Language Matters

Newsletter

This week we examine the role of language for both literacy instruction and professional dialogue.

1. Students being able to articulate the “why” for literacy instruction is critical for engagement, something I was reminded of during a classroom visit.

2. Consider these three strategies offered by Trish Hall for persuading others more effectively around contentious issues in education, such as phonics.

3. I’ve been slowly rereading Peter Johnston’s Choice Words, partly because I needed to review the language stems, also in anticipation for his upcoming collaborative book Engaging Literate Minds (Stenhouse, 2020).

4. Using Johnston’s initial work, I created a matrix for responsive schoolwide language at my previous school, found here.

5. What does the research say about dyslexia? How should we respond? Dr. Rachael Gabriel provided a sound understanding on this topic at the 2020 Wisconsin State Reading Association (WSRA) Conference.

I’m grateful to WSRA for the Friend of Literacy recognition I received today. In the spirit of sharing and learning at the event, all content is available this week for free. Thanks for reading and consider becoming a subscriber to support this work.