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Reading Teachers LoungeAuthor: Shannon Betts and Mary Saghafi
This is the Reading Teachers Lounge where listeners can eavesdrop on professional conversations between elementary reading teachers. We are passionate about literacy and strive to find strategies to reach all learners. Shannon and Mary are neighbors who realized that they were literacy soul sisters at a dinner in their Atlanta neighborhood. Once they started chatting about reading they havent really stopped. Come join the conversation. Language: en-us Genres: Education, Education for Kids, Kids & Family Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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8.10 Season Finale: Beyond Decoding
Episode 10
Saturday, 20 June, 2026
Shannon and Mary record their Season 8 finale, catching up on what they've been doing during the school year. They've both been busy with balancing personal and professional responsibilities, with work hours increasing for Shannon in tutoring and for Mary in advocacy work and supporting parents in IEP meetings. In their tutoring practices, they're both advancing beyond decoding work with many of their students, and during the discussion, they both realized they had adopted sentence-composing activities, inspired by 8.8's guest, Sara Lee. During the discussion, they detail how their students use literature-based model sentences and scaffolded imitation to build sentence skills, comprehension, and vocabulary. Shannon describes how she adds language support using English Linking Blocks and word lists. The discussion then highlights their excitement about UFLI's upcoming structured morphology curriculum, Word Origins (adapted from Australia). In the episode chat, they also touch on the AMIRA screener, Mary's recent SWI professional learning through Word Torque, and how they're both supporting students' math knowledge and skills in their tutoring. Listen in to catch up with these reading teachers and find out how their literacy instruction continues to evolve.00:38 Life as Busy Parents02:30 Tutoring and Advocacy Load04:29 Discovering Sentence Composing07:37 Harry Potter Hook09:17 Linking Blocks Breakthrough13:18 From Sentences to Writing19:43 Structured Morphology Word Origins22:58 Structured Morphology Wins23:48 Curriculum Fidelity First27:06 Word Origins Details28:41 Australia Connections31:17 Getting It Into Schools32:15 Georgia Reading Screening37:59 Math Fluency Intervention40:22 Subitizing And Word Problems47:12 Wrap Up Season NotesRECOMMENDED RESOURCES RELEVANT TO THE EPISODE:UFLI Word Origins news updates formUFLI Word Origins InformationHands-On English Linking BlocksWord Torque websiteWord Inquiry In ActionReviews of Curriculum - The Reading LeagueGA Dyslexia Handbook related to updated laws for HS 307Math Their WayAubree Teaches - conceptual, visual math Aubree Teaches - store (this is not an affiliated link)Support the showGet Literacy Support through our PatreonBonus Episodes access through your podcast appBonus episodes access through PatreonBuy us a coffeeGet a FREE Green Chef box using our link
