May 15, 2023 • 27 mins
Blue Ash, Ohio spokesperson Rachel Murray returns to update listeners of a myriad of opportunties for fun and employment, includes their 4th of July extravaganza, Red White & Blue Ash, the job openings and how the city fixed one of the worst intersections for crashes in Ohio.
Then, Amplify is a curriculum and assessment company assisting educators in best practices in education. The Chief Academic Officer Susan Lambert, explains why reading is so hard and how teachers can make it easier.
www.amplify.com
www.blueash.com
Then, Amplify is a curriculum and assessment company assisting educators in best practices in education. The Chief Academic Officer Susan Lambert, explains why reading is so hard and how teachers can make it easier.
www.amplify.com
www.blueash.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
This week on iHeart Cincy, thatwas one of the most dangerous intersections in
the state of Ohio at one point, with people getting in horrific TVO accidents.
Rachel Murray from the City of BlueAshes here today to update you on
what's coming up this month in thecity and they're big huge Fourth of July
(00:24):
celebration this summer, and we're goingto talk about those roundabouts that are saving
lives and later, our brains aren'twired to know how to read. Susan
Lambert is here today to explain whyreading is so hard to learn and as
the chief academic officer to amplify acurriculum and assessment company. They're using data
(00:45):
to drive what works and learning andteaching language, reading and writing and the
most important part of that process.We'll get to that too. No on
iHeart Cincy with Sandy Collins, HappyMother's Day to you, especial helload to
all those who are called mom.There is no more important relationship in the
(01:06):
world. I'm Sandy Collins. Myfirst guest is a spokesperson for the City
of Blue Ash and a longtime friend. Rachel Murray is here with what did
we decide to call your blue AshNews Updates. What did we decide all?
Remember it was months ago we werejoking about that. Yes, all
right, time for the Blue AshBulletin with Rachel Murray. Um, so
(01:32):
what's coming here? What kind ofbig plans do you have for this year?
Well, we have a lot ofstuff going on as usual in Blue
Ash, but our big announcement recentlywas that for Fretboard Brewing Red White and
Blue Ash. We have announced thatCollective Soul is going to be the headlining
act for that. It's going tobe a lot of fun. I'm sure
you remember Shine that was their bighit. Um, there was another one
(01:56):
in December, So that's going tobe a lot of fun. And they're
opening act is really exciting too.It's an all female alternate rock band called
Plush and one of the members wason the Voice I believe, So that's
going to be really exciting. AndI think they're really taking off, so
they're they're getting more and more popularall the time, so that's going to
(02:17):
be fun. And of course we'vegot Arthur Rozzy pyrotechnic fireworks and that's gonna
begin at ten pm and you're goingto see fireworks from the Observation Tower from
the ground and all around. It'sgoing to be incredible. Like, oh,
it's a big party, and thatit is it's the fourth of July.
But is it going to be onthe fourth of July. Yes,
it is the fourth of July.It's a two newsday. Yes, it
(02:40):
opens at four pm and we've gotrides and of course food booths, drink
booths and all that fun stuff forall day. So it's an all day
you know, from four pm onyou can have a lot of fun out
at Summit Park. And if youhaven't been to Summit Park, it's located
at four three three five Glendale MilfordRoad. Just look for the brand new
(03:00):
roundabout and all the other construction that'sgoing on around over there. How's that
going? How's that going to work? With all the construction and everything.
So, m it really doesn't impactanything. I think the firework footprint of
how you know why the fireworks cango shrinks a little bit, but you
won't notice. I mean, ifyou've been to Red, White, and
(03:20):
Blue ash many times before, youwon't notice a difference at all. Well
that's good. So you've got somestuff coming up this month. You got
a new name for your truck?Was it Blizzard? Yes? Yes,
so every so the last two yearswe've done a name of snow Plow contest
and last year the winner was ControlAssault Delete, And this year the winner
(03:43):
was Blizzard. And it was actuallya seven year old named Lexie and a
nine year old named Jake brother andsister from Blue Ash that came up with
that name and people voted online andthat was a name that came up,
was a Blizzard. So it's prettyexciting and I think it's awesome that it's
too a little kit. Oh yeah, they'll remember that the rest of their
lives. Yes, yeah, Sothey'll be out at Touch a Truck,
(04:04):
which is coming up on May twentyfourth. We're going to have the truck
there the name Truck so everybody canget a picture with Blizzard. That happens
from four to seven pm. Andthat's also at Summit Park. And not
to ask the obvious question, butwhat's the purpose of Touch a Truck?
Touch a Truck is? You know, basically, it's community outreach and we
want people to be engaged with ourpublic Works department and it gives people a
(04:26):
chance to meet, you know,the people that work there. But also
especially for little kids who love,you know, big construction equipment. I
know, my son was obsessed withlike plows and diggers and all that stuff
when he was little. So it'san opportunity for them. They can climb
in the truck, you know,they can see what it's all about,
see how big they really are.Because I mean still some of those are
(04:46):
all inspiring to me to see somethingright, well, especially when they're bearing
down on your own Kenwood road.Oh yeah, so that's a good time.
I mean, the kids really reallyenjoy it. So and then you
just finish up your Sister City Exchangethis year. And you told me about
it a couple of years ago,and I was just wondering, what is
it that you actually get out ofthat as a as a city. So
(05:12):
it really is about building partnerships,and it also has a lot to do
with economic development. We've made someinroads in the past where companies have been
encouraged to come to Blue Ash.Because of this exchange, we're able to
partner with universities in Germany and alsohere, so our sister cities elman Ou,
Germany. So, for example,one of the purposes of their trip
(05:35):
here this year was to meet anddiscuss starting up their student exchange again.
So there was a really good meetingthat I was a part of, and
I got to hear, you know, some of the challenges that that presents
trying to do that in exchange withGermany, but also you know a lot
of the positives and they're looking atsome really creative ideas to bring that back
again. So that I would saythat was one of the biggest takeaways that
(05:58):
I was involved with. If youjust tuned in, I'm Sandy Collins and
this is iHeart Since, a publicaffairs show that likes to showcase the great
people and the great communities that wehave here in the tri State. My
guest today is Rachel Murray. She'sa spokesperson for the city of Blue Ash
and an old friend. All Right, Memorial Days coming up? What are
you going to have? So wehave our seventy first annual Memorial Day parade
(06:24):
and ceremony here in Blue Ash.It's going to look a little bit different
this year because we are doing constructionon our town square. So that construction
is underway. They they've been stoleclearing the site there and if you haven't
seen the pictures of what that's goingto look like when it's done. You've
got to check that out at blueashdot com. It is going to be
really incredible, a great space witha nice concert area that can also be
(06:48):
used on days when there isn't aconcert. So we're trying to make it
more of a year round space.Like for a while, you know,
we had our Friday night concerts thereand then big events like Memorial Day and
Veterans Day, and there really wasn'ta whole lot going on there. So
now we're trying to make it amore inviting space for three sixty five usage.
(07:09):
And I think it's gonna be reallygreat. There's gonna be some little
pocket playgrounds and things like that thatpeople can use all year round. So
I think it's going to be acool space because of that construction. Our
Memorial Day ceremony is actually going tobe at the Cancer Center community parking lot,
so it's like kind of across thestreet from where town Square is,
(07:29):
but it'll be easy to find.I mean, the parade route is pretty
much daying the same and starts tothe apartment and Cooper correct and then correct
all down Cooper. Yes, andwe are still accepting parade applications. So
if you're a civic group of banned, you know, anything like that that
would like to be participating in ourparade, you can still fill out an
application at blue Ash events dot com. All right, So summertime just around
(07:53):
the corner. And I know lastyear every community had problems with lifeguards.
That what's the situation out in BlueAsh? Yeah, I remember we did
talk about that last year. Sowe're still hiring the lifeguards obviously, but
I think the situation has improved alittle bit. But I know that they
are still accepting applications for that.We're also hiring a fitness center manager right
(08:16):
now. But I think the situationhas gotten a little better. So I
mean that's always positive. My daughterdid some lifeguarding and she had never done
it before, and right when herlittle community there at college, they were
able to teach her what she neededto know in CPR and certify her and
then they know they paid her totrain. Is that the same situation with
(08:37):
you guys. If somebody has noexperienced lifeguarding, they can come get that
education. That is correct. Yes, I believe we're still paying for the
certification for that, So yeah,if you have no experience and want to
give it a try, then wecan help you out. It's a great
way to get a tan and tosee a lot of cute people all the
time and save lives and that's themost important party. What about that fitness
(09:05):
manager position that you advertised for,I saw, so that is still open,
so you can apply for that.They need someone who can do,
you know, scheduling of different fitnessclasses things like that. So if you
are in need of a job,it pays pretty well too. It's like
twenty about twenty two to twenty fivebucks an hour, so it's part time,
(09:28):
permanent, but you get a lotof benefits with that blush. They'll
be sure to check that out andyou can check that out at bluash dot
com slash jobs. I have anotherpretty big announcement that people are going to
be pretty happy about. So thethird and final roundabout in our Ham playing
Field Roundabout project is now being constructed. So the first two are done and
(09:50):
the one at Plainfield and Peppermill isnow being constructed and that's going to be
converted pretty soon into like we're gonnause barrels temporary early to make it a
one lane roundabout, so that'll causeyou know, some traffic headaches as people
get used to that. But onceit's done, I think, you know,
we've seen a big change in people'sopinions about roundabout since they're now built.
(10:16):
A lot of people who are nottoo happy about it when we decided
to do it are now saying thisis not so bad. This is actually
pretty great. I don't have tosit at that light, you know,
for five minutes to get through.I can just go about my business.
So yeah, I mean, Ithink it's been now that they're in place,
I think people are really having alittle bit of a change of heart
(10:39):
about it. So that's good.That's good. The one that's there at
the Hunt Road by the Kroger downthere, that one's a little scary.
The first time I went through italmost had an accident, you know,
if you've never driven it before andI got honked at and whatever. Have
you had any increase in accidents withthese roundabouts at all? So I don't
(11:00):
know specifically the statistics, but whatI can tell you is that we have
had no injury accidents since the roundaboutsto put in place. They've had.
I know that there have been someaccidents with some property damage, yeah,
but no one has been hurt.And I mean that's the key takeaway is
that that was one of the mostdangerous intersections in the state of Ohio at
(11:22):
one point, with people getting inhorrific t bone accidents. And now,
I mean, you know it's awfulto get kind an accident no matter what,
obviously, but if you know there'sless of a chance of getting hurt
in a roundabout, I mean,I think that's that's key. You can
see a lot of educational details.We've got some videos, we've got graphics,
(11:43):
we've got visual representation and on ourwebsite and you can look at that
at blueash dot com Slash roundabouts.There's that slashing in lots of slashes,
all right. Rachel Murray, thankyou so much for the Blue Ash bulletin
for this weekend. You are welcome. Is always a pleasure to join you,
Sandy, and I appreciate you lettingme come on and talk about blulaesh
(12:05):
I love it. Here. That'sher, Rachel Murray from the city of
Blue Ash. You can get moreon everything they're doing at blue ash dot
com. Coming up just a moment. If you know that you can't read
well, tell an adult standby oriHeart SINCI is on the way. Pray
dot COM's Meditative Prayers podcast is thebest way to bring God's perfect peace into
(12:30):
your night. Each meditative prayer helpsyou focus on God, fight anxiety,
sleep better, and more. Asyou close your eyes, ask God to
come and have fellowship with you,open yourself to the Holy Spirit and ask
Him to minister to you. Listento Meditative Prayers on the iHeartRadio app or
(12:52):
wherever you get your podcast. Thisis fifty five KRC an iHeartRadio station.
I'm Sandy Collins. My next gueston iHeart is here to talk about why
it is so hard to learn toread and what her company amplified us to
create curriculum that's proven to work inlearning to read. Susan Lambert is the
chief academic officer of the Elementary Humanitiesthat Amplify and the host of Science of
(13:16):
Reading the podcast. Susan's been aclassroom teacher, building administrator, and district
level leader who's been focused on creatinghigh quality learning environments using evidence based practices.
Susan Lambert, Welcome to iHeart.Since I watched your Science of Reading
Q and a that thirty six minuteYouTube show and really, you know,
(13:39):
to get ready to talk to youabout this, And I was immediately transported
back to learning how to read.And I was really fortunate. I had
a parent who was very well read. And she told me, no matter
what you do in life, youhave to be good in English. I
don't care about any other career thatyou have, but you've got to be
good in English as it will helpyou and a little that you know,
(14:01):
I would make my living eventually readingout loud and writing. Yeah, she
served me well. So I thisis a topic that's very close to my
heart. So I heard years agothat language really is a miracle. I
mean, if you think about it, we say these sounds to babies and
they figure out what we're saying,and then we teach each other. It's
it's amazing. And when I waslittle, like you know, of course,
(14:24):
didn't appreciate it when I was astudent. When you get older,
you certainly learn to appreciate your education. At the time, I didn't see
it that way. So you arein the business of helping teachers. My
world is helping teachers teach literacy,so reading and writing. But like you,
just said, reading and writing isthe gateway to every other content area.
(14:46):
So if you can't do that well, you're really limited in what you
can do both in schooling and yourfuture. So you did some research here
from before, during, and afterthe pandemic and how the pandemic kind of
disrupted the students education and how they'refaring now. So can you tell me
a little bit about what you've foundin your latest research. Yeah, so
(15:07):
the latest which actually came out atmid year, so we're really excited to
look now at what's going to happenby the end of the year. So
just know that this is sort ofmidyear data. But what we're seeing is,
and we're looking at just I wouldsay too, we're looking at the
grade levels K through three just togive it some context. But what we're
(15:28):
seeing is that we are starting toapproach pre pandemic level. We're having some
sort of recovery here with what studentsare able to perform with the caveat that
our pre pandemic levels weren't the bestlevels to be at anyway, because we
already had a lot of kids thatwe're not reading well even in the early
(15:50):
grades. But at least we're seeingsome recovery, which is great. It
makes sense. Kids are back inschool, things are a little more consistent
in terms of their instructional day,so we're seeing some bounce back. This
will be the simplest question I ask, and it will be the one that
you could go on for hours andhours. And that is why is reading
so hard to learn? It's agreat you know what. Nobody has asked
(16:15):
me that question quite the way thatyou just asked me that, and I
appreciate it. Reading is so hardto learn because writing is one of the
greatest technological inventions that ever happened.But our brains aren't wired to know how
to read. So we were talkingabout language, right, So we are
(16:36):
naturally prone to language. Right.We listen and we speak and we communicate,
and our brains have evolved to dothat. It's just who we are
when we're born. But you can'tput a kid in a library surrounded by
a bunch of books with people thatare reading, even reading out loud,
and expect them to come out ofthat experience understanding how the printed word on
(16:59):
the page works. And that's whatmakes it so hard, particularly in English,
because our language is a little morecomplicated than other languages, and that's
what makes it so hard. It'san invention that we have to teach kids
how to actually decode. You saidsomething in that Q and A that really
struck me, and it would havehelped me so much as a student,
(17:21):
and I wish it would have happened. You say that teachers should read aloud
to students all the way up throughmiddle school, and that they should listen
but not follow along with the text. Can you explain what that accomplishes.
Yeah, I think that's particularly importantfor the early kids. So the early
grades in kindergarten, first and second, I think when we talk about learning
(17:42):
how to read, I promise I'mgoing to answer your question, but we
talk about language development, and thenwe talk about teaching kids how to decode
the words on the page. Thisidea of language development is really important.
And when you read out loud tokids from actual printed text, you are
offering them the opportunity to hear complexlanguage in ways that they can't read it.
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And so for the youngest ones kindergarten, first second grade kids, when
you read that really complex text outloud, they can hear it and start
to develop their language. Abilities orlanguage capacities. If you would put that
printed text in front of the kidin kindergartener first grade, they actually can't
(18:29):
read. They can't really follow alongbecause they don't know how to decode the
words yet, and you can't expectthem to listen. Then well, at
the same time they're trying to readit, So they come out of that
experience with basically nothing right. Soyou want them to be able to focus
on the words that they're hearing outloud to develop that language. But your
point was that even when they're upinto the middle school years, And I
(18:53):
think that the reason that that hitme so hard was because you know,
you're in seventh or eighth grade andthe teacher asks you to stand up and
read to the class, and everykid does it exactly the same way.
It's monotone. It's word afterword afterwordafterword with no comprehension at all. They're
(19:14):
just getting through that. And sofor myself, that's what I did too.
I mean, I was really goodat English, but I didn't like
to read out loud, and itwasn't until I was in college and I
had to take a voice class.It's part of my degree and One of
the exercises was to mark up thecopy, and they say this is how
you read out loud. So they'dsay, okay, read the sentence,
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figure out where you need to putthe emphasis, and underline it, put
in a pause if you need topause whatever. So you mark up your
copy. And it didn't really makesense to me, but I did it.
And then I started writing commercials anddoing news and all this, and
I started to realize that that's thekey, is that you have to really
deconstruct every single sentence and understand whatit means before you can move on to
(20:00):
the next one. And now Ilook at copy and I know exactly how
to read cold copy in that way. That lightbulb moment changed my life.
And I'm sure that's what you andthe teachers that you help are looking for,
that lightbulb moment of now I cansee the meaning in this text and
I understand it. But when doesthat start to really kick in for the
(20:22):
average student? What you just saidthere is so complicated in terms of when
does it kick in. I thinkthings kick in at different times, right,
So the changing nature of literacy developmentevolves over time. That's why in
the early grades we want kids toget really strong at decoding words and being
able to recognize words. And thenwhen you actually, let's think about what
(20:47):
you just said. When you reada paragraph, you have to understand at
the sentence level what the sentence issaying to you before you can put that
in the context of a paragraph,right, and then you have to put
paragraphs together, understand the whole text. And so the evolving or changing nature
of the instruction over time, whichis why that language is so important to
(21:07):
develop when we're coming into school,so that we can actually understand things that
are being said or read exactly atthose levels of word level and sentence level
and putting them all together. Thisis my heart since a public affairs program
addressing the issues of the people ofthe Tri State. I'm Sandy Collins.
(21:29):
My guest today is Susan Lambert.She's the chief academic officer at Amplify.
It's a curriculum and assessment company thatuses data to drive what works in learning
language. That would have really helpedin junior high to have adults reading to
us the way we were supposed tobe doing it ourselves and providing that modeling.
(21:51):
What kind of things do you recommendthat students do to help themselves with
their reading and their comprehension. Andthen what can parents do to help their
children who are listening to this showright now. Yeah, that's a really
good question. So let's start withthe parents first. I think you know
we always say read aloud to yourkids. It's really important, Yes,
read aloud with your kids, andnot just read aloud with them, but
(22:15):
have them engage and back and forthtalk about what you're reading so that they
can understand. Then you know,it's not just words on a page where
somebody, the author was trying tocommunicate something to us. So how can
we talk about what we're reading.But for parents also to remember that it
takes more than just oral language development. They have to be sure when their
(22:41):
kids are in kindergarten, first secondgrade that their instruction in the classroom is
helping them understand how to decode words. So we shouldn't be guessing at words.
We shouldn't be looking at the firstletter and trying to figure it out
right. They should be taught howto decode those words. And if your
kids are struggling with the words onthe page, they need to go to
(23:03):
a classroom teacher and say, hey, what's going on here? So when
you say de code, are youtalking about quote unquote sounding it out?
Absolutely? Yep, sounding it out. And you know what the important thing
there is we don't want kids tosound out words forever because when you're taught
to sound out a word and thenyou practice that over and over and over
again, that's how words become automatic. It's not through memorization. So yeah,
(23:26):
okay, so there's that. Forstudents, particularly kids maybe that are
in you know, third, fourth, fifth grade and up, it's recognizing
that words carry meaning well. Firstof all, we want to make sure
they can sound those words out.So you know, if kids are watching
this and they're like, man,I can't figure this thing out, this
reading thing out, we need totell an adult at some point to say
(23:52):
I don't think that I know howto read. Because kids are really self
aware and when they see their peersreading and they're really confident in reading,
they know if they can't do itor not, and they get pretty good
at hiding things right, behaviors ordistraction or things like that. So for
students or kids that are watching rightnow, if you know that you can't
read, well, tell an adulttell an adult. And when you're actually
(24:15):
reading a text and you can recognizethe words on the page, you have
to bring a level of awareness like, oh, that didn't quite make sense,
Well go back and reread it,look at the sentence. Did you
understand what the sentence meant? Andso there's some strategies you can employ to
help with that. And there's noshame at all and not being able to
understand it, that's the whole key, I would imagine. No shame.
(24:36):
Oh, no shame at all,that is for sure. I mean,
how many times have you and Iapproached a text and we're not quite sure
what it means? We have togo someplace to help us understand. Oh,
my gosh, legal papers, anysort of legal it's a whole new
world out there. Getting back tothis study that you've got, tell me
(24:56):
what to Amplify does and how teachersour school systems access your services. Yeah,
well amplify dot com is a greatway to access right away. But
we really are K eight educational companyin the business since the year two thousand.
We really provide assessments, curriculum,professional development support in multiple areas,
(25:22):
not just English language arts, butalso science, and math. I think
the thing that for me that I'mmost proud of to be at Amplify is
because we started this business in orderto figure out how to support teachers in
the classroom with data on how studentswe're learning how to read. And so
(25:42):
we started in this literacy business toreally help teachers, And so I think
that's a little bit about the passionof why I'm here. And so you
can go to our website and findout all the great products and services that
we offer, but even more importantly, you can go to our website and
find support for how you can approachliteracy instruction appropriately, how you can start
(26:07):
making the shifts to more evidence basedpractices in your classroom. And you can
hit us up for our podcasts.We have Science of Reading the podcast which
I host. We also have amath and a science podcast as well.
Very good. Is there anything elseso I haven't covered that you wanted to
get across today, no other thanI do want to end with one thing
(26:27):
and that literacy is so important andwe have so underserved our students in the
classroom and in terms of developing asproficient readers and writers. And I am
so glad to be here today justto highlight the fact that there's a lot
we know that we can do tohelp to support our students and they deserve
it. So here we go tolevels that are beyond the pre pandemic levels
(26:52):
and really helping our students achieve.Well, Thank you so much. Susan
Lambert, the Chief Academic Officer ofthe Elementary Manities at Amplify and the host
of a Science of Reading the podcast. Susan, thank you for coming on
the show today. Appreciate thanks forthe invitation. Yeah, have a great
day too. So if you wantto get a hold of either of today's
guests, Rachel Murray from the Cityof Blue Ash, go to the website
(27:15):
Bluash dot com. Susan Lambert canbe found on amplify dot com and a
Google search of her name Susan Lambertwill lead you to her podcast, Science
of Reading the Podcast. And ifyou want to share this program, you
can find it on the iHeartRadio appunder podcasts. Just search for my name
Sandy Collins. There you will findthe archive and you can listen again and
(27:37):
share any or all of the shows. Love that once again, Happy Mother's
Day. It's been the greatest roleI've Ever Had. iHeart Cincy is a
production of iHeartMedia Centinnati
This week on iHeart Cincy, thatwas one of the most dangerous intersections in
the state of Ohio at one point, with people getting in horrific TVO accidents.
Rachel Murray from the City of BlueAshes here today to update you on
what's coming up this month in thecity and they're big huge Fourth of July
(00:24):
celebration this summer, and we're goingto talk about those roundabouts that are saving
lives and later, our brains aren'twired to know how to read. Susan
Lambert is here today to explain whyreading is so hard to learn and as
the chief academic officer to amplify acurriculum and assessment company. They're using data
(00:45):
to drive what works and learning andteaching language, reading and writing and the
most important part of that process.We'll get to that too. No on
iHeart Cincy with Sandy Collins, HappyMother's Day to you, especial helload to
all those who are called mom.There is no more important relationship in the
(01:06):
world. I'm Sandy Collins. Myfirst guest is a spokesperson for the City
of Blue Ash and a longtime friend. Rachel Murray is here with what did
we decide to call your blue AshNews Updates. What did we decide all?
Remember it was months ago we werejoking about that. Yes, all
right, time for the Blue AshBulletin with Rachel Murray. Um, so
(01:32):
what's coming here? What kind ofbig plans do you have for this year?
Well, we have a lot ofstuff going on as usual in Blue
Ash, but our big announcement recentlywas that for Fretboard Brewing Red White and
Blue Ash. We have announced thatCollective Soul is going to be the headlining
act for that. It's going tobe a lot of fun. I'm sure
you remember Shine that was their bighit. Um, there was another one
(01:56):
in December, So that's going tobe a lot of fun. And they're
opening act is really exciting too.It's an all female alternate rock band called
Plush and one of the members wason the Voice I believe, So that's
going to be really exciting. AndI think they're really taking off, so
they're they're getting more and more popularall the time, so that's going to
(02:17):
be fun. And of course we'vegot Arthur Rozzy pyrotechnic fireworks and that's gonna
begin at ten pm and you're goingto see fireworks from the Observation Tower from
the ground and all around. It'sgoing to be incredible. Like, oh,
it's a big party, and thatit is it's the fourth of July.
But is it going to be onthe fourth of July. Yes,
it is the fourth of July.It's a two newsday. Yes, it
(02:40):
opens at four pm and we've gotrides and of course food booths, drink
booths and all that fun stuff forall day. So it's an all day
you know, from four pm onyou can have a lot of fun out
at Summit Park. And if youhaven't been to Summit Park, it's located
at four three three five Glendale MilfordRoad. Just look for the brand new
(03:00):
roundabout and all the other construction that'sgoing on around over there. How's that
going? How's that going to work? With all the construction and everything.
So, m it really doesn't impactanything. I think the firework footprint of
how you know why the fireworks cango shrinks a little bit, but you
won't notice. I mean, ifyou've been to Red, White, and
(03:20):
Blue ash many times before, youwon't notice a difference at all. Well
that's good. So you've got somestuff coming up this month. You got
a new name for your truck?Was it Blizzard? Yes? Yes,
so every so the last two yearswe've done a name of snow Plow contest
and last year the winner was ControlAssault Delete, And this year the winner
(03:43):
was Blizzard. And it was actuallya seven year old named Lexie and a
nine year old named Jake brother andsister from Blue Ash that came up with
that name and people voted online andthat was a name that came up,
was a Blizzard. So it's prettyexciting and I think it's awesome that it's
too a little kit. Oh yeah, they'll remember that the rest of their
lives. Yes, yeah, Sothey'll be out at Touch a Truck,
(04:04):
which is coming up on May twentyfourth. We're going to have the truck
there the name Truck so everybody canget a picture with Blizzard. That happens
from four to seven pm. Andthat's also at Summit Park. And not
to ask the obvious question, butwhat's the purpose of Touch a Truck?
Touch a Truck is? You know, basically, it's community outreach and we
want people to be engaged with ourpublic Works department and it gives people a
(04:26):
chance to meet, you know,the people that work there. But also
especially for little kids who love,you know, big construction equipment. I
know, my son was obsessed withlike plows and diggers and all that stuff
when he was little. So it'san opportunity for them. They can climb
in the truck, you know,they can see what it's all about,
see how big they really are.Because I mean still some of those are
(04:46):
all inspiring to me to see somethingright, well, especially when they're bearing
down on your own Kenwood road.Oh yeah, so that's a good time.
I mean, the kids really reallyenjoy it. So and then you
just finish up your Sister City Exchangethis year. And you told me about
it a couple of years ago,and I was just wondering, what is
it that you actually get out ofthat as a as a city. So
(05:12):
it really is about building partnerships,and it also has a lot to do
with economic development. We've made someinroads in the past where companies have been
encouraged to come to Blue Ash.Because of this exchange, we're able to
partner with universities in Germany and alsohere, so our sister cities elman Ou,
Germany. So, for example,one of the purposes of their trip
(05:35):
here this year was to meet anddiscuss starting up their student exchange again.
So there was a really good meetingthat I was a part of, and
I got to hear, you know, some of the challenges that that presents
trying to do that in exchange withGermany, but also you know a lot
of the positives and they're looking atsome really creative ideas to bring that back
again. So that I would saythat was one of the biggest takeaways that
(05:58):
I was involved with. If youjust tuned in, I'm Sandy Collins and
this is iHeart Since, a publicaffairs show that likes to showcase the great
people and the great communities that wehave here in the tri State. My
guest today is Rachel Murray. She'sa spokesperson for the city of Blue Ash
and an old friend. All Right, Memorial Days coming up? What are
you going to have? So wehave our seventy first annual Memorial Day parade
(06:24):
and ceremony here in Blue Ash.It's going to look a little bit different
this year because we are doing constructionon our town square. So that construction
is underway. They they've been stoleclearing the site there and if you haven't
seen the pictures of what that's goingto look like when it's done. You've
got to check that out at blueashdot com. It is going to be
really incredible, a great space witha nice concert area that can also be
(06:48):
used on days when there isn't aconcert. So we're trying to make it
more of a year round space.Like for a while, you know,
we had our Friday night concerts thereand then big events like Memorial Day and
Veterans Day, and there really wasn'ta whole lot going on there. So
now we're trying to make it amore inviting space for three sixty five usage.
(07:09):
And I think it's gonna be reallygreat. There's gonna be some little
pocket playgrounds and things like that thatpeople can use all year round. So
I think it's going to be acool space because of that construction. Our
Memorial Day ceremony is actually going tobe at the Cancer Center community parking lot,
so it's like kind of across thestreet from where town Square is,
(07:29):
but it'll be easy to find.I mean, the parade route is pretty
much daying the same and starts tothe apartment and Cooper correct and then correct
all down Cooper. Yes, andwe are still accepting parade applications. So
if you're a civic group of banned, you know, anything like that that
would like to be participating in ourparade, you can still fill out an
application at blue Ash events dot com. All right, So summertime just around
(07:53):
the corner. And I know lastyear every community had problems with lifeguards.
That what's the situation out in BlueAsh? Yeah, I remember we did
talk about that last year. Sowe're still hiring the lifeguards obviously, but
I think the situation has improved alittle bit. But I know that they
are still accepting applications for that.We're also hiring a fitness center manager right
(08:16):
now. But I think the situationhas gotten a little better. So I
mean that's always positive. My daughterdid some lifeguarding and she had never done
it before, and right when herlittle community there at college, they were
able to teach her what she neededto know in CPR and certify her and
then they know they paid her totrain. Is that the same situation with
(08:37):
you guys. If somebody has noexperienced lifeguarding, they can come get that
education. That is correct. Yes, I believe we're still paying for the
certification for that, So yeah,if you have no experience and want to
give it a try, then wecan help you out. It's a great
way to get a tan and tosee a lot of cute people all the
time and save lives and that's themost important party. What about that fitness
(09:05):
manager position that you advertised for,I saw, so that is still open,
so you can apply for that.They need someone who can do,
you know, scheduling of different fitnessclasses things like that. So if you
are in need of a job,it pays pretty well too. It's like
twenty about twenty two to twenty fivebucks an hour, so it's part time,
(09:28):
permanent, but you get a lotof benefits with that blush. They'll
be sure to check that out andyou can check that out at bluash dot
com slash jobs. I have anotherpretty big announcement that people are going to
be pretty happy about. So thethird and final roundabout in our Ham playing
Field Roundabout project is now being constructed. So the first two are done and
(09:50):
the one at Plainfield and Peppermill isnow being constructed and that's going to be
converted pretty soon into like we're gonnause barrels temporary early to make it a
one lane roundabout, so that'll causeyou know, some traffic headaches as people
get used to that. But onceit's done, I think, you know,
we've seen a big change in people'sopinions about roundabout since they're now built.
(10:16):
A lot of people who are nottoo happy about it when we decided
to do it are now saying thisis not so bad. This is actually
pretty great. I don't have tosit at that light, you know,
for five minutes to get through.I can just go about my business.
So yeah, I mean, Ithink it's been now that they're in place,
I think people are really having alittle bit of a change of heart
(10:39):
about it. So that's good.That's good. The one that's there at
the Hunt Road by the Kroger downthere, that one's a little scary.
The first time I went through italmost had an accident, you know,
if you've never driven it before andI got honked at and whatever. Have
you had any increase in accidents withthese roundabouts at all? So I don't
(11:00):
know specifically the statistics, but whatI can tell you is that we have
had no injury accidents since the roundaboutsto put in place. They've had.
I know that there have been someaccidents with some property damage, yeah,
but no one has been hurt.And I mean that's the key takeaway is
that that was one of the mostdangerous intersections in the state of Ohio at
(11:22):
one point, with people getting inhorrific t bone accidents. And now,
I mean, you know it's awfulto get kind an accident no matter what,
obviously, but if you know there'sless of a chance of getting hurt
in a roundabout, I mean,I think that's that's key. You can
see a lot of educational details.We've got some videos, we've got graphics,
(11:43):
we've got visual representation and on ourwebsite and you can look at that
at blueash dot com Slash roundabouts.There's that slashing in lots of slashes,
all right. Rachel Murray, thankyou so much for the Blue Ash bulletin
for this weekend. You are welcome. Is always a pleasure to join you,
Sandy, and I appreciate you lettingme come on and talk about blulaesh
(12:05):
I love it. Here. That'sher, Rachel Murray from the city of
Blue Ash. You can get moreon everything they're doing at blue ash dot
com. Coming up just a moment. If you know that you can't read
well, tell an adult standby oriHeart SINCI is on the way. Pray
dot COM's Meditative Prayers podcast is thebest way to bring God's perfect peace into
(12:30):
your night. Each meditative prayer helpsyou focus on God, fight anxiety,
sleep better, and more. Asyou close your eyes, ask God to
come and have fellowship with you,open yourself to the Holy Spirit and ask
Him to minister to you. Listento Meditative Prayers on the iHeartRadio app or
(12:52):
wherever you get your podcast. Thisis fifty five KRC an iHeartRadio station.
I'm Sandy Collins. My next gueston iHeart is here to talk about why
it is so hard to learn toread and what her company amplified us to
create curriculum that's proven to work inlearning to read. Susan Lambert is the
chief academic officer of the Elementary Humanitiesthat Amplify and the host of Science of
(13:16):
Reading the podcast. Susan's been aclassroom teacher, building administrator, and district
level leader who's been focused on creatinghigh quality learning environments using evidence based practices.
Susan Lambert, Welcome to iHeart.Since I watched your Science of Reading
Q and a that thirty six minuteYouTube show and really, you know,
(13:39):
to get ready to talk to youabout this, And I was immediately transported
back to learning how to read.And I was really fortunate. I had
a parent who was very well read. And she told me, no matter
what you do in life, youhave to be good in English. I
don't care about any other career thatyou have, but you've got to be
good in English as it will helpyou and a little that you know,
(14:01):
I would make my living eventually readingout loud and writing. Yeah, she
served me well. So I thisis a topic that's very close to my
heart. So I heard years agothat language really is a miracle. I
mean, if you think about it, we say these sounds to babies and
they figure out what we're saying,and then we teach each other. It's
it's amazing. And when I waslittle, like you know, of course,
(14:24):
didn't appreciate it when I was astudent. When you get older,
you certainly learn to appreciate your education. At the time, I didn't see
it that way. So you arein the business of helping teachers. My
world is helping teachers teach literacy,so reading and writing. But like you,
just said, reading and writing isthe gateway to every other content area.
(14:46):
So if you can't do that well, you're really limited in what you
can do both in schooling and yourfuture. So you did some research here
from before, during, and afterthe pandemic and how the pandemic kind of
disrupted the students education and how they'refaring now. So can you tell me
a little bit about what you've foundin your latest research. Yeah, so
(15:07):
the latest which actually came out atmid year, so we're really excited to
look now at what's going to happenby the end of the year. So
just know that this is sort ofmidyear data. But what we're seeing is,
and we're looking at just I wouldsay too, we're looking at the
grade levels K through three just togive it some context. But what we're
(15:28):
seeing is that we are starting toapproach pre pandemic level. We're having some
sort of recovery here with what studentsare able to perform with the caveat that
our pre pandemic levels weren't the bestlevels to be at anyway, because we
already had a lot of kids thatwe're not reading well even in the early
(15:50):
grades. But at least we're seeingsome recovery, which is great. It
makes sense. Kids are back inschool, things are a little more consistent
in terms of their instructional day,so we're seeing some bounce back. This
will be the simplest question I ask, and it will be the one that
you could go on for hours andhours. And that is why is reading
so hard to learn? It's agreat you know what. Nobody has asked
(16:15):
me that question quite the way thatyou just asked me that, and I
appreciate it. Reading is so hardto learn because writing is one of the
greatest technological inventions that ever happened.But our brains aren't wired to know how
to read. So we were talkingabout language, right, So we are
(16:36):
naturally prone to language. Right.We listen and we speak and we communicate,
and our brains have evolved to dothat. It's just who we are
when we're born. But you can'tput a kid in a library surrounded by
a bunch of books with people thatare reading, even reading out loud,
and expect them to come out ofthat experience understanding how the printed word on
(16:59):
the page works. And that's whatmakes it so hard, particularly in English,
because our language is a little morecomplicated than other languages, and that's
what makes it so hard. It'san invention that we have to teach kids
how to actually decode. You saidsomething in that Q and A that really
struck me, and it would havehelped me so much as a student,
(17:21):
and I wish it would have happened. You say that teachers should read aloud
to students all the way up throughmiddle school, and that they should listen
but not follow along with the text. Can you explain what that accomplishes.
Yeah, I think that's particularly importantfor the early kids. So the early
grades in kindergarten, first and second, I think when we talk about learning
(17:42):
how to read, I promise I'mgoing to answer your question, but we
talk about language development, and thenwe talk about teaching kids how to decode
the words on the page. Thisidea of language development is really important.
And when you read out loud tokids from actual printed text, you are
offering them the opportunity to hear complexlanguage in ways that they can't read it.
(18:07):
And so for the youngest ones kindergarten, first second grade kids, when
you read that really complex text outloud, they can hear it and start
to develop their language. Abilities orlanguage capacities. If you would put that
printed text in front of the kidin kindergartener first grade, they actually can't
(18:29):
read. They can't really follow alongbecause they don't know how to decode the
words yet, and you can't expectthem to listen. Then well, at
the same time they're trying to readit, So they come out of that
experience with basically nothing right. Soyou want them to be able to focus
on the words that they're hearing outloud to develop that language. But your
point was that even when they're upinto the middle school years, And I
(18:53):
think that the reason that that hitme so hard was because you know,
you're in seventh or eighth grade andthe teacher asks you to stand up and
read to the class, and everykid does it exactly the same way.
It's monotone. It's word afterword afterwordafterword with no comprehension at all. They're
(19:14):
just getting through that. And sofor myself, that's what I did too.
I mean, I was really goodat English, but I didn't like
to read out loud, and itwasn't until I was in college and I
had to take a voice class.It's part of my degree and One of
the exercises was to mark up thecopy, and they say this is how
you read out loud. So they'dsay, okay, read the sentence,
(19:37):
figure out where you need to putthe emphasis, and underline it, put
in a pause if you need topause whatever. So you mark up your
copy. And it didn't really makesense to me, but I did it.
And then I started writing commercials anddoing news and all this, and
I started to realize that that's thekey, is that you have to really
deconstruct every single sentence and understand whatit means before you can move on to
(20:00):
the next one. And now Ilook at copy and I know exactly how
to read cold copy in that way. That lightbulb moment changed my life.
And I'm sure that's what you andthe teachers that you help are looking for,
that lightbulb moment of now I cansee the meaning in this text and
I understand it. But when doesthat start to really kick in for the
(20:22):
average student? What you just saidthere is so complicated in terms of when
does it kick in. I thinkthings kick in at different times, right,
So the changing nature of literacy developmentevolves over time. That's why in
the early grades we want kids toget really strong at decoding words and being
able to recognize words. And thenwhen you actually, let's think about what
(20:47):
you just said. When you reada paragraph, you have to understand at
the sentence level what the sentence issaying to you before you can put that
in the context of a paragraph,right, and then you have to put
paragraphs together, understand the whole text. And so the evolving or changing nature
of the instruction over time, whichis why that language is so important to
(21:07):
develop when we're coming into school,so that we can actually understand things that
are being said or read exactly atthose levels of word level and sentence level
and putting them all together. Thisis my heart since a public affairs program
addressing the issues of the people ofthe Tri State. I'm Sandy Collins.
(21:29):
My guest today is Susan Lambert.She's the chief academic officer at Amplify.
It's a curriculum and assessment company thatuses data to drive what works in learning
language. That would have really helpedin junior high to have adults reading to
us the way we were supposed tobe doing it ourselves and providing that modeling.
(21:51):
What kind of things do you recommendthat students do to help themselves with
their reading and their comprehension. Andthen what can parents do to help their
children who are listening to this showright now. Yeah, that's a really
good question. So let's start withthe parents first. I think you know
we always say read aloud to yourkids. It's really important, Yes,
read aloud with your kids, andnot just read aloud with them, but
(22:15):
have them engage and back and forthtalk about what you're reading so that they
can understand. Then you know,it's not just words on a page where
somebody, the author was trying tocommunicate something to us. So how can
we talk about what we're reading.But for parents also to remember that it
takes more than just oral language development. They have to be sure when their
(22:41):
kids are in kindergarten, first secondgrade that their instruction in the classroom is
helping them understand how to decode words. So we shouldn't be guessing at words.
We shouldn't be looking at the firstletter and trying to figure it out
right. They should be taught howto decode those words. And if your
kids are struggling with the words onthe page, they need to go to
(23:03):
a classroom teacher and say, hey, what's going on here? So when
you say de code, are youtalking about quote unquote sounding it out?
Absolutely? Yep, sounding it out. And you know what the important thing
there is we don't want kids tosound out words forever because when you're taught
to sound out a word and thenyou practice that over and over and over
again, that's how words become automatic. It's not through memorization. So yeah,
(23:26):
okay, so there's that. Forstudents, particularly kids maybe that are
in you know, third, fourth, fifth grade and up, it's recognizing
that words carry meaning well. Firstof all, we want to make sure
they can sound those words out.So you know, if kids are watching
this and they're like, man,I can't figure this thing out, this
reading thing out, we need totell an adult at some point to say
(23:52):
I don't think that I know howto read. Because kids are really self
aware and when they see their peersreading and they're really confident in reading,
they know if they can't do itor not, and they get pretty good
at hiding things right, behaviors ordistraction or things like that. So for
students or kids that are watching rightnow, if you know that you can't
read, well, tell an adulttell an adult. And when you're actually
(24:15):
reading a text and you can recognizethe words on the page, you have
to bring a level of awareness like, oh, that didn't quite make sense,
Well go back and reread it,look at the sentence. Did you
understand what the sentence meant? Andso there's some strategies you can employ to
help with that. And there's noshame at all and not being able to
understand it, that's the whole key, I would imagine. No shame.
(24:36):
Oh, no shame at all,that is for sure. I mean,
how many times have you and Iapproached a text and we're not quite sure
what it means? We have togo someplace to help us understand. Oh,
my gosh, legal papers, anysort of legal it's a whole new
world out there. Getting back tothis study that you've got, tell me
(24:56):
what to Amplify does and how teachersour school systems access your services. Yeah,
well amplify dot com is a greatway to access right away. But
we really are K eight educational companyin the business since the year two thousand.
We really provide assessments, curriculum,professional development support in multiple areas,
(25:22):
not just English language arts, butalso science, and math. I think
the thing that for me that I'mmost proud of to be at Amplify is
because we started this business in orderto figure out how to support teachers in
the classroom with data on how studentswe're learning how to read. And so
(25:42):
we started in this literacy business toreally help teachers, And so I think
that's a little bit about the passionof why I'm here. And so you
can go to our website and findout all the great products and services that
we offer, but even more importantly, you can go to our website and
find support for how you can approachliteracy instruction appropriately, how you can start
(26:07):
making the shifts to more evidence basedpractices in your classroom. And you can
hit us up for our podcasts.We have Science of Reading the podcast which
I host. We also have amath and a science podcast as well.
Very good. Is there anything elseso I haven't covered that you wanted to
get across today, no other thanI do want to end with one thing
(26:27):
and that literacy is so important andwe have so underserved our students in the
classroom and in terms of developing asproficient readers and writers. And I am
so glad to be here today justto highlight the fact that there's a lot
we know that we can do tohelp to support our students and they deserve
it. So here we go tolevels that are beyond the pre pandemic levels
(26:52):
and really helping our students achieve.Well, Thank you so much. Susan
Lambert, the Chief Academic Officer ofthe Elementary Manities at Amplify and the host
of a Science of Reading the podcast. Susan, thank you for coming on
the show today. Appreciate thanks forthe invitation. Yeah, have a great
day too. So if you wantto get a hold of either of today's
guests, Rachel Murray from the Cityof Blue Ash, go to the website
(27:15):
Bluash dot com. Susan Lambert canbe found on amplify dot com and a
Google search of her name Susan Lambertwill lead you to her podcast, Science
of Reading the Podcast. And ifyou want to share this program, you
can find it on the iHeartRadio appunder podcasts. Just search for my name
Sandy Collins. There you will findthe archive and you can listen again and
(27:37):
share any or all of the shows. Love that once again, Happy Mother's
Day. It's been the greatest roleI've Ever Had. iHeart Cincy is a
production of iHeartMedia Centinnati
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