Note from Dr. Sam: Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, the YouTube recording of the original interview with Tim Rasinski and of the professional development session conducted afterward by Julie Armstrong about her successful implementation of this program was lost. What follows is a recreation of what happened that night at the 2026 SoMLA conference. The activities described in the following two blog entries use the content of the same questions and activities as those carried out that evening. I think educators who read the two blogs will find ideas and activities in these presentations that demonstrate how the FDL (Fluency Development Lesson) will bring synergy to your classroom. There will be lots of “stuff you can use next Monday” in this recreation of the dinner event from the SoMLA (State of Maryland Literacy Association) conference this year.  ENJOY!

It was an honor to talk to Dr. Tim Rasinski about the book he co-authored, The Fluency Development Lesson: Closing the Reading Gap. The book is a real game-changer. It is research-based. It includes complete daily lessons written by Dr. Lynne Kulich specifically for the book. Each lesson includes support materials. One of those support materials is Word Ladders, created by Tim Rasinski. Each word ladder was written to support the lesson plan it appears with. There are also poems and other short passages written by David Harrison. The poems are designed to support fluency, build background knowledge and improve comprehension—a number of these lessons center around science and social studies topics. Although the materials are written for grades Kindergarten to 2nd, the support materials are designed to be used with older students as well.

As the interview progressed, Tim explained how the book evolved from a one-day lesson plan format he created many years ago into a resource with a complete scope and sequence designed to work for younger and older students. It is meant to be a supplemental program. It is built on the premise that fluency can and should be taught directly and explicitly. It is rooted in Tim Rasinski’s research, which demonstrates the power of repeated reading. It overcomes the potential problems of repeated reading becoming boring or meaningless by using the concept of reading to perform. During the interview, Tim stresses the importance of reading to perform. He points out that the goal of repeated reading is not to read faster LINK but to read better, in a way that encourages readers and listeners to make sense of what is being read.

The book is designed to empower teachers. The Fluency Development Lesson (FDL) format is clear and simple to use. Tim explains in the interview how it evolved from a one-day lesson plan he first proposed many years ago into a full five-day set of lessons. The lessons are short (15-20 minutes or so). Teachers are given specific examples of materials that would fit into the lessons. Teachers can find things that best fit their students’ age and stage. The materials also help students read and master different content areas. The book gives teachers a lot of bang for their buck. It contains a set of complete lessons for grades kindergarten through grade 2. That means a lesson for every week of the school year, along with the word ladders and poems to support each lesson.  It has also been shown to be helpful to struggling readers in grades 3, 4, and 5, focusing on improving word recognition, accuracy, and expression. The lessons and support materials are written to appeal to both younger and older readers. Before going further into what the conference attendees saw at this special event, let’s have a look at Tim’s biography and interview. The interview details what the attendees saw that night.

BIOGRAPHY

Here is the YouTube VIDEO

Rasinski, Timothy; Nageldinger, James; and Young, Chase (2017) “Reading Fluency Should Be Authentic Reading,” Michigan Reading Journal: Vol. 49: Iss. 2, Article 11.

Books Mentioned in the Interview

LINK

LINK

LINK

Tim’s website has several things you’ll want to see.  Visit the following tabs: Resources, Webinars, Articles and Blog to find many resources (including Julia’s blog post!). In addition, follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @TimRasinski1 for links to free materials that support a variety of reading skills.

LINK

My thoughts about this interview:

First, I’d like to thank Tim and Julie for taking the time to do these “extra” interviews. I especially wanted to thank Tim for delaying his trip to see his new grandson by an hour to get this interview in. Now, let’s talk about Tim. Dr. Rasinski has made wonderful contributions to the field of literacy. Stanford University named Tim among the top 2% of researchers worldwide. The literacy world is certainly lucky to have him!

I think the Fluency Development Lesson (FDL) is a real game-changer. For an investment of 15-20 minutes of daily lesson time, teachers and students can reap the benefits of what research demonstrates (LINK, LINK) is one of the most effective evidence-based interventions. The FDL can be used with virtually any literacy curriculum. Teachers are free to use the materials given in the book or to find similar materials on their own. The only cost of implementing the full program is running off the various materials from the book. Teachers are given a license to do that. I feel fluency can be taught and should be taught explicitly and directly. More about that in a minute.

Fluency is not about reading fast LINK. Fluency is about reading well, reading with prosody and reading for meaning. Fluency instruction can improve students’ knowledge and use of sound-symbol relations. As you will see from these two related blog entries, dinner guests that night were in for a real treat.

Here is a picture of what the audience saw during the live interview that evening. Tim came on virtually, and the whole audience watched the interview live.  Later today, I will post the video of Julia’s interview about her session. That session gave a detailed look at how she successfully implemented the FDL with both younger and older students. It came right after this one. I hope my readers will find the information from both interviews useful as they carry out their district’s reading and writing curriculum.

So, please take a look at the next blog, Happy Reading and Writing.

Dr. Sam Bommarito (aka, the guy in the middle taking flak from all sides)

Copyright 2026 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely this author’s views and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization.

PS If you found the blog on Facebook or X (Formerly Twitter), please consider following it so you won’t miss future posts.  Use the “follow” entry on the sidebar of the blog.

Read All About It- Important things to look at online this week- by Dr. Sam Bommarito

Each week, I search the internet and find important posts that you shouldn’t miss. The descriptions of these posts will be brief, hence the title Read All About It. Read All About It posts typically appear during the week. Read All About posts will allow you to link to the featured items.

ENJOY!      

I gave my keynote address at the SoMLA Conference. This weekend I’ll have two blog posts about that. The first one will be about my live interview with Tim Rasinski. Tim is among the top 2% of researchers worldwide, according to Stanford University. He talks about a book he coauthored. The book is:

Tim explains the how and why of carrying out FDL (Fluency Development Lesson). The book contains a full year’s worth of weekly lessons for 5 different grade levels. Lynn Kulich does a great job of creating easy-to-follow lessons for each day of the week. Tim created word ladders specific to each lesson, and David Harrison created poems and/or questions for those weeks that included Social Science topics. ALL the materials you need to carry out the lessons are in the book, and you have copyright permission to recreate those materials. This is definitely a book to look at.

I usually do only one blog per weekend, but this weekend I’m also including an interview with Julia, in addition to the interview with Tim. She talks about how she got incredible results using Tim’s materials and shares some great nuts-and-bolts ideas for using them. Be sure to have a look at my blog this weekend. to find these two entrees https://doctorsam7.blog/

Paul writes a counterpoint article about an article claiming that states are blowing millions on reading instruction that doesn’t work. It’s always good to look at all sides of an issue before making up your mind.

LINK

It’s always good to read things from all sides before making up your mind about important literacy issues. The preceding links will help you find out what the other sides are saying.

Finally, ILEC has an upcoming webinar

George Hruby presents

After the Flood: Reading Instruction Post SoR

Thursday, April 9th, 2026, at 7:00 PM EST 6:00 PM CST, 4:00 PST

Register in advance for this free webinar:

https://minnstate.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_NLkk_2jRSoyKg_znVXw_kw

Science of Reading’s murky waters have crested, says Dr. Hruby. Our classrooms are ours to reclaim if we strategize now. Join Dr. Hruby in a conversation about why SOR may be on the outs, the backstories behind it, and how we can take back control of our teaching and students’ learning.

---

Final Thoughts

It’s always good to listen to all sides of an issue before making up your mind. There’s a lot of food for thought in the preceding links. Hope you will find them informative.

Dr. Sam

(The guy in the middle, taking flak from all sides)

The above image is from my keynote address. It summarizes the key points of my addressOne of the best explanations of the foundations of scientific inquiry was made by Dr.  Neil deGrasse Tyson.  The YouTube video is less than 2 minutes. Please do have a look and listen. A lso Please do feel free to leave comments on this post about the whole issue of how to teach literacy to our students.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kDHD-zcwDPI

Jefferey Austin Discusses His Unique Role as a State Literacy Consultant: An Interview by Dr. Sam Bommarito

This interview with Jefferey Austin was a real eye-opener for me. Jefferey has a role that is rarely found in the literacy world. He is a reading consultant working for the state, paid to help specific districts. It seems to me that being alone is notable.  Many times, when I argue that the local district is best suited to create curricula for the district, I’m told that many states lack the depth of knowledge needed to do so. However, if the state provides expert help, then that is no longer an issue. In addition, his final advice to state legislators is to examine what mandated reading tests require of students (especially high school students), what some programs teach and how they test “reading”.  Many programs focus on teaching word lists or very short passages. What Jefferey reports is that when one looks at things like the “Mississippi Miracle”, the fact is that it doesn’t exist. State tests require much more than the tests some programs use to claim miraculous results. His report dovetails completely with what other critics, such as P.L. Thomas and Andy Johnson, have been saying about the so-called Miracles. Before jumping on the bandwagon of adopting narrow-focus approaches, state legislators would do well to have their own experts examine what the state tests require vs. what the so-called miracle programs provide. That issue will be something we will study in future blogs. Now let’s have a look at the interview.

Here are the time-stamped talking points for the interview (They allow you to go to the sections that interest you the most first)

Here is a link to the YouTube Interview:

Final Thoughts

Please listen to the interview from 12:25 to 20:17. It includes this quote:

“What Seidenberg is feeling is what a lot of us are feeling, the research base and the political implementation of the research base are two very different things, and there was something, maybe a few things, that are lost in translation.”

Jefferey went on to talk about lawsuits brought by high school students in Michigan advocating for a guaranteed right to learn. As a result of interviews with high school students and the expert testimony of Elizabeth Bir Moje, the Dean of the Marsal School of Education, a document called The Disciplinary Literacy Essentials was created. Here is a link to a website that provides practical applications of Disciplinary Literacy Essentials. LINK. Please do visit the website. I found it to be exceptionally well thought out and detailed.  In my upcoming Keynote at the SoMLA (State of Maryland Literacy Association) conference in Baltimore, Maryland, this week, I’ll use that website as a jumping-off point for an extended, nuanced discussion of the future of literacy instruction in general and, especially, in Secondary Schools.

I think it is time to argue (not debate) the issues around literacy instruction. Perhaps in that kind of nuanced discussion, we’ll find the common ground based on common sense that will finally cut through the Gordian knot of how best to teach literacy.

Dare to Dream.

Dr. Sam Bommarito (aka, the guy in the middle taking flak from all sides)

Copyright 2026 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely this author’s views and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization. Copyrighted materials by Jefferey Austin were used with permission.

PS If you found the blog on Facebook or X (formerly Twitter), please consider following it so you will not miss future posts.  Links to do that are on the sidebar of this blog.

Read All About It- Important things to look at online this week by Dr. Sam Bommarito

Each week, I search the internet and find important posts that you shouldn’t miss. The descriptions of these posts will be brief, hence the title Read All About It. Read All About It posts typically appear during the week. Read All About posts will allow you to link to the featured items.

ENJOY!      

FRIDAY NOV 6TH

LINK

3/20/2026

LINK

NEXT PAGE

LINK

LINK

NEXT PAGE

I picked these posts because this week I am using elements from each of them in my upcoming keynote address for the SoMLA conference. Viewed from the lens of the “Reading Wars,” it might appear that there are two distinct sides with little hope of finding common ground. However, viewed through the lens of a Centrist like me, the picture is different. That is because I take a nuanced view of the issues surrounding literacy. Viewed that way, there really is more common ground than most folks imagine.

My keynote address at the conference will talk about how we can take an unencumbered view and talk (not argue) about literacy issues, using common sense to find common ground. Registration for this year’s conference is closed. For those of you who have registered, please do attend the opening session and also the appreciation dinner the evening of the session. There will be lots to see and do at SoMLA this year.

Dr. Sam

Read All About It- Important things to look at online this week

by Dr. Sam Bommarito

Each week, I will scour the internet and find important posts that you shouldn’t miss. The descriptions of these posts will be brief; hence the title “Read All About It.” Read All About It posts typically appear during the week. Read All About posts will allow you to link to the featured items.

ENJOY!      

See next page

You won’t want to miss this one. Register for the 2026 SoMLA conference. LOTS of great sessions to pick from. One you won’t want to miss is the March xx dinner honoring Dr. Tim Rasinski. Tim will be coming in virtually. Dr. Sam Bommarito will be there in person and interview Tim live. Dr. Sam will be on the stage, and Tim will be on a large screen behind him. After the interview, Julia Armstrong and her cadre will be on the floor and will provide various books. She will use those books to show participants how she implements Tim’s FLP (Fluency Lesson Plan). Each participant will get three books from the Benchmarks KG Storytelling program to take home. Some other lucky participants will get a copy of Tim’s FLP book. That book contains all the materials you need to carry out FLP’s for a full year. Talk about something to bring back to use on Monday. Wow! We hope to see you there. Here is the link to register! LINK.

https://www.somla.online/calendar-of-events.html

Here is a link to join Leah Mermelstien’s cohort. LINK

Here is a link to read what else Janet had to say about this very important topic.

LINK

That’s all for this week! Be sure to check out my upcoming blog on Saturday as well!

Dr. Sam (the guy in the middle, taking flak from all sides)

Julia Armstrong discusses the hands-on advisory services she and her cadre will provide to supplement Dr. Tim Rasinski’s virtual appearance at the upcoming SoMLA conference in Maryland. An Interview by Dr. Sam Bommarito

The upcoming SoMLA’s (Reading Conference) is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for both Julia and me. What is happening is that I am interviewing Tim Rasinski at a conference dinner being held in Tim’s honor. People attending the dinner will see Tim arrive via a live feed. I will be on stage conducting a blog interview. People attending this event will get to see all this live. I’ll be on stage; Tim’s real-time feed will be displayed on a large screen, visible to all attendees.  Among the topics Tim and I will discuss is a book he co-authored with Lynn Kulick, Ph.D., and David Harrison. The book’s title is The Fluency Development Lesson Plan: Closing the Reading Gap.

After the interview is finished, Julia Armstrong and her cadre of volunteers will circulate among the tables. Each participant will be given copies of books from Benchmark’s Decodable Readers Theatre single-copy set.  They will be able to keep these books, so that means all participants will be getting “take-home materials they can use on Monday”.  For my readers interested in attending this session, here is the conference link. This session is one of the add-ons you get to choose from. I hope to see many of you there!

Here are the time-stamped talking points for the interview (They allow you to go to the sections that interest you the most first)

Here is a link to the YouTube Interview:

Julia’s Other Resources:

Julia and her husband create puppet skits incorporating songs or raps to reinforce phonics skills. If you like these skits, be sure to subscribe to their channel.

https://www.youtube.com/@wordworkwonders4814

The puppet skits also align with decodable texts. These texts are located on Amazon:

      LINK                                                  LINK                                LINK

 LINK                                       LINK                                   LINK  

           LINK                                        LINK                                        LINK

              LINK                                       LINK                                  LINK

     LINK

Julia also created passages for the “Words Their Way” series, including multisyllabic passages that align with the SIPPS Challenge program. These stories are located at:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Word-Work-Wonders

Final Thoughts

As I said earlier, taking part in this event with Dr. Tim Rasinski is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I have known Tim for a very long time and have watched the evolution of the FDL from its earliest days to now. Tim’s latest book about FDL is an amazing resource for teachers. It has all the materials you need to conduct a FULL YEAR’S worth of Fluency Development Lessons. The only cost beyond buying the book is printing the support materials, which include word ladders from Tim and poems and passages by the very talented David Harrison. Julie found she could use these materials with her 4^th and 5th-grade kiddos, with some amazing results. Here is a LINK to her blog post about that. It includes information about the data she gathered on the impact on her kids. Julie is not alone in finding the significant impact Tim’s work on repeated reading has had. I will detail that information during my keynote at this conference. The biggest takeaway from that keynote presentation is this: teaching fluency using Tim’s methods has produced effect sizes larger than those for phonics. I make it clear that I see his work as an addition to, not a replacement for, phonics. I’m asking educators to imagine what it would be like to adopt both.

Dare to Dream!

Dr. Sam Bommarito (aka, the guy in the center taking flak from all sides)

Copyright 2026 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely this author’s views and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization. Materials from Benchmark used in this entry are copyrighted by Benchmark. Tim, Julie, and I want to acknowledge the generous support Benchmark has provided by sponsoring this event and providing the take-home materials to the participants.

PS If you found the blog on Facebook or X (formerly Twitter), please consider following it so you will not miss future posts.  Use the “follow” entry on the sidebar of the blog.

This weekend’s blog will be delayed until Friday. I’ll also be posting my usual Saturday blog on Saturday. Sorry for the delay!

Dr. Sam

Read All About It- Headlines for the week of Feb. 23rd,

Dr. Sam will be doing a podcast with Tim RasinkiMarch 24^th Dinner Event at the SoMLA conference

Podcast: Tim Rasinski & Dr. Sam

Attendees will have the opportunity to view a live podcast as Dr. Sam Bommarito (aka Dr. Sam) interviews Tim Rasinski about his book, The Fluency Development Lesson: Closing the Reading Gap. Following the interview, participants will engage in a sampling of activities from the book, including a focus poem, step-by-step guidance for implementing the fluency development lesson, and a song. Participants will receive ready-to-use materials for immediate classroom application, along with a selection of Reader’s Theater books. Attendees will actively participate in hands-on activities designed to support transfer, application, and meaning-making.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Here is a follow-up to Ann Kay’s Interview. It contains a lot of valuable information about Early Childhood in the Elementary school.

Please see our Letter to Administrators of Early Childhood and Elementary Schools.

Ann C. Kay, Co-Founder & Education Coordinator

The Rock ‘n’ Read Project

www.rocknreadproject.org

952-237-2094

 To: Administrators of Early Childhood and Elementary Schools From: Ann C. Kay, Rock’ n’ Read Project Date: February 2026 Re: The Link Between Singing, Music Skills, and Literacy Development

The Science of Reading Includes the Science of Music. Recent brain research has revealed that auditory processing is the foundation of language and literacy. Singing and basic music skills are essential tools for developing these neural pathways. For instance, research shows that children who cannot maintain a steady beat are significantly more likely to struggle with reading.

Key Research & Resources:

 Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory (Northwestern University): Brainvolts

 Full Research Bibliography: Effects of Music-Making on Brain Development

This bibliography is 10 pages long!

Proven Results: The Rock’ n’ Read Project.

The Rock’ n’ Read Project (RnR) is a Minnesota 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to using music to prepare young brains for reading. Our impact includes:

 State-Backed Success: After receiving a $600,000 grant from the MN Legislature, RnR helped 2,500 elementary students achieve an average 1-year reading gain in just 14 hours of usage.

 A Song A Day: Brain Prep for Pre-Readers: Our research-based curriculum (published by Ventris Learning) is designed specifically for 4- to 6-year-olds to bridge the gap between music and literacy.

Musical Fitness for Every Child: A Call to Action

We invite you to promote student wellbeing and brain development through daily music-making. Access our free resources at rocknreadproject.org/pre-reading skills, including: free musical fitness assessment, “brain train” activities, and professional development opportunities.

Save the Date: Science of Music & Reading Summit (Fall 2026)

Join neuroscientists and educators to explore evidence-based strategies to prepare all children for reading success—more details to follow via the website.

Contact: Ann C. Kay, Co-Founder/Education Coordinator ann@rnrproject.org

www.rocknreadproject.org

Be on the lookout for my upcoming blogs. This week, I spoke with Dr. Latisha Smith, the author of numerous children’s books. She calls herself an avid writer. I must agree with that assessment. The timing for talking about her books couldn’t be better. After all, it’s Black History Month, and Latisha is a black author writing books for black children. You can’t get a much better match than that. Because the Read All About post came in late, I am waiting until tomorrow (Sunday, February 28^th) to post the blog about that interview.

 And there’s more to come after that, including Dr. Chase Young and Rachel Gabriel.

So those are the headlines of this week. Until tomorrow:

Happy Reading and Writing

Dr. Sam

The guy in the middle: catching flak from all sides

Copyright 2025 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely this author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization.

Follow this blog to make sure you don’t miss anything– use the lhe links in the top right-hand corner of this entry.

Read All About It- Important things to review from the week of Feb 16

by Dr. Sam Bommarito

As I said last week, I’m adding a new feature to my blogging routine. Each week, I scour the internet to find important posts you shouldn’t miss. The descriptions of these posts are brief, hence the title Read All About It.  

THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES

This week marks a career high for me.  On March 24th, I will be the Keynote speaker at The State of Maryland’s annual convention. That evening, I’ll be joined by Dr. Timothy Rasinski. Dr. Rasinski will attend the event virtually. I’ll be on the stage in front of 100 dinner guests, and Dr. Rasinki will appear behind me on a very large screen. That should be quite a sight.

 Dr. Rasinski is the world’s foremost expert on fluency. Stanford University recognized him as among the top 2% of researchers worldwide.  He has conducted years of research on fluency. He has found ways to TEACH (not practice) fluency through repeated reading. Using his methodologies, he has clearly demonstrated that students not only learned the target words during each week’s session, but also start at a higher level in the next week’s readings. So the students are not just learning a few sight words; they’re also improving their ability to figure out future words.  He found the effect size of this bridging process to be larger than that of explicitly taught phonics. So imagine what it will be like when you do use both explicit phonics and repeated reading with your students.

After the podcast, Dr. Rasinski and I will stay around while Julie Armstrong and her cadre lead several engaging activities with the audience. Each audience member will receive a copy of the Benchmark book Pat & Pals Decodable Readers Theater. That book contains eleven hilarious CVC/digraph scripts tailored for small groups. A very special thank you to Benchmark for sponsoring the event.  This is an event you won’t want to miss. Find out how to register for this in-person convention on the SoMLA Facebook page LINK. I hope to see you all there!

Recently, Lester Lemack posted what may be the most important announcement of this school year.

Be on the lookout for my upcoming blogs.  This week I talk to Dr. Latisha Smith. She is the author of numerous children’s books. She calls herself an avid writer. I have to agree. The timing for talking about her books couldn’t be better. After all, it’s Black History Month, and Latisha is a black author writing books for black children. You can’t get a better match than that.

 And there’s more to come after that, including interviews with Jefferey Austin, who serves as a Dyslexia Reading Consultant to several school districts,  Dr. Chase Young and Dr. Rachel Gabriel.

So those are this week’s headlines. Until next week:

Happy Reading and Writing

Dr. Sam

The guy in the middle: catching flak from all sides

Copyright 2025 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely this author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization.