Daring to Read Blog
Stories, tips, and tools from current educators who have successfully implemented the science of reading.
Beyond Just Books: How to Build a Library that Builds Readers
Building a classroom library is about more than just having books. Learn how to create two distinct, purpose-driven libraries for students developing basic reading skills—one for decodable texts to help students build foundational skills and confidence, and another for read-alouds—to help students build their language and background knowledge.
Is Your School Ready to Hire a Literacy Coach?
Don't just hire a literacy coach—get your school ready for success. This blog post explores three essential questions to ask about your team's mindset, instructional tools, and practices to ensure your new coach can truly drive literacy improvement. Learn how to prepare your school for the transformative change a literacy coach can bring.
Five-Minute Morphology: A Simple Daily Routine That Works
Discover a veteran teacher's 5-minute daily routine for teaching morphology. Learn how to empower middle school students to build vocabulary and decode unknown words using morphemes.
Values & Coachability: The Secret Sauce to Hiring Right in Education
School administrators: Stop hiring solely on knowledge! Discover why values & coachability are crucial for effective education hiring. Get interview tips & tools.
A School Leader Shares Her 3 Secret Wishes
A school leader shares her "3 wishes" focused on hiring, literacy, and innovation. This blog shares insights into their school-wide commitment to literacy instruction across all subjects, which led to remarkable gains in student achievement, particularly in middle school science. Discover how focused leadership and a dedication to literacy transformation can empower any school to achieve significant improvement.
Eighteen Years Later: I Finally Understand How to Teach Reading (It's Explicitly!)
A veteran educator reflects on a long-held question: When do we actually teach kids to read? From well-meaning but misguided advice in college and early teaching to a powerful awakening through the science of reading, a current teacher assistant shares her personal journey towards understanding explicit literacy instruction and the joy of seeing students truly learn to read.
Navigating the Hiring Season: Defining Roles for Literacy Success
Understand the crucial differences between reading specialist and literacy coach roles during hiring season, and learn how to determine which role would most benefit your school. This guide clarifies the role of each to help schools and candidates find the best fit for literacy success.
The HOW: The School Leader’s Role in Bringing the Science of Reading to Life
Discover the crucial role of school leaders in implementing the Science of Reading. Learn how The Compass School achieved schoolwide literacy transformation and find resources for administrator mentorship and training.
Teaching the Reading Brain: Strategies & Student Empowerment
Implementing the science of reading? Learn how a 1st-grade teacher used the science of reading to empower students and build confidence. Discover practical steps to explain the reading brain.
Building a Science of Reading Foundation: It Takes More Than Training
This blog post introduces a free 20-question assessment to evaluate both individual teacher knowledge of the Science of Reading and the school-wide systems necessary for successful implementation, helping educators build a strong foundation for literacy improvement.
All Hands On Deck: A Zone Defense Approach to Literacy Instruction
Feeling overwhelmed by the Science of Reading and outnumbered by students? This blog post explores a "zone defense" approach to literacy instruction, showing how schools can leverage existing resources to build an "all hands on deck" literacy team and create a collaborative culture.
The Why and How of Teaching Morphemes as a Content Area Teacher
Learn about 2 resources a veteran middle school teacher uses to introduce morphology to her students, and teach them how to determine the meaning of words through morphemes.
An Elementary School Teacher Shares Her Journey Into The Science of Reading
Hear one teacher’s journey into the science of reading and how she administered a nonsense word screener to determine if her students’ struggling reading behaviors were a result of not being able to decode.