New research indicates that the processing of texts on screens is faster and shallower than on paper. Students don’t comprehend digital text as well as they do paper text — but they can learn how to get the most out of these texts, with the right supports. 

Improving literacy rates on a large scale will require solving the problems that make working in schools like mine so challenging. We can’t get instruction right within our classrooms without addressing some of the problems outside of them.

Cricket tasting, habitat building, and “hive” pollinating? Learn from the great implementation ideas that resident engagement specialists in education from Affordable Homes & Communities (AHC) in Arlington, Virginia developed over the summer while bringing books and Bug Buddies to their K-5 summer campers.

We don’t really know why alphabet knowledge is such a good predictor of reading achievement, but it is. Teaching letter names should be a small part of the mix in phonemic awareness and phonics instruction.

I used to think that it didn’t matter how I learned to read, the fact that I’d become literate was the most important thing. But I came to realize that the way I was taught (or rather, not taught) to read words was affecting me even as an adult.

I thought that reading researchers had the answers that teachers needed. Now I see that teachers have the questions and knowledge of the real-world that reading researchers need to be of service to society.

Listening to your child read aloud — though for longer times and without the timer — can be good practice for fluency and comprehension. Ask questions about the text, and repeat the reading if your child struggles with word recognition, pace, or expression. And always be positive and encouraging.

Preschoolers participating in Arlington County Department of Parks and Recreation camps went wild for insects in August! Learn more about how staff connected campers to experiences that stimulated their senses and their imaginations by building on books and resources from the Bug Buddies toolkit.