As a centrist, one of my goals in the past few years has been to meet and learn from people of all different points of view about how to teach reading. Doing that helps me find the common ground that I know exists on this very important topic. Nickie Simonette has spent 50 years teaching children with dyslexia. As you will see in the interview, she has found ways to help them become readers and writers. She has done this in part by focusing on what she calls the overlooked factors. In our many conversations on Twitter, I’ve found Nickie to be open-minded and full of ideas that help teachers help kids. I was excited when she agreed to talk to me about her experiences and the books she has written. I’m also grateful that Nicki agreed to do an article for the upcoming special edition of The Missouri Reader. That special edition will look at all sides of the issue of how to best teach reading.

Now it is time to have a look at the interview. Here are the topics we discussed. They are time stamped.

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. (02:00)

2. Applications & ideas found in her books, including an explanation of how vowel and consonant sounds are formed (06:06)

3. The overlooked factors about children with dyslexia (22:17)

4. The role of syntax (25:13)

5. Comprehension (28:38)

6. Case Study that will be the subject of the Missouri Reader article (33:00)

5. Final thoughts (46:42)

Here is the YouTube interview:

Here is a link to Nicki’s Book:

https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=Bzt7DwAAQBAJ&gl=us&hl=en-US&source=productsearch&utm_source=HA_Desktop_US&utm_medium=SEM&utm_campaign=PLA&pcampaignid=MKT-FDR-na-us-1000189-Med-pla-bk-Evergreen-Jul1520-PLA-eBooks_Education&gclid=CjwKCAjwg4-EBhBwEiwAzYAlsjHB8awYJ9yFqUe24QUFhpXpC2i5WvOl-mK3I8ut-NaZWdnl759ifhoCSLwQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Follow Nicki on Twitter:

@NickieSimonetti

Next week, I will write about my interview with Lori Oczkus as she shares her story about how she uses Reciprocal Teaching. Reciprocal Teaching is a way of teaching reading/reading comprehension with a very large research base. Her many fun and practical ideas for implementing Reciprocal Teaching have made her a sought-after expert for professional development. She has reached over 100,000 teachers so far. Just lately, she has worked with teachers in both Australia and Hawaii.  I am also arranging several interviews with other authors that I will share in the coming months.  

So, until next week,

Happy Reading and Writing!

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

Copyright 2021 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely the view of this author and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization

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