Webinars and Recorded Conference Presentations

Click on the titles below to access free webinars and recorded conference presentations by Readsters:

• • Reading Rockets Videos Demonstrating Foundational Skills Instruction
    1 hour, 15 minutes – In 2019, Reading Rockets, launched a video series called “Looking at Reading Interventions”. The series includes 18 videos in which Linda Farrell demonstrates evidence-based instruction for foundational reading skills and discusses various aspects of reading, ranging from The Simple View of Reading to challenges in bringing reading interventions to schools. All 18 videos are available at ReadingRockets.org.

• • Using Reading Rockets Videos for Professional Development
    1 hour, 14 minutes – Noel Gunther (WETA – Reading Rockets) and Linda Farrell (Readsters) discuss how to use the Reading Rockets videos for professional development.

• • Fixing Common Confusions
    27 minutes – Michael Hunter explains how to use Readsters’ Practice Packets to fix common letter and word confusions, including b d confusion.

• • Lose the Rules: Reading and Spelling Multi-Syllable Words Made Easy
    1 hour, 9 minutes – Michael Hunter teaches a new approach to reading and spelling multi-syllable words that doesn’t require students to memorize syllable division rules.

• • Help! My Student is Stuck at Sound-by-Sound Reading
    1 hour, 19 minutes – Michael Hunter explains how to move students who are stuck at sound-by-sound reading to fluent, whole-word reading. He examines the nature of the problem and teaching strategies to overcome it.

• • The Simple View of Reading (for The Reading League of Michigan)
    1 hour, 45 minutes – This webinar explains how this important research can be used to guide assessment and provide more effective instruction for struggling readers.

• • Focused Oral Reading Practice: A New Approach
    75 minutes – This virtual conference presentation explains our approach to practicing oral reading focusing on accuracy only, before worrying about rate.

• • How and When to Use Decodable Readers for Maximum Effectivness (2022 PaTTAN literacy Symposium)
    60 minutes – Teachers often ask us how to include decodable readers during phonics instruction. This session answers that question.

• • Effective Vocabulary Instruction: Throw Away the Dictionary
    72 minutes – This video of a conference session for PaTTAN in 2022 shows a strategy for introducing vocabulary words  based on research by Erhi & Rosentahal, 2007. The process provides the ‘hooks’ of pronunciation and spelling to hang the meaning on. The session also presents the strategy of student created definitions for synthesizing and cementing the meaning of a word.

• • What EXACTLY Is the Difference between Balanced Literacy and Structured Literacy and Why Does It Matter?
    90 minutes – This video of a conference session examines the differences between and research behind balanced literacy and explicit, systematic early reading instruction.

• • Early Reading Instruction in Niger
    5:58 minutes – Mother tongue reading instruction for children in Niger is similar to teaching early readers in the USA. Teach letter names and letter sounds, followed by systematic phonics instruction and ample practice. Assess what the children know, and start instruction there

• • Learning to Read as an Adult
    — David Clemons – 14:12 minutes
    — Sandra Johnson – 5:07 minutes
    Listen to the stories of two Adult Literacy Learners. They describe the consequences of not learning to read as a child, and the journey to becoming a reader as an adult

• • Common Core Reading Foundational Skills: What’s There and What’s Missing?
    45 minutes – This webinar examines the CCSS Reading Foundational Skills and how well they address the needs of early decoding, spelling, and fluency. Teachers receive specific suggestions for adding skills that are missing and for assessing whether students have these critical foundational reading skills.

• • Readsters on The Reading Symphony Podcast Episode 15: From Struggling to Suces: Teaching Reading with Linda Farrell and Michael Hunter
    29 minutes – Katie Megrian sits down with Michael Hunter and Linda Farrell whose unconventional paths from investment banking and concrete construction led them to become nationally recognized reading specialists. Together, they unpack the most common reasons children struggle to read, how to identify exactly where a student is stuck, and the powerful (and often overlooked) practice strategies that make the difference between a child who can read and a child who reads fluently and automatically.

• • Readsters on Literacy in Color Podcast Episode 68.It’s Never Too Late to Help Older Struggling Readers Succeed
    1 hour, 7 minutes – Michelle Sullivan speaks with Linda Farrell and Michael Hunter. With more than 40 years of experience helping struggling readers — from kindergarten through adulthood — Linda and Michael break down what effective intervention truly looks like, why older learners often continue to slip through the cracks, and how to use assessment, precision, and patience to help every student become a reader. This episode is filled with practical wisdom, honest insights, and encouragement for every educator working with older students who need foundational reading support.