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.
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.
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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
3/20/2026
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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.
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:
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 4th 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.
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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