I am taking time for New Year’s Celebration with friends and family. All the best to you for 2023. I am resuming the blog next week. Dr. Sam

A Holiday Message from Dr. Sam

I want to thank everyone for the well wishes for my wife’s speedy recovery. She is doing well, and the whole family is coming to our place for Christmas. Many of you know the story of the teacher who went to an upscale party. The host of the party asked her about what she makes. She looked him straight in the eye and said- “I make a difference.” So, Holiday greetings to all the teachers and all the folks involved in helping our children learn. The blog will resume next week!

Michele Dufresne, the author of many P.D. books & award-winning children’s books, talks about her books & her upcoming LitCon sessions- An interview conducted by Dr. Sam Bommarito

A special notice of thanks to everyone for the many well wishes for my wife after her accident. She is back home and doing much better. Again, thanks for your concern. Dr. Sam

For those of you looking for professional development books that give research-based practices that will enhance your word work in guided reading and wonderful award-winning children’s books to use to implement those practices, look no further than Michele Dufresne. Here is a biography outlining her background and many accomplishments.

Michele Dufresne’s Biography

Michele Dufresne is a former literacy specialist who turned her commitment for teaching children to read into a major focus of her writing, speaking and teaching. She is the best-selling author of the Bella and Rosie series and many other fiction and nonfiction books used by teachers nationally and internationally.

Together with Jan Richardson, she has authored the best-selling Literacy Footprint Guided Reading System published by Pioneer Valley Books which has become an indispensable part of helping teachers deliver high-quality guided reading to students in K-6 classrooms. In Fall of 2019, Michele’s new book, co-authored with Jan, The Next Step Forward in Word Study and Phonics, was published by Scholastic. She is also the author of Word Solvers: Making Sense of Letters and Words, published by Heinemann books. She has recently worked on a collection of new Pioneer Valley books that provide teachers with high-quality, engaging decodable books. She has also recently worked on new high-interest fiction, nonfiction, and graphic novels with myths. Her book Oki and the Polar Bear won the 2017 Moonbeam Silver award.

Michele holds a doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts. She has been a classroom teacher, language arts specialist, Title 1 Director, Reading Recovery Teacher Leader, and consultant in school districts across the United States.

When not writing or working with children and teachers in schools, Michele enjoys taking her dogs for walks and playing with her four grandchildren, Jaxson, Harper, Mae and Simon.  She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts (when it is warm) and St Augustine, Florida (when it is cold!)

She continues to work on improving literacy education and increasing students’ access to books that engage and support children who are learning to read. 

Here are the talking points covered in Michele’s YouTube interview. They are time-stamped in order to help you locate the topics of most interest.

These are the sessions Michele will be conducting at LitCon 2023. LitCon will be in Columbus, Ohio, again this year. Michele’s sessions are held on Sunday, Jan 29., see details below:

Here is a link to LitCon LINK.

Michele’s books

The Next Step Forward in Word Study and Phonics LINK

Pioneer Valley Storybooks LINK

Dr. Sam’s Future Blogs and appearances-

Sometime very soon, The Robb Review will be publishing a summative blog that I wrote entitled A Centrist’s Perspective on Reading Wars: Educators Need to Use Common Sense to find Common Ground. That blog summarizes the things I’ve been saying about the reading wars over the past four years.  In January, I will be presenting two sessions at LitCon. I’ll also be doing a Webinar for Pioneer Valley Books about the merits of BL, and the research supporting BL (and there really is plenty of that in spite of claims to the contrary). I have an interview with Eric Litwin in February, and I will be doing a blog entry around that. In addition to that, I’ll I also have a virtual conference in New York for an ILA group there. In March, I have two conferences in Mo, The Early Childhood conference at Lake of the Ozarks, Mo, and the Write to Learn conference in Columbia, Mo.  So, I’ll have a lot going on in the New Year.

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.

P.S. If you found the blog through Facebook or Twitter, please consider following it to ensure you won’t miss future posts. Use the “follow” entry on the sidebar of the blog.

P.P.S. Just in case you might want a virtual presentation or classroom visit- e-mail me at bommaritosam@yahoo.com

I will not be posting a blog today. My wife was involved in an auto accident. She spent time in the ICU. She is now home and recovering. I will resume blogging next week.

Below is a first responders’ jpg. I want to give special thanks to all the folks who helped her through this. I want to use the jpg below to remind everyone that all first responders are heroes who have our backs every day. We all owe them a great debt.

Dr. Sam

Rethinking Reading Policy in the Science of Reading Era: What Paul Thomas will be saying at LitCon this year. An update by Dr. Sam Bommarito

Paul Thomas will be a featured speaker again at this year’s LitCon conference. Details about the conference will appear at the end of this blog entry. Let’s first find out a little bit about Paul.

Here is an interview I did with Paul last year. Here are the topics we discussed. They are time-stamped.

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. (01:30)

2. Recent issues of RRQ and P.D. Pearson’s new book have led many to believe that it is “not settled science.”  What is your take on that? (02:50)

3. Does it make sense to effectively ban selected practices found in balanced approaches to reading, e.g., reading Recovery, workshop teaching or guided reading? (6:45)

4. What is your take on some SOR programs, including retention in 3^rd grade, as a part of the program to raise test scores? (10:47)

5. Cambourne and Crouch recently said we should stop using the Reading Wars metaphor and replace it with the metaphor of the Reading Quilt- with different “sides” adding different pieces to the quilt. Do you see any hope for that point of view? Do you see hope for an end to the divisive discourse?  Do you see hope for ending the reading wars? (13:20)

6. Final thoughts (24:00)

Here is the YouTube interview: https://youtu.be/qoyxLyHP53M

Since doing the above interview, Paul has had much to say about the social media version of the science of reading. Last April, Paul challenged Emily Hanford’s reporting on  Dr. May’s longitudinal study of Reading Recovery LINK. He pointed out that a British study published near the same time as the study Hanford reported showed that Recovery did demonstrate a positive long-term effect on reading achievement. Yet Hanford chose to ignore that study. My own criticism of Hanford’s position pointed out how she also slanted her reporting on Dr. May’s longitudinal study in her recent podcast. She reported on the study in such a way that it appeared the study proved Reading Recovery doesn’t work. When presenting the study at the AERA conference,  Dr. May’s answers to inquiries about Reading Recovery were the opposite of what Hanford had implied. Dr. May said, “schools should give Reading Recovery to students and ensure they follow up on them later.” LINK.   

At this year’s LitCon, Paul will be diving deep into the issue of what reading policies should look like in the era of the Science of Reading, especially considering all the misdirection and misinformation that have appeared lately in social media.

Here is a link to his video about his upcoming appearance. In it, he promises to give ideas around how to stop doing the same things we have done repeatedly for the last 100 years and instead try something different.

Here is a link to Paul’s Book: https://https://www.infoagepub.com/products/How-to-End-the-Reading-War-and-Serve-the-Literacy-Needs-of-All-Students-2nd-edwww.infoagepub.com/products/How-to-End-the-Reading-War-and-Serve-the-Literacy-Needs-of-All-Students

Follow Paul on Twitter: @plthomasEdD 

Here is a link to Paul’s blog: https://radicalscholarship.wordpress.com/

Here is a link to Paul’s newest blog post about problems with the way media covers SOR: https://www.infoagepub.com/products/How-to-End-the-Reading-War-and-Serve-the-Literacy-Needs-of-All-Students-2nd-ed

Also see Thomas, P.L. (2022). The Science of Reading movement: The never-ending debate and the need for a different approach to reading instruction. LINK

Here is a link to the LitCon 2023 website: LINK

Over the next couple of months, I will continue blogging about interviews with various literacy leaders. Eric Litwin and Lester Laminack have both agreed to be interviewed. I will also be doing a guest blog for the Robb Review. So it will be a busy and productive time.

So, until next week,

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.

P.S. If you found the blog through Facebook or Twitter, please consider following it to ensure you won’t miss future posts. Use the “follow” entry on the sidebar of the blog.