Episode Details

Deirdre O’Toole’s doctoral research focuses on early literacy acquisition, specifically around articulatory gestures and attention to speech production. In recent years, we hear a lot about Sound Walls being “aligned to the Science of Reading”. In this episode, Dee shares what we know from research, what we don’t yet know, and how small instructional shifts (like simply saying “Look at my mouth”) can make a meaningful difference in early reading instruction.

Key Takeaways:

1. What phonemic awareness really means (and why “conscious awareness” is key)
2. Articulatory gestures refer to how speech sounds are physically produced (lips, tongue, jaw, airflow, voicing)
3. Research supports articulatory-based interventions (like Lindamood-Bell LIPS), but evidence does not show they are superior to other high-quality interventions
4. What the research says (and does not say) about sound walls
5. The impact of visual speech cues (including research during COVID on masked instruction)
6. Practical teacher language for supporting spelling and phoneme-grapheme connections

Dee also shares insights from her work organizing the Right to Read Ireland conference and advocating for evidence-informed literacy instruction across Ireland.

Resources Mentioned:

1. Right to Read Ireland Conference / IG: @righttoreadirl
2. The Teacher’s Table / IG: @attheteacherstable
3. Facebook: Science of Reading Discussion for Irish Teachers
4. Lindamood Bell
5. Open Access: Seeing the Mouth: The Importance of Articulatory Gestures During Phonics Training - Novelli et. al., 2023
6. A Meta-Analysis on the Optimal Cumulative Dosage of Early Phonemic Awareness Instruction - Erbeli et. al., 2024

Connect with Deirdre O’Toole:

1. https://playfulclassroom.ie/
2. Instagram:

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