Speech First Reading Instruction- A conversation with Nora Chahbazi about her powerful EBLI instructional system: An interview conducted by Dr. Sam Bommarito
I’ve interviewed Nora Chahbazi several times over the past couple of years. Nora is the founder of EBLI Evidence-Based Literacy Instruction. I first met Nora over the internet while exploring the net, looking for effective evidence-based instructional systems. Her instructional system stood out because she has demonstrated gains in both comprehension and decoding performance for elementary students. She has achieved those gains much more quickly than in other programs. In this interview, she tells us about herself, how EBLI came into being, and how EBLI uses a Speech First Approach to get the impressive results she is reporting.
On a separate note- I also want to thank Nora for arranging for me to participate in the upcoming documentary The Truth About Reading. An independent producer is creating the documentary. Nora encouraged that producer to include many different points of view about how reading should be taught, including my centrist views about reading. While Nora and I don’t agree on everything about reading, we do share an increasing common ground of ideas about what works and what is important. I’m hoping that by sharing current thinking and ideas from various perspectives, including Nora’s, readers of this blog can help enlarge the size of that common ground. Let’s now look at what Nora said about herself and her system of instruction.
Biography (provided by Nora):
Nora Chahbazi, B.S., R.N.
Founder, EBLI Evidence-Based Literacy Instruction
As a leading literacy expert, Nora has spent 20+ years revolutionizing reading instruction. She has received recognition for her lifelong work in the form of several noteworthy nominations and awards including the Editor’s Choice Award from Celebrity Press, the Quilly Award from the National Academy of Best-Selling Authors, and the Literacy Champion Award from DNA Films. She is a published author worldwide and has been featured in multiple literacy development articles and books. Nora is a featured speaker across the nation and has collaborated with universities to advance research and development of reading. She is the literacy consultant for the upcoming documentary The Truth About Reading. Nora has been featured in multiple TV and radio interviews and podcasts, including APM and Oprah Radio (where she was interviewed by Maya Angelou). Her life’s work is to teach the world to read.
Here is the YouTube podcast of the interview:
Here is the interview discussion. Topics are time stamped:
Here are the links to two of the books Nora talked about:
Why Our Children Can’t Read and What We Can Do About It: A Scientific Revolution in Reading LINK
Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning LINK
SIGN UP to receive NORA’s blog and email newsletter! LINK
Here is Nora’s Website LINK
Click on these key links to go to these specific items on Nora’s Website/YouTube Channel:
Dr. Sam’s Upcoming Summer Blogs- As I indicated last week, in the next few weeks, I am continuing to arrange for additional interviews with authors of some of the many professional books that have been published lately. I’m making arrangements right now to talk to both Julia B. Lindsey and Tim Rasinski, among others. I hope to carry out those interviews before the new school year begins. Also, near the end of summer, I hope to talk to you about my plans for my push-ins this fall at the school where I serve as a pro bono reading consultant in grades K-3. I’ll be teaching two full days a week, doing large group, small group, and individual sessions. I hope that talking about what I’ll be doing will allow readers to see how I adapt my instruction to the many ideas I’ve gotten from my lifelong search for common ground and common sense. In the meantime:
Happy Reading and Writing.
Dr. Sam Bommarito, aka the centrist who uses ideas from all sides to inform his teaching
Copyright 2022 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely the author’s view and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization.
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