Episode 109: The Science of Reading: A Conversation with Dr. Gwen Marra

This week we are joined in the hallway by our friend and colleague, Gwen Marra. Dr. Marra teaches courses in Dordt’s undergraduate Teacher Preparation Program and Master of Education Program related to early childhood education and literacy. Her academic focus is especially on supporting all learners in developing essential skills for literacy. The hallway crew keeps hearing about “the Science of Reading,” and we have a varied understanding of what this means. Since we wanted to learn more, we connected with our resident expert on all things literacy! Gwen shares from the deep well of her education and experience to help us understand better. We hope that by listening in you’ll likewise be informed and better equipped to understand what research actually says about how people learn to read, and how we can help all students learn and succeed with literacy.

• Dr. Marra mentioned the Sold a Story podcast in this episode. You can listen to the whole podcast here: https://features.apmreports.org/sold-a-story/ 
• Dr. Marra also mentioned the book Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. You can find it on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Fish-Tree-Lynda-Mullaly-Hunt/dp/0142426423 
• Dr. Marra mentioned several resources for teachers and parents, which you can access here:
  • Reading Rockets: https://www.readingrockets.org/ 
  • International Dyslexia Association: https://dyslexiaida.org/ 
• Hallway Conversations is sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Christian Education. You can learn more about the good work CACE is doing at https://cace.org/