholars Collective Listen Sara Leland’s students, five humans who have dyslexia, ADHA and/or autism. With Sara’s guidance and support they grew to love literacy. They joined together and built a website www.boringscholarscollective.site . The boring scholars used their writing, creative and artistic skills to express their love of reading and writing through the website. Learn how they became word detectives, deeply investigating the spelling, meaning and history of words. Sara shares how she develops a fascination for words in children who may have struggled with basic skills. She explains that the ultimate purpose of education is human development, helping children to grow into capable, curious, creative and empathic citizens. You’ll also learn how a philosopher views language, filled with metaphors and narratives, fueled by critical thinking. Sara’s own website is: www.wordscholars.net Sara can be contacted through the site or by email at: sara.wordscholars@gmail.com

If you have ever wondered why your students struggle with word reading, or read accurately but with limited comprehension, then you may want to flip your approach to reading instruction. Start at the sentence level by using Xiuhong Tong and Hélène Deacon’s groundbreaking Linguistics Pathways Model , which provides two parallel paths leading to reading comprehension. The first pathway leads to word recognition by morphological decoding . Deacon and Tong show how word reading and meaning arise from an awareness of how morphemes—the meaningful components that compose all words—are linked to graphemes. Unlike phonics decoding, students develop word reading, spelling and vocabulary knowledge in unison, which supports reading comprehension. The second pathway is a syntax to sentence pathway . Syntax, the blueprint for creating and understanding sentences, is the layer of language that most directly supports reading comprehension and fluency. Together, words are not only read with meaning but as part of meaningful sentences – which largely determines text comprehension. Xiuhong Tong and S. Helene Deacon 2025. The Linguistic Pathways Model: Capturing the Multiple Dimensions of Reading Development. Reading Research Quarterly

Meghan Hicks returns to talk about how teaching structure at the word, sentence, and text levels can help students make sense of the writing process. We often discuss literacy as a system and the importance of students understanding how it works. Meghan explains the broader system and how her students discover that the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts. You’ll learn that syntax—how sentences are constructed from words, phrases and clauses—isn’t an abstract language concept. Rather, it is a straightforward way to improve reading comprehension and sentence construction. Meghan explains a simple sentence diagramming method that provides visual representations of sentence structure. Meghan also dives into the cognitive aspects of writing, starting with thinking. Students who can structure their thoughts are better able to structure their sentences. You learn about the four categories of thinking and how they influence students’ writing. You can contact Meg at ThinkWriteReadCommunity@gmail.com or visit the Think~Write~Read Community Bruce Howlett's Seven Layers of Literacy Project - ReadingShift.com

Bonnie Feeney, a dyslexic mother and Jen Petrich, her PhD neuroscientist daughter discuss dyslexia from a unique perspective—one of from a journey of personal discovery and the other from studying brain science. Hear how their journeys came together, enriching both their lives. Learn the difficulties that dyslexics confront within and beyond the classroom. Dyslexics share more than a diagnosis and supporting them requires more than just a reading intervention. They deserve our respect and understanding. For decades, Bonny experienced biases and judgments that included narrow instruction that didn’t develop her interest in language. Jen became a neuroscientist not to help her mother, but to understand neurodiversity and find methods that support students broadly. Bonny began to listen in on Jen’s tutoring sessions with students and realized that this type of word and sentence inquiry made sense to her. A note from Jennifer Petrich: I would like to clarify a comment I made on this podcast episode that doesn’t reflect my true beliefs. In recounting someone else’s experience, I used language and framing that I no longer align with, including referring to a good IQ and not being dumb . I believe that measures like IQ do not define a person’s worth or fully capture their abilities, and I’m mindful that words we use—especially casually—can reinforce harmful assumptions. This was an unfiltered moment, and I’m committed to being more thoughtful and aware of my language and biases moving forward. Bruce Howlett’s Seven Layers of Literacy Approach: ReadingShift.com Literacy Dr website: https://www.theliteracydr.com D.O.T.S. course info and registration: https://www.theliteracydr.com/pd/dots Wednesdays with Literacy Dr (free drop-in) info and registration: https://www.theliteracydr.com/drop-in Literacy Dr videos: https://www.theliteracydr.com/videos List of Resources for Further Learning: https://cb29367d-4ec0-40b5-af0b-a46966ed9d5a.filesusr.com/ugd/2c8fa0_47cff29b89e34ae2bcf16d59670de2d7.pdf

“Just thinking about grammar and syntax raises my anxiety.” Whether you share that reaction or you just feel shaky on some aspects of writing and sentence structure, you aren’t alone. Such a complex topic is not mastered in a one-and-done class. Yet it takes intellectual courage to become a student again and not to give up, especially when we are already acknowledged experts in our professions. In these days of mandated curricula, it isn’t easy to step out of the paradigm that currently dictates how education unfolds; but these two educators, Rebecca and Meghan, have found that it is still possible to create a community of true scholarship with your students—whether youths or adults. Meghan Hicks talks about “The Boy’s Writing Group” where her teenage students uncover the power of written communications and self-expression. The Boys learn to review and revise their sentences as a group, discovering how writing gives them a voice to express their thoughts, ideas and feelings. Unlocking the power of sentences enriches students and teachers’ lives This is particularly important in the age of limited interest in book reading, mindless Internet scrolling, social media and AI. You can contact Meg at ThinkWriteReadCommunity@gmail.com or visit the Think~Write~Read Community You can contact Rebecca at editforclarity@gmail.com .

“Spell what you mean, not just what you hear,” is researcher and speech pathologist Kim Murphy’s advice to students. While spelling instruction often focuses on pronunciation, spelling-meaning instruction makes so much more sense to students and their teachers. Graphemes (letter patterns) and morphemes, the meaningful core of every written word, spell words in predictable and consistent ways, even as their pronunciation shifts. Joined by Peter Bowers, creator of Structured Word Inquiry, Kim shows that yes, English spelling is complex, but it doesn’t have to be confusing. In fact, students enjoy learning spelling-meaning connections, as they make sense and are easier to memorize and recall accurately when writing. Kim and Pete also explain why spelling lists pale in comparison to morphological word sums and matrices, which organize the spelling of words around a common base. As a bonus, Kim shows how spelling-meaning connections benefit reading comprehension. Bruce@ReadingShift.com ReadingShift.com Kim Murphy: Contact Kim at The Scottish Rite Childhood Language Center in Richmond, VA. Perfetti, C., & Stafura, J. (2014). Word knowledge in a theory of reading comprehension. Scientific Studies of Reading, 18 (1), 22-37. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2013.827687 Free access link https://www.lrdc.pitt.edu/perfettilab/pubpdfs/WordKnowledge.pdf This article describes the Reading Systems Framework, in which the lexicon, or word knowledge, is a central connection point between word identification with reading comprehension. Aligned with the Lexical Quality Hypothesis (Perfetti, 2007; Perfetti & Hart, 2002), the lexicon is seen as a ‘pressure point’ in the reading system. Murphy, K.A., & Justice, L.M. (2019). Lexical-level predictors of reading comprehension in third grade: Is spelling a unique contributor? American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 28 (4), 1597-1610. https://doi.org/10.1044/2019_AJSLP-18-0299 Free access link https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1052&context=cdse_pubs This study examines the contributions of lexical-level skills to reading comprehension, and whether spelling adds anything unique to the prediction of reading comprehension. Spelling was scored using binary (correct-incorrect) and non-binary (partially correct) methods. Results showed that spelling uniquely predicted reading comprehension, above and beyond the contribution of word recognition and vocabulary combined when scored using Correct Letter Sequences. This highlights the importance of including assessment of spelling skills when evaluating children for reading comprehension difficulties. Murphy, K.A., & Diehm, E.A. (2020). Collecting words: A clinical example of a morphology-focused orthographic intervention. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 51 (3), 544-560. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_LSHSS-19-00050 This paper describes a morphology-focused orthography intervention for children with word-level reading and spelling difficulties, using Structured Word Inquiry. Results comparing pre- and post-test scores showed that children improved in reading and/or spelling, and that their largest gains were in spelling affixes correctly. The study supports the use of interventions that integrate morphology with orthography and phonology to improve children’s literacy skills.

Language issues are a surprisingly common source of reading, spelling and writing difficulties. Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is impacting students in your classrooms and offices. Listen to Speech-Language Pathologists Kathleen Love and Beth Coppoc Gunshor as they share about observing, supporting and teaching students with language challenges, including DLD. They provide practical methods that boost oral and written language abilities using word and sentence activities rooted in meaning. Find out the importance of showing students how words are built from meaningful parts (morphemes), as well as how to unravel complex sentences so they make sense. Walk away with a better understanding of how to support the language needs of students. Bio description & links Kathleen’s newsletter shares her latest musings about literacy, provides access to a ton of free curated resources, and alerts people to community events. More information about her course for literacy interventionists, Using Morphology in Literacy Intervention, can be found here . She also shares regularly and freely at Instagram and on Facebook , and her website is raincityreading.com . There you’ll also find her morphology merchandise shop with shirts and wall calendars! Beth can be reached through her website , and also found on Instagram or Facebook . She has t-shirts and stickers for sale that are related to Structured Word Inquiry.

Three experienced teachers show how to get even your most resistant students to become fascinated by words and sentences. They explain how to turn memory-draining spelling homework into an activity that enriches vocabulary, sight word mapping and provides a deep understanding of how words are constructed. If morphology and the English spelling system doesn't make sense to you and your students, they will by the end of the podcast. Mary Beth, Lisa and Skot explain how structured word inquiry , a method developed by Peter Bowers, gets students deeply involved in investigations of a word's spelling, meaning and history. They describe how students with reading and behavior problems become fascinated by word investigations that significantly boosts their reading, spelling and comprehension abilities. Too many reading methods don't emphasize the importance of sentence writing and comprehension , which limits their students literacy abilities. Mary Beth, Lisa and Skot explain how sentence investigations excite students as much as word inquiry. Understanding how sentences are composed of phrases reveals its meaning. Drawing students' attention to the relationships between words and phrases significantly boost comprehension--and interest, too. Skot Caldwell worked for more than 25 years in “high needs” public schools in Kingston, Ontario. After annually reinventing his “spelling” program and having found nothing really effective, he met Pete Bowers and joined him on a learning journey through Real Spelling and the development of Structured Word Inquiry. His students became “Word Scientists” happily investigating language. https://smallhumansthinkbig.wordpress.com/category/word-inquiry/ skotcaldwell@hotmail.com Lisa Barnett is a literacy-focused educator with over 30 years of experience in general and special education. She is the founder and director of Empower Learning Center where she tutors privately, consults, and trains educators worldwide in English orthography. She is the author of Vocabulary & Morphology using Structured Word Inquiry . There is a wonderful For the love of Literacy Podcast about this very practical book. Links to Lisa & Katie’s book, SWI resources, dyslexia resources, blog about SWI & more. Lisa offers a few workshops, too. LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/empowerlc Website: https://www.seethebeautyindyslexia.com/elc.html Blog: https://barnettsbuzzingblog.edublogs.org/ Email: EmpowerLC.lisa@gmail.com Mary Beth Steven is a retired teacher whose teaching took a dramatic turn once she discovered Structured Word Inquiry. Mary Beth offers two online classes, Bringing Structured Word Inquiry into the Classroom and Getting a Grip on Grammar . Information can be found in the tabs at her blog, Mrs. Steven’s Classroom Blog ( https://mbsteven.edublogs.org/ ). She sells interactive books for teaching grammar, SWI and a book of dramatic scripts to enhance teaching grammar and morphology in the classroom! Mary Beth YouTube Channel with over 200 videos demonstrating what SWI and grammar teaching . ( https://www.youtube.com/@MaryBethSteven )

Would you like to: understand how the English spelling system, or orthography, can be taught in so it makes sense to students and teachers, alike? integrate morphemes, the meaningful core of every word, into your reading, spelling and vocabulary instruction? Alternatives to memory and attention demanding practices like sight word spelling, syllable types, and spelling rules? In this episode, Sue Scibetta Hegland, author of Beneath the Surface of Words , chats with Liisa Freure —founder of Fundamental Learning and an elementary, ESL, and special education teacher—about the fascinating, complex, yet logical system behind English spelling. Both passionate advocates for Structured Literacy, Sue and Liisa talk about why teaching spelling can be even more challenging than teaching reading, and how understanding the spelling system can strengthen literacy for all students. Using engaging examples, they show how exploring the structures and interconnected meanings of words can capture students’ interest, improve comprehension, and help them become confident readers and writers. Sue Hegland: Website: Learning About Spelling -Spelling Always Makes Sense Beneath the Surface of Words - The Book Amazon (US) Kendore Learning (U.S.) Amazon (Canada) Select Educational Supplies (Australia) Silver Eye (Australia) Liisa Freure – Fundamental Learning Sue Scibetta Hegland began her career doing research and instructional design, but that changed in 2003, when she learned that one of her children is dyslexic. Trained in the Orton-Gillingham approach to literacy instruction, she has been studying and teaching about often overlooked aspects of the English orthographic system since 2014. Sue is a former school board member, serves as Editor-in-Chief for IDA’s Fact Sheet publications, and is the founder of the website LearningAboutSpelling.com. Sue is the author of the book Beneath the Surface of Words: What English Spelling Reveals and Why It Matters. Liisa Freure is the founder of Fundamental Learning, an organization dedicated to teaching the structure of the English language clearly and meaningfully. She has taught Kindergarten through Grade 8, ESL, and Special Education. Holding a Master’s in Education, Liisa has extensive experience in professional development, curriculum design, and provincial assessments. She trained with the Orton-Gillingham Academy, where she became an Accredited Training Fellow. Liisa has held leadership roles with the International Dyslexia Association Ontario Branch, including serving two terms as President, and currently serves on the IDA’s Fact Sheet Editorial Board. Her&a

A wonderful plan for teachers, starting with five-year-old students on up to secondary school, to create a community of students who love exploring language, starting with the written and spoken word. Based on Ann Whiting and Lyn Anderson's beautiful books , A Field Guide to Words and A Year in Words . Children learn how the English spelling system, or orthography, works and how it is the foundation of reading, spelling and writing. Children learn to explore the three components of the spelling system, morphology (meaning), phonology (pronunciation) and etymology (history). They learn to build morphological matrices using word sums (con + struct + ion) as well as how to analyze the graphemes (letter or letters) that write morphemes. Handwriting instruction is woven into writing lessons. Language lessons are integrated into other areas with a strong emphasis on the words and concepts needed to understand science. Hearing how they weave the cycle , for example, across the curriculum will inspire you. Lyn Anderson and Ann Whiting BeyondtheWord International Consultancy Caught in the Spell of Words

Do you know how English spelling really works? Go beneath the surface of words to find the connections between orthography (spelling system) and morphology, the meaningful core of every word in every language. While sound-symbol relationships in English are variable the spelling-meaning relationships are consistent. Jennifer Petrich and Brad Johnson are dedicated to advancing their students’ language, literacy and cognitive growth. depth of understanding of words and how they function in sentences and beyond. Their book, Investigating English Spelling: An Interactive Guide to Understanding How English Spelling Works , is a great entry point for diving deeply into words. While the topic of language and literacy is complex Jen and Brad make this world of words immediately accessible for all. Dr. Jennifer Petrich works with students who have learning challenges, including dyslexia, specializing in those with attention issues, sensory-seeking behaviors, phonological working memory issues, deficits in executive functioning, and autism. She also offers training in scientific word study, based on orthographic linguistics, that benefits both neurodivergent and neurotypical learners. Dr. Petrich started teaching children and adults with dyslexia over 30 years ago but has been interested in reading and dyslexia since childhood due to having multiple family members who are dyslexic. She earned her PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. She is currently the co-director of Literacy Dr, LLC. Bradley K. Johnson works with students with learning challenges and provides professional development for teachers. He has worked in the field of education for almost 25 years. He holds an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership and has his administrator's license. While working as a classroom teacher and an instructional coach, Brad found his true passion in developing lessons that helped underserved populations access literacy and math instruction. In his roles as professional development specialist, curriculum director, and adjunct professor, he has coached and provided professional development to hundreds of teachers working with urban and minority populations and students with language-based learning disabilities. Brad's search for "what works" has included executive functioning, metacognition, mathematical reasoning, and social-emotional learning. In addition to currently working with students, he is also the founder of One Step Now Education. Literacy Dr October event: https://www.theliteracydr.com/swievent Investigating English Spelling : Order at Amazon https://a.co/d/hCvMPw7 Literacy Dr website : theliteracydr.com Literacy Dr’s Facebook : https://facebook.com/LiteracyDr Brad’s website onestepnoweducation.com Brad’s newsletter: newsletter.onestepnoweducation.com Literacy Dr drop-in: https://www.theliteracydr.com/drop-in Literacy Dr curricular modules: https://www.theliteracydr.com/sies Literacy Dr D.O.T.S. class: https://www.theliteracydr.com/pd/dots

The High Frequency Word Project , is an explicit, systematic resource that teaches the 130 high frequency words using strategies that make them stick. Each of these critical words is taught on multiple levels, from sounds and spellings to the morphological meaning, and how they are defined in sentences. Each word is further defined using something new: linguistically-accurate and fascinating stories about high frequency words’ etymologies providing the missing link to explain the mysterious parts of their spellings. The second edition contains a complete program: content background information, a teaching guide, 130-word lessons, along with activities, games, and an assessment. The first edition student Study Booklets can still be found on the website for those who want ready-to-go activities and structured practice pages. The High Frequency Word Project website: https://www.thehfwproject.com/ Purchase the book on Amazon: https://a.co/d/hPuUuJl The High Frequency Word Project YouTube: www.youtube.com/@thehfwproject Fiona Hamilton is the owner and director of Wordtorque . With 38 years of Australian and international educational experience, she has MEd degrees in Educational Administration and Literacy, plus Literacy Coaching certification. She provides educators with accurate information about English orthography and easy-to-implement teaching strategies. Words take fascinating journeys, twisting through history in meaning, pronunciation, spelling, and structure. Wordtorque brings that journey into classrooms, combining explicit teaching with inquiry so students truly understand words. They become word noticers who grow into word knowers - readers and thinkers with skills to explore connections, build vocabulary, and understand language deeply. Fiona collaborates on Engage with the Page and searchENGAGE with Angela Brienza and Lauren Hateley-Crowe. Engagewthepage is a regular free post on wordtorque.com highlighting picture books and showing the different concepts of word inquiry you can teach from each book. https://wordtorque.com/category/engagewthepage/ searchENGAGE is the accompanying searchable database that includes over 300 picture books linking them with key orthographic features. It makes finding the perfect read aloud text to support your word study easy. Search by bases, affixes, graphemes, phonemes, word histories, and classroom connections. https://wordtorque.com/searchengage/ wordtorque.com https://wordtorque.com/ Including https://wordtorque.com/workshops-menu/ https://wordtorque.com/classroom-visual-resources/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/fiona-hamilton-09222919

If you think you know how dyslexia affects children and adults please listen to this moving and uplifting podcast. Dyslexia causes confusion way beyond decoding. Roadblocks frequently arise during vocabulary, sight word and morphology development, and sentence construction. Often overlooked is how sentence structure and complex grammatical patterns can limit comprehension. . Marie Foley spend decades with undiagnosed dyslexia and ADHD. In this podcast, Marie reveals how she gained clarity and confidence about herself and written English by learning how words are built from morphemes and sentences from phrases. Her life was transformed by learning about spelling-meaning relationships and learning the functional relationships that words have grammatically. Understanding how words function in sentences greatly improved her comprehension and writing ability. Marie studied Real Spelling and Structured Word Inquiry which brought clarity to written words. In her 50s, Marie began working with our second guest, Sara Lee, to understand how the words in sentences function together to create meaning. Sara turns grammar into a form of comprehension and a foundation for writing in the most gentle and clear way. Sara Lee is co-owner of Literacy Dr, a literacy intervention provider based out of Atlanta, Georgia, where she offers remediation and professional development in reading, writing, and grammar to a neurodiverse population of students. Sara holds a Masters in Applied Linguistics. Her background is in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, Structured Word Inquiry, and orthographic study. She also co-hosts Writing in the Trenches, an online support community for those who teach writing. Marie Foley: Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/703558627526950 www.mariefoleyreading.com Sara Lee: www.theliteracydr.com sara.lee@theliteracydr.com Writing in the Trenches Writers’ Support group: email Sara