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Doug Lemov is a former teacher and school principal whose books describe the techniques of high-performing teachers. His best-known book, Teach Like a Champion (now in its 3.0 version) has been translated into more than a dozen languages. The Teach Like a Champion Guide to the Science of Reading, now out and co-written with Colleen Driggs and Erica Woolway, provides an immensely detailed, rich, and well argued approach to how to teach reading. Doug holds a BA in English from Hamilton College, an MA in English Literature from Indiana University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
Now, to me, the interesting thing about this book is that it doesn’t cover the ‘science of reading’ ground in the way that I’ve commonly come across. Usually this kind of book will talk about the principles of the big 5 of reading: Phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. What I feel Doug, Colleen and Erica’s new book does is it focuses on the final three of these, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, and it unpacks not only why these three things are crucial to develop, but also detailed descriptions of the how with countless written and video examples.
The other thing that really strikes me about this book is it’s a ‘how to teach reading’ book which is perhaps more directed at upper primary and secondary school teachers. This is as it’s less about the mechanics of getting kids decoding and comprehending more simple texts, and more about driving them to develop deep understandings of richer and more complex texts. More broadly, it’s also about supporting students to develop a love for and a habit of reading, as well as the important role of books in an educated society.
I would probably go as far as to say this is a must-have book for anyone focussing on teaching reading in upper primary and secondary school.
I thoroughly enjoyed this podcast with Doug and I’m sure you’ll love it too.
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Links/resources mentioned in the show
- Recommendations from Doug
- The Singing Neanderthals — Steven Mithen
- Reforming Lessons — Nick Gibb
- Homage to Catalonia — George Orwell
- Ollie’s Books, Cognitive Load Theory in Action, Tools for Teachers and The Classroom Management Handbook
- For a full and detailed summary of this episode, sign up at www.patreon.com/errr
This episode of the ERRR podcast is brought to you by the Explicit Mathematics Program. The EMP spans Foundation to Year 2 and provides teachers and schools with everything needed to run a high quality, rigorous, and evidence informed mathematics program. From lessons to assessments, daily reviews to student workbooks, we’ve got you covered. Find out more at https://explicitmathematicsprogram.com/
This episode of the ERRR podcast is brought to you by Catalyst. Catalyst transforms students’ lives through learning by developing excellent teachers and Leaders through evidence-based professional learning programs. Find out more at https://catalyst.cg.catholic.edu.au/
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