In this no-nonsense guide, primary reading expert and classroom teacher Lindsay Kemeny shares seven ways K-3 teachers can modify what they are currently doing to transform their reading instruction. Each chapter focuses on a critical area of foundational reading–from the most efficient ways to teach phonemic awareness and phonics to the most effective ways to boost comprehension. Kemeny clears up confusing terms and concepts and offers up “do-tomorrow” strategies to help kids acquire reading skills efficiently and successfully transfer those skills to their reading.

Teachers know that encouraging young children to talk and listen improves their ability to communicate. Strive-for-Five Conversations: A Framework That Gets Kids Talking to Accelerate Their Language Comprehension and Literacy gives them a power tool aligned with the science of reading: the “Strive-for-Five” framework. These responsive conversations start with what children say and continue as the teacher listens and responds over five turns—with the goal of stretching their talking and thinking, knowledge, vocabulary, reasoning, and other skills that underpin reading success.

We all want to help students learn to read, but what happens when 67 percent of children don’t get that chance? 2022 National Report Card data shows that is the reality in the United States right now. But it does not have to be this way!

Dr. Lindsey addresses content learning, culturally responsive practices, and the importance of engaging readers from the start. She uses her impeccable body of research to create a powerful translational work interpreting reading science.

In the tradition of Dale Russakoff's The Prize and Dana Goldstein's The Teacher Wars, Wexler brings together history, research, and compelling characters to pull back the curtain on this fundamental flaw in our education system - one that fellow reformers, journalists, and policymakers have long overlooked, and of which the general public, including many parents, remains unaware.