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.

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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.

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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.

Rock N  Read into Fluency: Ann Kay talks about her new program-

An interview conducted by Dr. Sam Bommarito

It’s been almost 6 years since I first talked to Ann about her Rock N Read project. Ann’s interview about that program was my very first video podcast. It was very well received. She told me about her very successful Rock N Read program as it existed at that time (2020). Here is a link to that first interview LINK.

Fast forward to today. Let’s listen to her newest video interview. In it, she talks about how her project has changed. Beginning about 4 years ago, she shifted the project’s focus to early childhood. It has a strong parental component. As part of that transition, she carefully reviewed early childhood research and used it to guide her revisions to her program. What has emerged is an effective, engaging program. Ann was the first person to call my attention to the tremendous impact music can have on the brain. Her work dovetails nicely with Rasinski’s research about repeated reading. Using song as a vehicle, she gives students a reason to read and reread selected passages. Her initial interview changed the way I do my blog. Video podcast interviews have become a standard fare on my blog. This latest interview made me realize that there is growing evidence that students benefit substantially from music in general and singing in particular. Accordingly, I’ll be creating a category in my blog display where readers can explore all the blogs related to this topic, and there are quite a few of them.

The really important point is this. Ann has found a way to help parents help their kids. Let’s now turn to her biography and video interview to learn more about what she has done.

Biography (taken from her website)

Here is Ann’s Interview

Rock ‘n’ Read Project website: LINK

HIGHLIGHTS FROM HER WEBSITE

A Song A Day: Brain Prep for Pre-Readers – PreK/K curriculum

Brain Research LINK

Research Bibliography: Effects of Music-Making on Brain Development and Achievement (pdf) LINK

Brain Train Activities (free downloadable materials) LINK

Musical Fitness Assessment (free) LINK

Conclusion

During the interview, I was particularly impressed by the depth of information Ann shared about the brain research underpinning her practices. Be sure to examine the links about these on her webpage. I included a few highlights of those in the section just before this one. I was equally impressed with the activities that she shared. Teachers get an extensive, ready-to-use package of free brain activities and a Musical Fitness Assessment, both based on the research she shared. I think you can see how this fits into Rasinski’s repeated reading format. I hope you find the research and the activity useful in your class. If you do, please share that information on how it worked for you by making comments on this blog. Sooooo- until next week:

Happy Reading and Writing.

From Dr. Sam, the guy taking flak from all sides

Copyright 2026 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Items from Rock N Read are copyrighted by Ann K and used with permission. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely this author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization.

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

As I said last week, I’m adding a new feature to my blogging routine. 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.  

Here are some things I noticed this week- The week of February 9^th.

THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES

David Harrison just got an article published in the California Reader. The article will be available soon, but in the meantime, he described it on his blog: LINK.

LitCon’s Virtual conference is officially open now:

Here’s the link to the conference: LINK. Note that registered attendees can start seeing the on-demand sessions TODAY. If you are not registered, here is a LINK to register. Dr. Donna Scanlon is the keynote speaker, and the list of on-demand presentations is nearly endless. They cover a variety of important literacy topics. SEE YOU THERE!

Julius Anthony was interviewed by Sarah Thompson, a local TV personality in St. Louis. The show is called City Corner. I look forward to seeing the segment air. I’ll put it in the Headline post when it does. In the meantime, visit my blog interview with Julius about his amazing literacy project. He now has 18 sites across the St. Louis region where children can relax and read books relevant to them. Please see the blog interview I did with him about his book LINK.

Be on the lookout for my upcoming blogs. This week, I’ll be speaking with Ann Kay about her Rock and Read Project. We’ll find out about the new turn the project has taken. The week after that, we’ll talk to Dr. Latisha Smith. She calls herself an avid writer. She has a full-time job in education,  but still finds time to author 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 there’s more to come after that, including Dr. Chase Young and 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.