Episode Details

There are many “science of reading” terms being used right now (including the “science of reading” itself).

Yet debates about how to help kids become literate continues; and part of that is because of common logical fallacies applied to education.

That’s why I invited Anna Geiger to episode 177 of De Facto Leaders to define important literacy terms and discuss myths associated with teaching reading.

Anna Geiger is a former teacher, mom of six, the founder and owner of The Measured Mom, host of the TripleR Teaching podcast, and author of books such as “Reach all Readers”. She was a balanced literacy advocate for twenty years. As both a classroom teacher and teacher educator, she promoted three-cueing using leveled texts. She taught phonics, but didn’t use a scope and sequence. She provided very little direct instruction because she was sure it would bore students.

Fast-forward to 2019, when she began to realize that many of her teaching practices weren’t backed by research. Anna became Orton-Gillingham certified and earned a Science of Reading graduate certificate. She currently runs The Measured Mom website, which includes easy-prep resources that your students will love so much they’ll forget they’re learning.

This episode is part of the National Literacy Month series of podcasts, presented in partnership between the Be Podcast Network and Reading Is Fundamental (RIF).

In this conversation, we discuss:

✅The difference between balanced literacy and structured literacy

✅Decodable texts vs. predictable texts.

✅What is three-cueing and why does it encourage poor reading habits?

✅Using syntactic and context clues: Necessary, but not sufficient for decoding.

✅Early literacy instruction: Play-based learning vs. playful learning

✅Finding the joy in reading and teaching: Can you find joy in something if you haven’t been given the skills to do it? 

You can learn more about Anna Geiger’s resources on her website here: https://www.themeasuredmom.com/

Order Anna’s book, “Reach all Readers” here.

Listen to my interview with Anna on her podcast, TripleR Teaching here: https://www.themeasuredmom.com/how-to-help-students-improve-language-comprehension-a-conversation-with-dr-karen-dudek-brannan/

Listen to Anna’s conversation about scaffolding early writing skills with Dr. Sonia Cabell here: https://www.themeasuredmom.com/how-to-scaffold-preschoolers-early-writing-skills-with-dr-sonia-cabell/

Listen to Anna's conversation with Dr. Susan Neuman about evidence-based instruction for preschoolers here: https://www.themeasuredmom.com/what-does-research-say-about-teaching-preschoolers/

Listen to Anna’s commentary on decodable texts here: https://www.themeasuredmom.com/dos-donts-deco