Together in Literacy

In this episode, we’re joined by Katy Vassar. Katy is a Dyslexia and Reading Consultant, Licensed Dyslexia Therapist, Qualified Instructor of therapists, and Educational Diagnostician with over 20 years of experience in the field of education. Her history includes roles in special education, general education, reading/dyslexia intervention, and coaching at the elementary and secondary levels in both public and independent school systems. 

Katy currently teams with various centers to train teachers as dyslexia therapists, train educators to better work with students with dyslexia in the classroom, provide psychoeducational evaluations, and support individual students and families as they navigate the world of dyslexia. She also contracts with schools, districts, and other state and local organizations to provide consultation services and professional development. 

Katy is passionate about supporting the learning needs of all students as they navigate their journey toward being successful life-long learners.

We’ll talk about how Katy got started on her journey, the role of an educational diagnostician, what tests and assessments are used, what testing can reveal about a child, and so much more!

Join us as we take a deeper look at special education evaluations with a focus on both families and educators.   

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Season 1, Episode 16: The Legal Aspect of Dyslexia Advocacy with Sabrina Axt
• Dyslexia Advantage: Unlocking the Hidden Potential of the Dyslexic Brain by Brock L. Eide M.D. M.A. and Fernette F. Eide M.D.
• Dyslexic Advantage Newsletter
• Casey on TpT - The Dyslexia Classroom or The Dyslexia Classroom
• Emily on TpT - The Literacy Nest or The Literacy Nest

For more from Katy Vassar check out her website, Vassar Education Services, or the Wimberley Dyslexia & Learning Center.  

We officially have merch! Show your love Together in Literacy podcast with a t-shirt or sweatshirt!

If you like this episode, please take a few minutes to rate, review, and subscribe. Your support and encouragement are so appreciated!

Have a question you’d like us to cover in a future episode of Together in Literacy? Email us at [email protected]!

If you’d like more from Together in Literacy, you can check out our website, Together in Literacy, or follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

For more from Emily, check out The Literacy Nest.

For more from Casey, check out The Dyslexia Classroom. 

Thank you for listening and joining us in this exciting and educational journey into dyslexia as we come together in literacy!

At the heart of the Science of Reading, we look deeply at how we learn, not just how we read. Studying how we learn has been a dynamic field of research in education for years. In this episode, we are looking to further our scientific study and knowledge and remembering that education is not a static field. We are all always learning. 

Tune in as we talk about how we can advocate the shift from focusing solely on the Science of Reading and begin focusing more on the Science of Learning. We’ll explain the reasons why we feel this is a beneficial shift and who will benefit from the shift, we’ll look at the key points at the heart of the Science of Learning, and we’ll share some resources you may want to consider for building your own knowledge.  

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• 2.10 The Science of Reading: More Than Just a Buzzword
• 1.15 All About Accommodations for Dyslexia
• 1.10 The Gradual Release of Responsibility
• 2.11 How to Keep Your Eye on the Goal in Intervention
• Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching by Anita Archer
• 1.12 The Importance of Building Teacher Knowledge and The Peter Effect
• How We Learn: Why Brains Learn Better than any Machine… for now by Stanislas Dehaene  
• A Little Guide for Teachers: Cognitive Load Theory by Greg Ashman
• Neuroteach: Brain Science and the Future of Education by Glenn Whitman 
• Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, and Mark A. McDaniel
• 1.11 The Importance and Benefits of Playing Games with Your Students

If you like this episode, please take a few minutes to rate, review, and subscribe. Your support and encouragement are so appreciated!

We officially have merch! Show your love Together in Literacy podcast with a t-shirt or sweatshirt!

Have a question you’d like us to cover in a future episode of Together in Literacy? Email us at [email protected]!

If you’d like more from Together in Literacy, you can check out our website, Together in Literacy, or follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

For more from Emily, check out The Literacy Nest.

For more from Casey, check out The Dyslexia Classroom. 

Thank you for listening and joining us in this exciting and educational journey into dyslexia as we come together in literacy!

In this episode, we’re diving into handwriting. Even for those who do not have difficulty, handwriting in the early years is essential. When students have not yet reached automaticity or legibility in letter formation, it taxes their working memory and places a higher demand on cognitive resources. We want to look at how we can free up some of those cognitive demands. 

Effective handwriting practice will lead to stronger spelling, reading, and writing performance. 

Tune in as we discuss the role handwriting should have in our classrooms as well as the importance and some of the benefits of cursive handwriting! We’ll also look at the developmental stages, offer some teaching tips, and share the most beneficial handwriting resources we’ve used over the years!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• 2.8 Incorporating Writing in Structured Literacy Lessons
• 2.11 How to Keep Your Eye on the Goal in Intervention

• Handwriting instruction: a commentary on five studies

• In-depth analysis of handwriting curriculum and instruction in four kindergarten classrooms

• Berninger, V. W. & Wolf, B. J. (2009). Teaching Students with Dyslexia and Dysgraphia: Lessons from Science. Baltimore, Maryland: Paul Brookes Publishing Company.

• Graham, S., Berninger, V., Weintraub, N., & Shafer, W. (1998). Development of handwriting speed and legibility in grades 1-9. Journal of Educational Research, 92, 42-52.

• Overvelde, A., & Hulstijn, W. (2011). Handwriting Development In Grade 2 And Grade 3 Primary School Children With Normal, At Risk, Or Dysgraphic Characteristics.Research in Developmental Disabilities, 540-548.

• Readiness by Beth Moore
• Writing Skills books by Diana Hanbury King
• Loops and Other Groups by Mary Benbow
• Writing Wizard app
• The OT Toolbox
• Casey on TpT - The Dyslexia Classroom or The Dyslexia Classroom
• Emily on TpT - The Literacy Nest or The Literacy Nest

If you like this episode, please take a few minutes to rate, review, and subscribe. Your support and encouragement are so appreciated!

Have a question you’d like us to cover in a future episode of Together in Literacy? Email us at [email protected]!

If you’d like more from Together in Literacy, you can check out our website, Together in Literacy, or follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

For more from Emily, check out The Literacy Nest.

For more from Casey, check out The Dyslexia Classroom. 

Thank you for listening and joining us in this exciting and educational journey into dyslexia as we come together in literacy!

Learning to read proficiently is not an easy task for most students without explicit, systematic instruction. Current US reading scores indicate that 67% of all 4th graders are reading at basic or below basic levels. This fact is leading to many conversations about how we teach reading, what is necessary for classroom instruction, and how we help struggling readers.

We know that early readers, whether they are identified with dyslexia or not, really need appropriate instruction in the elements of word recognition, phonemic awareness, knowledge of phoneme and grapheme correspondence, and accuracy and automaticity of reading and spelling of words in the text to help them break that reading code.

In this episode, we’re sharing tips for how you can keep your eye on the goals of your interventions.

Tune in for five BIG areas of focus that will lead to BIG wins in your interventions.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Scarborough’s Reading Rope
• Helping Students Remember: A Structured Approach - Literacy Nest video
• Season 1, Episode 10: The Gradual Release of Responsibility
• 2.10 The Science of Reading: More Than Just a Buzzword
• Multi-sensory Instruction: Moving Beyond the Sand Tray
• The Color Coding Method to Teaching Sight Words
• Casey on TpT - The Dyslexia Classroom or The Dyslexia Classroom
• Building Readers for Life Academy 
• Emily on TpT - The Literacy Nest or The Literacy Nest

If you like this episode, please take a few minutes to rate, review, and subscribe. Your support and encouragement are so appreciated!

Have a question you’d like us to cover in a future episode of Together in Literacy? Email us at [email protected]!

If you’d like more from Together in Literacy, you can check out our website, Together in Literacy, or follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

For more from Emily, check out The Literacy Nest.

For more from Casey, check out The Dyslexia Classroom. 

Thank you for listening and joining us in this exciting and educational journey into dyslexia as we come together in literacy!

The Science of Reading is so much more than just a buzzword! 

In this episode, we’re talking about The Science of Reading or SOR. We’ll cover what it is and what it isn’t. And, how it is becoming more mainstream!

Tune in as we look at trends in education, and then get into 5 specifics of what SOR really is all about. 

Make sure you hang around until the end when we’ll share actions you can take today to begin to dive deeper into the Science of Reading.    

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• 2.8 Incorporating Writing in Structured Literacy Lessons
• The National Reading Panel
• Season 1. Episode 6: The Orton Prescription and the Connection to Social-Emotional Learning
• Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz
• International Dyslexia Association 
• Decoding Dyslexia
• Dyslexia Therapist Certification Training 
• Building Readers for Life Academy 

If you like this episode, please take a few minutes to rate, review, and subscribe. Your support and encouragement are so appreciated!

Have a question you’d like us to cover in a future episode of Together in Literacy? Email us at [email protected]!

If you’d like more from Together in Literacy, you can check out our website, Together in Literacy, or follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

For more from Emily, check out The Literacy Nest.

For more from Casey, check out The Dyslexia Classroom. 

Thank you for listening and joining us in this exciting and educational journey into dyslexia as we come together in literacy!

In this episode, we continue the conversation around the power in saying dyslexia and we cover what that means for helping move our students toward self-advocacy. We’ll discuss how we can, as educators, speak to parents and students about dyslexia and shift the narrative to one of understanding. 

Tune in as we share why it’s important to say dyslexia, some of the benefits of knowing how we learn, and looking at evaluations from a different lens.

Stick around until the end for all the details of our 100K download giveaway!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Season 1, Episode 7: Hope's Journey featuring Hope McNabb
• Season 1, Episode 15: All About Accommodations for Dyslexia
• 4 Questions About Accommodations for Dyslexia Answered!
• Season 1, Episode 3: Connecting Metacognition to Your Literacy Lessons
• The Color Coding Method to Teaching Sight Words
• Building Readers for Life Academy
• Casey on TpT - The Dyslexia Classroom or The Dyslexia Classroom
• Emily on TpT - The Literacy Nest or The Literacy Nest

If you like this episode, please take a few minutes to rate, review, and subscribe. Your support and encouragement are so appreciated!

Have a question you’d like us to cover in a future episode of Together in Literacy? Email us at [email protected]!

If you’d like more from Together in Literacy, you can check out our website, Together in Literacy, or follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

For more from Emily, check out The Literacy Nest.

For more from Casey, check out The Dyslexia Classroom. 

Thank you for listening and joining us in this exciting and educational journey into dyslexia as we come together in literacy!

Structured Literacy is not just about phonics! In this episode, we get into the subject of writing. Mainly, the cognitive demands of writing and how you can thoughtfully incorporate writing into your structured literacy lessons. 

We will share about writing from our perspectives as interventionists and also from our experience as classroom teachers. 

Tune in as we discuss the ten most important components of writing, their implications for the classroom, and what writing will look like in structured literacy lessons. 

Stick around until the end when we’ll address which dyslexia screeners we use. 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• 2.4 How to Effectively Work with Older Students with Dyslexia
• 2.5 Word Attack Strategies for Older Students with Dyslexia
• DIBLES
• CORE Phonics Survey
• Neuhaus screening tools
• Casey on TpT - The Dyslexia Classroom or The Dyslexia Classroom
• Emily on TpT - The Literacy Nest or The Literacy Nest

If you like this episode, please take a few minutes to rate, review, and subscribe. Your support and encouragement are so appreciated!

Have a question you’d like us to cover in a future episode of Together in Literacy? Email us at [email protected]!

If you’d like more from Together in Literacy, you can check out our website, Together in Literacy, or follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

For more from Emily, check out The Literacy Nest.

For more from Casey, check out The Dyslexia Classroom. 

Thank you for listening and joining us in this exciting and educational journey into dyslexia as we come together in literacy!

In this episode, we’re joined by a fantastic change agent for families of children with dyslexia, Dr. Lauren McClenney-Rosenstein.

Dr. Lauren is the CEO and founder of Think Dyslexia, LLC. She delivers training and professional development for teachers and administrators at the district level focusing on dyslexia awareness, dyslexia screening, and MTSS (Multiple Tiered Systems of Support).

Dr. Lauren’s passion for educating, advocating, and bringing awareness to dyslexia at the domestic and international levels began in the elementary classrooms of private schools serving students with language-based learning disabilities.

She has been a certified special educator for a decade and earned her Doctor of Education in teaching learning leadership curriculum in 2019 from Northeastern University. She also holds a dual Master’s in Special Education and Elementary Education and a Bachelor’s in Psychology from Syracuse University. 

In this episode, we are going to discuss dyslexia advocacy as well as the challenges that parents and caregivers face.

Tune in as we take a closer look at how we can support families on their journey with dyslexia. 

Hang around until the end, we’ll answer a listener's question about assessing for dyslexia. 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Think Dyslexia Parent Community - 10% coupon code: podcast10
• Dyslexia Mom Boss podcast 
• Dyslexia Mom Boss Blueprint
• D3 Parent Guide to Success eBook
• Holistic Strategy Session Consultation 
• Think Dyslexia Academy - free courses

For more from our guest, Dr. Lauren McClenney-Rosenstein, check her out at Think Dyslexia. You can connect with her on Instagram.

If you like this episode, please take a few minutes to rate, review, and subscribe. Your support and encouragement are so appreciated!

Have a question you’d like us to cover in a future episode of Together in Literacy? Email us at [email protected]!

If you’d like more from Together in Literacy, you can check out our website, Together in Literacy, or follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

For more from Emily, check out The Literacy Nest.

For more from Casey, check out The Dyslexia Classroom. 

Thank you for listening and joining us in this exciting and educational journey into dyslexia as we come together in literacy!

You may have heard of Orton-Gillingham, but you may have questions about the principles and approach.

We are both, Emily and Casey, structured literacy specialists trained in Orton-Gillingham and Orton-Gillingham-based programs. 

In this episode, we’re addressing some common questions we see and hear being asked about Orton-Gillingham. We answer these questions from the perspective of interventionists who work with the dyslexic population, however, we understand and support OG-based instruction in the typical or general classroom setting. 

Tune in as we dig into some misunderstandings in conversations around the Orton-Gillingham approach.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• 2.4 How to Effectively Work with Older Students with Dyslexia
• 2.5 Word Attack Strategies for Older Students with Dyslexia
• Season 1, Episode 5: How Dr. Samuel Orton and Anna Gillingham’s Work Support Social-Emotional Learning
• Season 1. Episode 6: The Orton Prescription and the Connection to Social-Emotional Learning
• International Dyslexia Association
• Season 1, Episode 9: Working Memory with Dr. Erica Warren
• Season 1, Episode 10: The Gradual Release of Responsibility
• Season 1, Episode 3: Connecting Metacognition to Your Literacy Lessons
• Reading Rockets
• Casey on TpT - The Dyslexia Classroom or The Dyslexia Classroom
• Emily on TpT - The Literacy Nest or The Literacy Nest

If you like this episode, please take a few minutes to rate, review, and subscribe. Your support and encouragement are so appreciated!

Have a question you’d like us to cover in a future episode of Together in Literacy? Email us at [email protected]!

If you’d like more from Together in Literacy, you can check out our website, Together in Literacy, or follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

For more from Emily, check out The Literacy Nest.

For more from Casey, check out The Dyslexia Classroom. 

Thank you for listening and joining us in this exciting and educational journey into dyslexia as we come together in literacy!

In this episode, we continue our conversation about helping older dyslexic students. In season 2, episode 4, we broke down what struggles we see in our older students and the areas we notice are needed to help them. Here, we dive into the strategies we apply for our older students.

Tune in as we share specific word attack strategies we use with our older students.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Episode: 2.4 How to Effectively Work with Older Students with Dyslexia
• Never Too Late: Teaching Adults to Read and Write by Diana Hanbury King
• Season 1, Episode 3: Connecting Metacognition to Your Literacy Lessons
• Season 1, Episode 15: All About Accommodations for Dyslexia
• High Noon Books
• Saddleback Publishing
• Simple Words Books
• Phonic Books
• Rewards reading intervention program
• Word Connections
• Megawords
• Take Flight
• Casey on TpT - The Dyslexia Classroom
• Emily on TpT - The Literacy Nest

If you like this episode, please take a few minutes to rate, review, and subscribe. Your support and encouragement are so appreciated!

Have a question you’d like us to cover in a future episode of Together in Literacy? Email us at [email protected]!

If you’d like more from Together in Literacy, you can check out our website, Together in Literacy, or follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
For more from Emily, check out The Literacy Nest.

For more from Casey, check out The Dyslexia Classroom. 

Thank you for listening and joining us in this exciting and educational journey into dyslexia as we come together in literacy!