The Reading Instruction Show

Reading is a thinking process, not a responding-to-stimuli process or a sounding-out-words process. And since cognitive psychology studies human thinking; it makes good sense to examine the reading process from a cognitive or thinking perspective using the information processing model.• Purpose statement: The reader will develop a basic understanding of reading from a cognitive perspective.• Behavioral objective: After reading this chapter, the reader will be able to explain why penguins continue to insist the Dr. Johnson doesn’t believe in direct and explicit phonics instruction.https://thereadinginstructionshow.substack.com/p/reading-and-the-information-processing

Important Terms• Round-robin reading – going around the table or around the room and having each student in turn read a section of text out loud. This is a teaching strategy that should very rarely (if ever) be used.• Popcorn reading – a form of round-robin reading except that the teacher randomly selects students to read a section of text out loud. This is designed to keep all students paying attention and on their toes. This is a teaching strategy that should very rarely (if ever) be used. • Metacognition – thinking about thinking. In the context of reading, it means to pause and check for understanding. Does it make sense? Does it fit in the paragraph? • Word recognition – you see a word in print an instantly know what it is. • Word identification – you see and word in print that you don’t recognize. You must consciously employ some strategy to recognize it. • Clown – a humorous circus performer. In the context of reading, it’s the term used to denote one who thinks they know a great deal about something when in fact, they know very little. • Penguin or phonics penguin - one who thinks that heavy phonics and decoding should be the primary focus of early reading instruction. Every reading problem becomes a phonics problem and every solution becomes a phonics solution because that’s all they know. • Lexicon – the dictionary in your head. These are all the words in your vocabulary. These words are known at various levels.

If you’re looking for accessible, research-based information that slices through the endless loads of overly worded baloney, I would encourage you to subscribe to my free Substack, The Reading Instruction Show. Substack: The Reading Instruction Showhttps://thereadinginstructionshow.substack.com/

The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) recently put out another technical report. This technical report graded 700 teacher preparation programs across the country (Ellis, et al., 2026). However, a critical evaluation shows why this report can’t be taken seriously. It contains an abundance of misinformation, disinformation, and convenient inaccuracies. It’s not known if these were intentional on the part of the writers or a result of a lack of knowledge. If you’re looking for accessible, research-based information that slices through the endless loads of overly worded baloney, I would encourage you to subscribe to my free Substack, The Reading Instruction Show. Substack: The Reading Instruction Showhttps://thereadinginstructionshow.substack.com/

Matthew 7: 1-2.“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.”My MAGA Christian friends tell me I’m not supposed to judge them. They quote Matthew 7: 1-2 as if it’s a get-out-of-jail card, then they do whatever the hell they want to do.https://dr731.substack.com/p/my-maga-friends-tell-me-not-to-judge

If you’re looking for accessible, research-based information that slices through the endless loads of overly worded baloney, I would encourage you to subscribe to my free Substack, The Reading Instruction Show. Substack: The Reading Instruction Showhttps://thereadinginstructionshow.substack.com/

ntroduction to Reading FluencyThis session focuses on fluency, one of the five core areas of reading defined by the National Reading Panel (following previous sessions on phonemic awareness and phonics/word work).Definition: Reading fluency is the ability to process text quickly.Target Audience: Fluency activities should strictly be used for students who actually need them—those who actively struggle with fluency.The Music Analogy: Fluency practice is very much like practicing musical scales. You practice scales so you don't have to read a piece of music note-by-note. While it is essential, practicing scales is only one small part of your overall practice time. Similarly, fluency instruction should only take up three to eight minutes a day of a student's total reading time.Clarifying Key TermsProsody: This is when oral reading naturally sounds like speaking, featuring correct pauses and inflections. You do not explicitly teach prosody; prosody is an effect of achieving fluency.Expression: Reading with expression is really only necessary for theater or dramatic readings. Like prosody, natural expression is an effect of fluency rather than something we teach directly.

In 2026, the Minnesota Department of Education requires teachers to be toadies who follow approved teachers’ manuals with fidelity. All the love of reading has been stomped out of students. Reading, writing, listening, thinking, and critically evaluating information has been replaced by remembering, responding, regurgitating, and filling in bubbles on standardized tests. This story ends where it began, in 1981. The Read Act Minnesota is the flux capacitor that has brought us screaming forward to the past (see Figure 4.4). We’ve been transported back to 1981 but it’s much worse this time around.

If you’re looking for accessible, research-based information that slices through the endless loads of overly worded baloney, I would encourage you to subscribe to my free Substack, The Reading Instruction Show. Substack: The Reading Instruction Showhttps://thereadinginstructionshow.substack.com/

Just because a book, article, or presentation includes pictures of a brain or uses a whole bunch of big brain words, does not mean the information presented is always accurate or scientific. We must be responsible consumers of all information, and this includes brain imaging research for reading instruction.

By Dr. Andy Johnson, Executive Director, ILECPush back against top-down SoR mandates that disempower teachers. Get involved with the International Literacy Educators Coalition (ILEC). It’s free.https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd-nZ_vlQu1b-TfDLj3Ryk01lVfJuRWTTMeuyIaEdAKKMiWBQ/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=104234491744726588097

Warning: The academic aristrocacy do not want you to listen to this podcast.

Push back against top-down SoR mandates that disempower teacher. Get involved with ILEC. Sign up at this link:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd-nZ_vlQu1b-TfDLj3Ryk01lVfJuRWTTMeuyIaEdAKKMiWBQ/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=104234491744726588097

Feeling deluged by SOR media, materials, and mandates? Science of Reading’s murky waters have crested, says Dr. Hruby. Our classrooms are ours to reclaim if we strategize now. Join Dr. Hruby in a conversation about why SOR may be on the outs, the backstories behind it, and how we can take back control of our teaching and students’ learning.

In Minnesota our special reading law called The Read Act. The Read Act makes certain kinds of reading instruction mandatory and other kinds illegal. I will confess that during the last two years at Minnesota State University, Mankato, I’ve been teaching illegal reading instruction. Every day I expect masked READ agents to kick down my door, handcuff me, and drag me off to a LETRS training facility somewhere in Wyoming or Texas.

Prince of Peace. How’s that working out for you? How’s that peace thing going? I have to be honest, I don’t see a lot of peace coming out of my Jesus-loving MAGA friends. I see anger, hatred, retribution, violence, and lies. Peace on earth, goodwill toward men (and women and children and animal life and our planet). How’s that goodwill working out for you? Are you feeling it? Is your will good? Or is it selfish? Did I misread Luke? Did the angel say, “Selfish will to all”? I don’t see a lot of goodwill emanating from the Jesus-loving MAGA folks. I see greed, selfishness, violence, indifference, entitlement. I’m sorry. That’s what I’m seeing. And now I see war. And I see killing. And I see people being beat up and locked up. The Christian bible has policies about these sorts of things.

Effective teachers are reflective teachers (Sternberg Zeichner & Liston, 2010). They think about what they’re doing, what they did, and what they’re going to do. There are two levels of reflection: surface level and deep meaning. Both are necessary. But one without the other is not sufficient.

The bible is quite clear on this point: To hell with you who support the Rich Man while Brother Lazarus is sick and starving. To hell with you. To hell with you who turn your back on the poor, the sick, and the strangers among us. To hell with those of you who protect the people who raped and trafficked young girls. To hell with you. The bible cannot be more clear on this point.https://substack.com/home/post/p-188718695

Videos, articles, and much more at my free Substack: Transpersonal Christianityhttps://dr731.substack.com/

The argumentation process is the foundation of academic discourse within the academy. It’s worked well for centuries, enabling our various academic fields to continually evolve. These arguments usually take place in academic journals, academic conferences, and various other academic presentations.

This podcast describes simple, pragmatic, research-based tips for parents to help their child with reading at home and over the summer.

Videos, articles, and much more at my free Substack: Transpersonal Christianityhttps://dr731.substack.com/

Research-based strategies to addres phonics and word work.

This podcast reviews and applies the research related to Comprehension.

This is a good time to revist systemic racism. Trump posted a racist tweet, showing the heads of Barak and Michelle Obama on Monkeys. He won’t apologize for this. Many Trump Republican supporters refused to call him out for this.

Somebody accused me of twisting scripture to fit my political perspective. I didn’t know that wanting to stop the bullying, beating, imprisonment, and killing was a political perspective. I didn’t know that wanting to feed the hungry, attend to the sick and poor was a political perspective. In this Sermon Short I will twist some more biblical scripture at you.Psalm 51:10 says, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." Matthew 5:8 . “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew 12:34. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Matthew 15:18-20. But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. Matthew 5:8. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. https://dr731.substack.com/p/twisted-biblicap-scripture

Jurnalists should not get a free pass on ignorance. This podcast describes the difference between journalists and literacy scholars.

Just because it says it’s ‘research-based’ or ‘scientifically based’ doesn’t mean that it is. Dr. Louisa Moats’ website states that, “Moats developed the landmark professional development program LETRS for teachers and reading specialists and the scientifically based LANGUAGE!” This presentation will demonstrate (a) how Moats misrepresents the results of her own research, (b) how she falsifies and distorts the research of others in her 2021 paper, and (c) how the publishers of LETRS (Lexia Learning) misrepresent the 18 research studies describes in their LETRS Efficacy Research paper.

Evidence and research are at the heart of current SoR mandates. Yet little time and few resources are provided to enable teachers to understand exactly what these terms mean. Worse, it is assumed that teachers must allow the “experts” to read and explain “the research” for them. This patronizing paradigm serves to further chip away at teachers’ autonomy in favor of dependence and subservience. This presentation will use the context of a study by Linnea Ehri (2007) to demonstrate how to read and evaluate a research article. It also demonstrates common tricks and buzzwords used to misinterpret and misrepresent research. This in turn enhances participants ability to be responsible consumers of educational research and research-based claims.

There are travelers who have been beaten, robbed, and left on the side of the road. Why are you walking by? Stop the abuse. Stop ICE.Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Matthew 9:17 - Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.” Mark 2: 22 - And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.” Luke 5:37-39 . And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better.’ ” “Ephesians 2: 3-5. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. Hebrews 4: 12. For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

James 1:19 says, “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, for a man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” Matthew 23: 27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

“There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: (a) haughty eyes, (b) a lying tongue, (c) hands that shed innocent blood, (d) a heart that devises wicked schemes, (e) feet that are quick to rush into evil, (f) a false witness who pours out lies, and (g) a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.”

Below are eight commonly misunderstood terms related to reading instruction.• Reading. • Word recognition. • Word identification• Decoding• Strategy. • Skill• Systematic phonics instruction. • A balanced approach.

This podcast explains eight commonly misunderstood terms related to reading instruction.• Reading. • Word recognition. • Word identification• Decoding• Strategy. • Skill• Systematic phonics instruction. • A balanced approach.

Below are seven big ideas that you should take from this chapter.1. Having a body of knowledge is important in any field.2. Disagreement followed by academic discourse enables a field to evolve.3. Silencing opposing views results in cognitive inbreeding.4. Academic journals are essential for disseminating new knowledge and for academic discourse within a field.5. The process used to get scholarly articles published in an academic journal is much higher than that used to get an article published in a newspaper or magazine.6. Having a body of knowledge that is shallow and disjointed is not optimal for academic discussions or TV interviews.7. John Stossel does not know what an academic journal is.

Let’s review. A couple of months ago, I recorded an online interview for a dyslexia summit. I also put together and recorded a short video presentation. These were both to be shown at a dyslexia summit. I was to then attend the online summit for a live question-and-answer session. On the day of the summit, I emailed to see what time I needed to be online. It was at this point that I was told that I had been disinvited. And my disinvitation had occurred without so much as a disinviting word. It was a gentle but wordless disinvitations.Can you imagine such a thing?The stated reason for my wordless disinvitation was that the writing tone used on some of my digital platforms “is fairly abrasive when speaking about those in other camps in the reading world”. In a previous excerpt, I examined how the abrasiveness of one’s writing tone is determined largely by the cognitive framework held by the reader. I also said that the wordless disinvitation I received was a form of silencing. And any abrasiveness in my writing tone pales in comparison with the continued abrasion endured by teachers and professors as well as the constant attacks on Lucy Calkins, Ken Goodman, and Marie Clay.In this excerpt, we’ll examine reading camps.

It is very hard to have a serious and substantive discussion about a topic like reading instruction with somebody whose knowledge base is shallow and disjointed. You end up in a teaching role.

The abrasiveness of a writing tone is determined largely by the cognitive framework held by the reader. A cognitive framework is the mentally constructed structures that guide individuals in interpreting the world. It becomes the lens through which the world is viewed. Much like a theory, a cognitive framework is used to explain facts and understand phenomena. Some see my writing as abrasive and ill-informed. Others see my writing as non-abrasive and insightful. Regardless, to silence, dismiss, or disinvite somebody based on their perceived tone … is … well, it’s the Science of Reading.

This podcast describes the following:Words - sound groups that represent things in the real world.Buzzwords - are words used to elicit an emotional response rather than accurately transmitting information. Propagating lexiconic locution – an overuse of academic buzzwords.Weasel words - words are used to give the impression of something without really saying something. Strawman argument – Creating a cartoonish or distorted version of something then arguing against the cartoon.

This podcast defines the following:Words - sound groups that represent things in the real world.Buzzwords - are words used to elicit an emotional response rather than accurately transmitting information. Propagating lexiconic locution – an overuse of academic buzzwords.Weasel words - words are used to give the impression of something without really saying something. Strawman argument – Creating a cartoonish or distorted version of something then arguing against the cartoon.

In a recent show, I referred to Emily Hanford as the Alexa App of reading instruction. This was a metaphor, a common literary device in which one makes a comparison without using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’. It creates an image. When we say America is a melting pot, we don’t literally mean there’s a big pot bubbling somewhere. Metaphors create images and communicate things that lists of words cannot. Recently, somebody took great umbrage of my use of metaphor. This was selective umbrage. If you want to take umbrage at something, take umbrage at the money wasted to pay for commercial products and services. Take umbrage at over-crowed classrooms and poor teaching conditions. Take umbrage at low teacher pay and lack of legitimate professional development opportunities. Take umbrage at tax cuts that make tuition costs rise. Take umbrage when the public cannot afford to go to our public colleges and universities. Take umbrage at the lack of health care, food insecurity, and mass shootings.

If somebody makes the claim that research says something, one has an obligation to have read a research article at least once in their life. And if somebody says, “Show me the research,” that person should know what research is and how to read and interpret it.

Legitimate professional development for teachers is necessary. I used the term ‘legitimate’ to exclude programs and services that are profit-based. These are usually little more than infomercials disguised as professional development. Here, there is no check and balance. There is no blind peer review of the information provided. Only the information that supports their product or service is presented. Information that does not is not. The best example of this is LETRS professional development for teachers. As described in earlier chapters, there is no legitimate research provided to suggest that using LETRS (a) enhances students' reading achievement, (b) enhances teachers’ ability to teach effectively, and (c) is more effective than other types of professional development. (Remember, having elements that are supported by research doesn’t make the program research-based. Every program has some element that can be supported by research.)

Toadys sometimes call themselves “consultants”. They promote methods and say things that just happen to coincide with the products and services being sold by Big Publishing. Quite a coincidence, yes? Right and wrong are not determined based on what’s right and wrong; rather, by what will sell.

Despite having the word “science” in their title, the proposals put forth by the SoR are not grounded in science at all, but in pseudo-science, I-think-isms, and anecdotal evidence. In fact, they are promoting an ideology. Real science. Real science puts forth conclusions and recommendations based on a wide body of research. Real science uses systematic methods to collect and analyze data. Real science draws conclusions only from data collected. And real science uses blind peer review for an objective system of checks and balances.Ideology. An ideology is a system of ideas and beliefs. An ideology puts forth a dogma based on a very narrow range of data that must be adhered to. What the SOR promotes is based far more on a reading belief system than reading science. Hence, the SOR would be more accurately named, the Ideology of Reading.

One of the reasons why the Science of Reading people have been so successful is that they’ve been writing to the people over there. They’ve used stories and radio documentaries that sound very much like the way people talk. They’ve enabled the people over there to see and hear real people while our quiet very reasoned third-person voice has been ignored

This is a conversation with another master teacher, Daphne Russell

There never was a reading war. A war assumes there are two armies meeting on a field of battle. This didn’t happen. But there was a reading coup. There was a hostile takeover of the field of literacy instruction by profiteers who saw public education as their own private ATM machine. This group of profiteers is part of the educational industrial complex which includes Cambium-Lexia Learning, Pearson Education, Cengage Learning, Hough Mifflin Harcourt, McGraw-Hill Education, Voyager Sopris Learning, TAL Education Group, Bright Horizons, and KinderCare Learning. Their armies of well-paid toadies (consultants) promise schools simple solutions to complex problems. “Just buy our shiny new products,” they say. “Pay for our services,” they say. “Get trained by our experts,” they say, “and all your literacy problems will go away. All your students will be reading above grade level.”“Well, I don’t know,” the school says. “That’s a lot of money.” “Look,” they say, “look at all the colorful charts and graphs. Look at all the pretty, pretty numbers.”“Well,” the school says, “you do have numbers. That must mean it’s real.” “Wouldn’t you like to have colorful charts and graphs like this? Wouldn’t you like to have pretty, pretty numbers?”“Yes,” the school says. “Yes, I would.”And that, my friends, is how education lost its soul.

Neuroscience is a study of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord, and neurons (NIH, 2025). The neuroscience of reading looks at how the brain functions during reading using imaging techniques to detect blood flow and electrical energy (Gotlieb, et al., 2022). Cognitive science is based on the word ‘cognition’ which means thinking. Cognitive science looks at human thinking (Robinson-Riegler & Robinson-Riegler, 2012). One studies the physical brain as it thinks and the other studies the thinking the brain does. But we can’t observe thinking directly. We can only observe the effects of thinking. Thus, both fields look at the effects of thinking to make deductions about thinking itself.The first part of this podcast is designed to help you understand how reading works from a purely cognitive perspective. This provides an important context for the second part where I examine the theory of orthographic mapping (Ehri, 2014). Orthographic mapping is a theory based on logical deductions made from research. The questions we must ask are how robust is the theory, how valid are the data upon which it is based, and how logical are the deductions? My conclusions are, not very, not very, and not very.

In this podcast, I try to make sense of orthographic mapping, a term invented by Linnea Ehri and introduced in Chapter 15 (Ehri, 2014). We’ll start with her definition: “Orthographic mapping occurs when, in the course of reading specific words, readers form connections between written unit, either single graphemes or larger spelling patterns, and spoken units, either phonemes, syllables, or morphemes. These connections are retained in memory along with meanings and enable readers to recognize words by sight. An important consequence of orthographic mapping is that the spellings of words enter memory and influence vocabulary learning, the processing of phonological constituents in words, and phonological memory” (Ehri, 2014, pp. 5-6) This is written with all the stunning clarity of a Rorschach inkblot. Let’s do a bit of unpack-O-rating.