Opinion Blog

Classroom Q&A

With Larry Ferlazzo

In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to lferlazzo@epe.org. Read more from this blog.

Reading & Literacy Opinion

The Essentials of Reading: What Teachers Must Know

By Larry Ferlazzo — August 18, 2023 1 min read
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How can teachers, to borrow an expression from polling expert Nate Silver, distinguish the “signal from the noise” in the so-called “reading wars”?

These highlights from past Classroom Q&A posts may help educators do just that.

Plus, look for another series on this topic later in the fall as more classroom educators weigh in by talking about their direct experiences.

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1. How Can a Teacher Navigate the So-Called ‘Reading Wars’?

In the debate over how to teach literacy, shaming those who used instructional approaches outside the “science of reading” won’t help. Read more.

2. Use Knowledge-Building Curriculum to Boost Literacy

By pursuing in-depth knowledge building about specific topics, students are able to show what they can do, not just what they can’t. Read more.

3. Many Older Students Are Struggling to Read. How Can Teachers Help?

Educators offer targeted instructional steps to support middle and high schoolers in their in their journey to understand the written word. Read more.


Here are a few older posts that are also helpful:

4. ‘Teachers Know A Lot About Scaffolding’ for Complex Texts

This post includes three joint commentaries from Nancy Frey and Douglas Fisher; Tammy Mulligan and Clare Landrigan; and Aaron Brock and Jody Passanisi about how teachers can gauge students’ needs when dealing with complex texts. Read more.

5. ‘Reading Is Intensely Social': An Interview With Jeffrey Wilhelm and Michael Smith

This interview with educators Jeffrey Wilhelm and Michael Smith discusses how to develop lifelong readers. Read more.

6. Reading Digitally vs. Reading Paper

Daniel Willingham, Kristin Ziemke, Lester Laminack, and Kimberly Carraway explore that topic of reading digitally compared to reading on paper in this post. Read more.


Similar topics from Classroom Q&A:

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The opinions expressed in Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

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