Shows
The Road to Reading PodcastS4E5: Cognitive Load Theory with Dr. Sarah OberleIn this episode, Dr. Sarah Oberle explains the importance of cognitive load theory and shares what types of things you might think about when looking through the CLT lens as you are planning for students.Show Notes:Executive Functions for Every K-3 ClassroomBlog: Executive Functions: Setting the Record StraightFrom Research to Reality: Bridging Educational Innovations (Edweb)Thrive Educator SummitShould Wait Times Change for Younger Students...
2025-11-0242 minThe Road to Reading PodcastS4E4: Viewing Lessons through a Cognitive Science Lens with Court ShullerIn this episode, Court Shuller, a 7th-grade ELA teacher in South Jersey, shares their experience of planning lessons and units through a cognitive science lens. They’ll share how the 3 principles of Cognitive Load Theory, Prior Knowledge, and Effortful Thinking can be reflected in their classroom.Show Notes:Powerful Teaching-Pooja Agarwal &Patrice BainTLAC Guide to the Science of Reading-Doug Lemov, Colleen Driggs, & Erica WoolwayLearning How to Learn-Barbara OakleyMinding th...
2025-10-1224 minThe Road to Reading PodcastS4E1: The Importance of Knowing How Teaching & Learning Happens w/ Holly KorbeyIn this episode, Holly Korbey shares her perspective on the landscape of education and how much educators and the public know about how learning happens. She shares some insights about what she has learned through speaking with successful educators, leaders, and schools. Show Notes:The Bell Ringer-Substack4 Ways to do Explicit Instruction RightWhat Happens When a 48K Student District Commits to “the Science of Learning”The Insurgents: Teachers & the Science of Learning...
2025-09-0132 min
The Knowledge Matters PodcastNatalie Wexler on How Writing Promotes Clear Thinking | Literacy and the Science of LearningSeason 3 Episode 6 | “Teaching students to write clearly was actually teaching them to think clearly.” In the Season 3 finale, host Natalie Wexler brings listeners inside Monroe City Schools, a high-poverty Louisiana district where educators have paired a content-rich curriculum with explicit writing instruction. This combination has not only helped students become fluent writers but also expanded their ability to understand complex content and think analytically.For writing instruction to work, the curriculum needs to dive deeply into specific topics. “It’s hard to build a complex paragraph and sentence structure around something that’s a relatively...
2025-07-2929 min
The Knowledge Matters PodcastNatalie Wexler on Memory and the Writing Effect | Literacy and the Science of LearningSeason 3 Episode 5 | Writing is hard—and teaching writing is even harder. But science tells us it’s well worth the effort, because writing flexes the mental muscles that nurture literacy and learning.Host Natalie Wexler connects cognitive science to specific writing practices that transfer information from working to long-term memory and require students to retrieve and elaborate on that information. She’s joined by psychologists John Sweller and Jeffrey Karpicke, whose research has identified effective instructional and academic strategies for teaching, learning, and lightening students’ cognitive loads.“Writing isn't just a product—it’s part of the p...
2025-07-2223 min
The Knowledge Matters PodcastTrailer | Introducing Season 3: Literacy and the Science of LearningHow is the Science of Reading connected to the Science of Learning? Join hosts Dylan Wiliam, Doug Lemov, and Natalie Wexler as they delve into the links between the two, both in theory and practice, in Season 3 of the Knowledge Matters Podcast. Across six 30-minute episodes, we’ll explore how long-term memory shapes reading comprehension, why reading whole books is better than excerpts on a screen, and how teaching students to write clearly can help them think more clearly, in conversation with researchers and teachers.“We want our students to remember. That’s the goal!”This pod...
2025-06-1703 min
The Knowledge Matters PodcastBonus Episode: Writing: An Unsung Hero of Reading ComprehensionThis bonus episode is an audio recording of our most popular webinar ever, Writing: An Unsung Hero of Reading Comprehension. It features familiar voices to listeners of Season 1 of the Knowledge Matters Podcast, best-selling author and host Natalie Wexler, as well as StandardsWork’s Chief Program Officer Kristen McQuillan, Doug Lemov (Teach Like a Champion), and Julia Cooper (SchoolKit).Their conversation focuses on why writing should be connected to content learning. How does the act of writing about one’s learning deepen retention of the content? How does it support emerging writers in focusing on their craft? Our...
2025-03-251h 01
All For LiteracyUnderstanding Educator Challenges and OpportunitiesAs Season 2 of All For Literacy® comes to a close, host Dr. Liz Brooke dives into the challenges and opportunities currently being explored by educators across the country. Featuring insightful clips from discussions with prominent educators, this episode drives home many of the ideas mentioned throughout this season.
Empowering teachers through professional development, evidence-backed resources, and accessible data is an important step in implementing the science of reading
The science of reading highlights the importance of teaching and connecting a multitude of skills
Dr. Sharon Vaughn identified the crucial importance of including literacy practice and intervention throughout a st...
2024-06-1821 minAll For LiteracyUnderstanding Educator Challenges and OpportunitiesAs Season 2 of All For Literacy® comes to a close, host Dr. Liz Brooke dives into the challenges and opportunities currently being explored by educators across the country. Featuring insightful clips from discussions with prominent educators, this episode drives home many of the ideas mentioned throughout this season.
Empowering teachers through professional development, evidence-backed resources, and accessible data is an important step in implementing the science of reading
The science of reading highlights the importance of teaching and connecting a multitude of skills
Dr. Sharon Vaughn identified the crucial importance of including literacy practice and intervention throughout a st...
2024-06-1821 min
All For LiteracyNarrowing the Knowledge Gap With Natalie WexlerWhat would it take to narrow the knowledge gap between high-achieving and struggling students when it comes to reading and writing?
Education writer Natalie Wexler joins Host Dr. Liz Brooke in Season 2, Episode 8. Wexler is author of “The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of America’s Broken Education System—and How to Fix It.” Her writing focuses on content-centric education and charts possible routes to achieving educational and social equity.
Gain a critical understanding of how content-focused instruction improves student success. Wexler and Brooke break down the findings behind several in-classroom studies that have changed how certai...
2024-05-0743 minAll For LiteracyNarrowing the Knowledge Gap With Natalie WexlerWhat would it take to narrow the knowledge gap between high-achieving and struggling students when it comes to reading and writing?
Education writer Natalie Wexler joins Host Dr. Liz Brooke in Season 2, Episode 8. Wexler is author of “The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of America’s Broken Education System—and How to Fix It.” Her writing focuses on content-centric education and charts possible routes to achieving educational and social equity.
Gain a critical understanding of how content-focused instruction improves student success. Wexler and Brooke break down the findings behind several in-classroom studies that have changed how certai...
2024-05-0743 min
Reading Teachers LoungeBuilding Knowledge with Linda RhyneShannon and Mary are joined in by Linda Rhyne in the Reading Teachers Lounge. They share a deep dive of information from the book, The Knowledge Gap by Natalie Wexler. This episode is full of information and strategies to increase your student's knowledge helping them dive deep into comprehension and knowledge building. Linda Rhyne is a returning guest to the show and shares her expertise in guiding professional discussions to help educators meet their student's literacy goals. RECOMMENDED RESOURCES AND ONES MENTIONED DURING THE EPISODEThe Knowledge Gap by Natalie Wexler *Amazon affiliate l...
2024-02-091h 04
edWebcastsUnlocking Potential, Word by Word: How Building Knowledge Right Builds EquityThis edWeb podcast is sponsored by Amplify.The webinar recording can be accessed here.Featuring special guest speaker Natalie Wexler in conversation with Alli Rice and Dr. Matt Patterson.Listen to this edWeb podcast to hear Natalie Wexler, author of The Knowledge Gap and host of the first season of the Knowledge Matters Podcast, in conversation with Science of Reading Star Award Winner Alli Rice and Assistant Superintendent Dr. Matt Patterson. Natalie, Alli, and Dr. Patterson discuss how knowledge has been proven over and over to lead to real literacy success for students from...
2023-09-2659 min
The Knowledge Matters PodcastWhere Reading Instruction Went Wrong | Reading Comprehension RevisitedSeason 1 Episode 2 | “A simple way of looking at a complex problem” | In the second episode of "The Knowledge Matters Podcast: Reading Comprehension Revisited", host Natalie Wexler dives into persistent misconceptions about reading comprehension that have pervaded the education system for decades. Unpacking the fact that teachers have often believed they were teaching comprehension when, in fact, they weren’t, Natalie explores the overlooked importance of knowledge in reading comprehension and its profound and under-recognized impact on student literacy. This is particularly significant for students from historically disadvantaged groups.Featuring prominent reading researcher, Dr. Hugh Ca...
2023-06-2827 min
The Knowledge Matters PodcastHow Content Knowledge Builds Motivation to Read | Reading Comprehension RevisitedSeason 1 Episode 1 | “Kids were bored to death” | Welcome to the inaugural episode of the six-part Knowledge Matters Podcast series, "Reading Comprehension Revisited," where education writer and host, Natalie Wexler, tackles one of the most pressing issues in education: the reading crisis. Natalie poses essential questions: Why do students from low-income backgrounds typically score lower on reading tests? Why do improvements in the early grades fade out as students advance to higher levels? And most significantly, why haven't substantial investments in education reform delivered expected results? The answer lies in a longstanding but misguided emphasis on teaching reading compr...
2023-06-2825 min
The Continuing EducatorThe Science of Reading, with Lynne Kulich and Natalie Wexler (Season 3, Ep. 6)On this episode, we explore literacy instruction, the science of reading, early childhood literacy, and the differences between skills-focused and knowledge-focused classrooms. Our two guests are passionate leaders in the field: Dr. Lynne Kulich, Director of Early Learning at NWEA, and Natalie Wexler, an education writer and author of “The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of America’s Broken Education System.”
2022-10-1846 min
Currently ReadingSeason 5, Episode 9: Buried In Books + All Things Trigger WarningsOn this week's episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Meredith are discussing: Bookish Moments: homeschool book reports and an embarrassment of galleys Current Reads: three books from each of us to fill up your TBRs (or sometimes not) Deep Dive: finding and heeding trigger warnings The Fountain: we visit our perfect fountain to make wishes about our reading lives As per usual, time-stamped show notes are below with references to every book and resource we mentioned in this episode. If you'd like to listen first and not spoil the...
2022-09-2656 min
Together in LiteracySeason 1, Episode 18: Season One Wrap-UpWe’re wrapping up season 1 of the Together in Literacy podcast!
When we started this podcast, our mission was to create a pathway to learning for educators and families, share our own expertise with you, create a dialogue around SEL and the link to dyslexia, and make the research of reading accessible. We had big goals for season one and we are so proud of how it went!
In this episode, we share our major takeaways from season 1, our summer reading suggestions for teachers and parents, and then we’ll give a sneak preview of what...
2022-06-2041 min
Science of Reading: The PodcastS1-28. A look back at Season OneJoin us in reflecting on Season One and preview what’s in store for an exciting Season Two. In this special episode, we visit the highlights of Season One, with key clips from Emily Hanford, Natalie Wexler, Ernesto Ortiz, David and Meredith Liben, and Shawn Joseph, and other moments that inspired us and changed how we think about literacy.Quotes:“When our first episode launched last year, we had no idea what it might become, only hope that you would find it helpful to grow your knowledge and impact."“So much progre...
2020-08-2621 min