• Hi Everyone,

    I was able to listen to Dr. Timothy Shanahan speak at the CACE conference last week and found him to be an enthusiastic and knowledgable presenter. His talk focused on “What matters?” when it comes to literacy instruction. Basically, he highlighted Instruction (which he would interchange with the word Experiences) and explained the amount of, the content of and the quality of instruction was what really mattered for our students to make reading progress. He ultimately recommended two to three hours a day of literacy (toward the greater amount for our struggling readers) and included the following framework.

    2   arrow  3 hours a day

    ·       Words/Word parts (Phonological awareness and phonics)

    ·       Fluency (including vocabulary)

    ·       Comprehension

    ·       Writing

     

    Please find the link to his website below. I think he has written a blog for every literacy topic out there!

    http://www.shanahanonliteracy.com/

     

     shanahan

    Tim Shanahan


    Timothy Shanahan is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of urban education at the University of Illinois at Chicago where he was Founding Director of the Center for Literacy and chair of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. He is also visiting research professor at Queens University, Belfast, Northern Ireland. He is principal investigator of the National Title I Study of Implementation and Outcomes: Early Childhood Language Development. Professor Shanahan was director of reading for the Chicago Public Schools. His research emphasizes reading-writing relationships, reading assessment, and improving reading achievement. He is past president of the International Reading Association. In 2006, he received a presidential appointment to serve on the Advisory Board of the National Institute for Literacy. He was inducted to the Reading Hall of Fame in 2007. He is a former first-grade teacher.