October 4, 2025 • 41 mins
Lauren Moseley discusses her experience fostering dogs through Three Little Pitties, a Texas-based rescue. Visit https://www.threelittlepittiesrescue.org to learn more. Moseley shares the process of finding homes for them. She shares her personal journey of fostering a pregnant dog named Anise and the challenges and rewards of fostering.
T.D. and Lauren discuss Ms. Moseley's transition from self-contained to departmentalized teaching, focusing on language arts and social studies. They both emphasize the importance of systematic reading programs and the use of various teaching tools and strategies to help struggling readers, such as using magnetic letters and sand trays.
Tiffany's Tip focuses on the benefits of play-based learning by incorporating movement.
Episode Highlights:
0:00:03 – Lauren Moseley returns to the podcast and introduces her foster dog, Anise.
0:01:57 – Lauren discusses her experience fostering dogs and the importance of animal rescue.
0:08:08 – Lauren shares her transition to teaching only language arts and social studies, and how it allows for deeper dives into reading instruction.
0:10:27 – Discussion about the science of reading and helping students decode tricky words and names.
0:12:19 – TD Flenaugh describes professional development and the use of manipulatives like Magna doodles and pipe cleaners for reading intervention.
0:16:10 – TD explains the benefits of observing other teachers and organizing magnetic letters for reading activities.
0:20:01 – Tiffany’s Tip: Introduction to play-based learning and using movement (e.g., freeze dance, hopping while counting) to engage students.
0:21:30 – Tiffany’s Tip: Sharing inspirational Instagram accounts for creative classroom ideas
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
TD Flenaugh (00:03):
Lauren Moseley, I'm so glad you're back on the
podcast.
Lauren Moseley (00:06):
Well, hello
TD Flenaugh (00:09):
Audience, she's here. I mean, she's like, been
playing hard to get I don't knowwhere she was! No, just playing.
Tell them what's been...
Lauren Moseley (00:19):
What's been going on. Come here. this is,
this is why I've been busy. Comehere, come here. Hold on. Let me
see if she'll come up. Comehere, come here. This is my new
I love so much, and she takes upall of my time. This is Anise.
She is my foster dog. Actually,I rescued her. And yeah. So it's
(00:42):
been part of the reason I have anew baby. You know how new moms
are?
TD Flenaugh (00:47):
Yep, new moms.
Yeah, you had your maternityleave. Yeah, she's back. I'm
back.
Lauren Moseley (00:52):
Yes, we got her a little a little bit more
trained, so now I'm, I can haveher in the house, and she's,
she's got a free roaming I don'thave to worry about stuff too
much.
TD Flenaugh (01:02):
Okay
Lauren Moseley (01:03):
yeah, so we're good, and she already has a
potential adopter, and I've onlyhad her for a little over a
month.
TD Flenaugh (01:13):
Okay, you have to tell me about this because,
like, give me the details,because you were telling me that
your foster dog, I don't knowyou have a transport sit like,
Tell me about it, because I it'sso unfamiliar, and I don't know
if people in the audience outthere like, if they need to
(01:34):
foster dogs and just have aplace to give them or like, tell
us about it.
Hi. Thank you so much forjoining the falling for learning
podcast. We have this podcast tohelp parents and caregivers with
having the resources, strategiesand tools needed to make sure
that their children are on trackfor learning and to stay on
(01:54):
track for success.
Lauren Moseley (01:57):
So I have this thing. People collect different
things. Some people collectcoins, collect vintage, you
know, milk glass vases. Icollect dogs, and I don't keep
them, because I would have 20dogs, and that's just not
sustainable. So I partnered withthree little pitties, which is
here in Texas, an amazingrescue. And, you know, they
(02:22):
they're very well established.
They have a great program. Theyhave a great veterinarian
program. They have a greattraining program, beautiful
facility. The dogs are kept safeand they're exercised. They have
tons of volunteers. So wheneverI find a dog that I know would
make an amazing pet, I, youknow, just tell them, Hey, I
(02:45):
found this dog I am willing tofoster. Can you help me find her
a good family? And that's whatthey do. They they have a social
media crew that, you know, putsthis great montage together for
her, like, she's got, like,little glamor shots, little, you
know, little video. I'm Anise.
Exactly
TD Flenaugh (03:05):
glamor roll. Okay, yes, you call that like, when
kids are being scouted, or theywant to be scouted for the
teams, they have, like, a, Idon't know what they call it.
Lauren Moseley (03:15):
portfolio, like, a little, yeah, yeah, yeah. So
she's got hers. It's online, andbecause they are such a good
rescue, and they really do, youknow, they have great outreach
programs. They have spay andneuter programs. They just do so
much for people who are animallovers like myself. They want to
(03:36):
place these dogs with the rightwith the right families, so they
vet them very well to make surethat the family fits the dog,
and the dog fits the family, andthey have so much success that
they're popular, and peoplewill, you know, refer friends
and say, Hey, if you want a pet,don't, don't shop adopt. And
that's, ah,
TD Flenaugh (03:56):
don't shop adopt.
So we definitely put that in theshow notes, because I know he's
out there, they want to know,like, if they could foster a
dog, or, you know, they might becollecting dogs and they need to
give some away, but they don'twant to, you know, leave them
just out on the street orwhatever. Can you tell us a
little bit about the dog story
Unknown (04:17):
my dog? Oh, okay, so I took a year off from fostering
back in November, my my last dogwas placed in November. Her name
was ginger, and she she just,was just such a great, great
dog. But I was tired and Ineeded a break, because it's a
lot of work. You got to trainthem, you have to exercise them,
you have to keep them social. SoI took a year off, and in March,
(04:41):
I kept seeing this dog at thegas station, and I was like, No,
I can't do it. I can't do it. Ineed a break. So March went by,
and I saw her in like, a fewmonths later and she was
pregnant. Like, oh no. And I'mlike, Lauren, if you take this
dog. You're gonna have to take adog with puppies. So what are
(05:02):
you gonna do? So I thought aboutit, thought about it, and then I
didn't see her again for a long,long, long, long time. And then
the next time I saw her, whichwas in August, she was no longer
pregnant, so I went, I wentaround the area and asked, Hey,
do you guys? Have you seenpuppies? Do you know this dog?
Do you know who owns his dog.
They're like, Oh, no, we justfeed her. She hangs out. You
know, she's just kind of astray. There was a food truck
(05:26):
out there, so, you know, she wasin the trash at the food truck
never found the puppies. Butthen one day, I was driving home
and I did see a little puppy inthe street. Rip. That's it. I'm
going to get her so yeah, August19, I and she knew me by then,
(05:46):
because I had seen her at thegas station several times. I
gave her like little tree Pather on the head. But yeah, I got
her on the 19th, she camestraight to me. She was like, I
was waiting for you. Out ofretirement, out of retirement,
yep, and yeah. Got her in theprogram immediately, and they
(06:06):
were like, We love her. She'sgreat, and her application is
out there already. Three LittlePitties. Look her up. I wish I
had some more information. Somaybe if some of the listeners
want to check her out, but she'sgot applications already. She'll
probably be gone.
TD Flenaugh (06:23):
She's a hot commodity, but at least if, if
you weren't aware of threelittle pities, yes, you know,
this is something, I mean whenwe think about falling for
learning and getting our kidsinvolved with the community like
this is something they could do.
They could help foster dogs.
They can help, you know,volunteer, you know, because the
(06:44):
dogs are just out, and thenunfortunately, like she said
her, that the puppies, you know,at least we know that one of
them, or more, probably more,because we don't know where the
puppies are, did not survive.
So, yeah, we're doing a servicefor the community, and that
could be a pathway, you know, toa kid's career or something like
that, so or just a lifelonghobby. I mean, it's gives your
(07:09):
your life dimension and purpose,or whatever you know, every dog
additional purpose. You know,
Lauren Moseley (07:18):
I tell people, every dog is an emotional
support dog. When I'm having ourday, we can go play fetch, I
feel instantly better. Just,even just taking her for a ride
in the car, I feel instantlybetter. There's something about
the way that dogs kind of likethey're studying you. They want
to know all about you, andsomething about the connection
(07:38):
is just, yeah, it's therapy. So,yeah, lots of young volunteers
at the rescue too. Soabsolutely, get your kids
involved.
TD Flenaugh (07:48):
Okay, all right, so you're back with us. And so the
school year has been underway.
We've had lots of differentinterviews and stuff like that.
What are you noticing this year?
Like, what's going well? What'shappening going well?
Lauren Moseley (08:08):
Well, I am self contained this year, last year.
I'm sorry. I am departmentalizedthis year, last year, I was self
contained. So I taught allsubjects this year. I'm only
doing language arts and socialstudies, which is less work in
the sense of, I don't have asmuch to plan for, but it's
(08:28):
really opening up some space forme to do a little bit more of a
deeper dive into language arts.
And you know, what are someother resources and tools that
are out there ways betterincorporate my language arts and
my social studies together. Soeven though i I miss having that
intimate group, that core 20kids and that's all I have, and
(08:49):
we, you know, I can manage mytime a little better now,
because I have that hard stopand you gotta switch classes. I
40 kids now, but this week, Ithink I have learned all their
names, because that was
TD Flenaugh (09:05):
Wow. When'd you start? Though,
Lauren Moseley (09:09):
we started August 18. No, not 18th. August
11. August 11, okay,
TD Flenaugh (09:17):
so a month and a half,
Lauren Moseley (09:21):
and I have an Isaiah and an Elijah, and they,
I get those flip flopped all thetime. I'm like, hey, they're
both biblical names. I'm sorry,
TD Flenaugh (09:29):
but, yeah, it's just so funny. I I haven't had
that perspective. Yeah, yeah. Imean, you know, I've done
middle, elementary, high school,and, yeah, I mean, I think it's
a long time, but I'm not goingto judge you,
Lauren Moseley (09:48):
but I've never had to do 40 names. No,
TD Flenaugh (09:51):
no, I understand an adjustment for you. It's twice
what you need to do. I'm notgoing to say I didn't get kids
mixed up. Still, I still gotnames mixed up. Up and yeah,
just their look sometimes, andit's not always like that. They
look exactly alike, butsomething about them is the
same, yeah, yeah. They'll remindme every time I get mixed up,
(10:12):
but I'll get it, you know.
Sorry, you know. But okay, howdo you like just focusing on
English, you know, Englishlanguage arts and history,
Lauren Moseley (10:27):
um, I, I like it. I think the pro we're doing
a science of reading. You know,our program is amplify reading.
And I really love the program.
So, you know, the first year wasa little learning curve. I
understood the concepts, but,you know, there's lots of
components and pieces, and I'mjust trying to learn the core
curriculum at the time. Secondyear, okay, I dabbled a little
(10:49):
bit into the extra things. I hadsome supplementary materials and
some additional resources. Thisyear, I really am understanding
better how to infuse all thethings that we talk about, signs
of reading throughout the day,like even when we're like for
names, for instance, forinstance, just even helping the
kids understand how names,because their their origin
(11:14):
stories are sometimes from othercultures or other languages that
they don't follow the normal Therules are English language
rules, and so just having thekids say, hey, my My name has a
tricky spelling. You know, thosekind of conversations with them
about words. And you know,having the kids really
(11:37):
understand that there's a codeto reading. Yes, you can break
the code. You can read anythingyou know, stand you know, the
process, the literal science ofhow to learn to read. So even
though I have kids who are maybethey're not fluent readers, I
love how I've been able to kindof help them have this mindset
(12:00):
of, of, even if you just candecode and segment words that's
considered that counts, youknow, like, I can't read yet.
I'm like, sure you you just, youjust read that word yes, had to
go at cat, but you read it back,
TD Flenaugh (12:19):
yes, I have had those conversations as you know,
I'm a interventionist forliteracy, and I am working on my
reading Specialist credential,you Yeah, so I'm working on
that. I've already been trainedin Orton Gillingham, LETRS ,
which is, I always like to saywhat acronyms mean, but I can't
(12:44):
remember right now, l, e, t, R,S, which is why we have the
alphabet soup, because we don'thave to remember what. Anyway.
So we're, yeah, we're working onthat. And I've been getting,
like, great training from myprogram through my district, and
(13:06):
then good, really good trainingfrom my like, we have academies
like for our interventionistsonce a month we go, and today,
on Friday, we went to go see oneof our leaders, the leaders that
is intervention, and she's beenan interventionist for five
years to teach. It's a group ofus. About 10 of us, watched her
(13:28):
class, her and her intervention,her instructional aide. We're
teaching a group of small groupand switching kids. It was about
six of them, and she was, it wasjust really good. She had so
many layers of things likelittle Magna doodles for them to
write on when they were doingtheir auditory drill, where they
(13:49):
had the like, what letter? Whatletter makes the /m/ sound? So
they have to say M. And so theyon their little Magna doodle
thing, they wrote M, they coulderase it for the next one. And
they're like, which letter, Imean, which letters or spells
/sh/. So you can put sh on theMagna doodle and it erase. So I
(14:11):
was like, That is so nice. Andthey're segmenting oral,
segmenting where they're like,/p/ at or pat. Then they had,
like a pipe cleaner, and it waslike it had like, like three
bumps on it, or something like,I don't know, so they could kind
(14:32):
of like feel the three bumps,like three sounds, so they
touched it, so it is like somany like layers of things,
because I'm, well, I wasactually high school right
before this position. But Iactually don't keep saying I
(14:52):
never taught, well, I taught afirst grade class long, long
time ago when I had a privateschool before I started in
public school. So. But I didgrow up teaching kids to read,
but I didn't have like thescience of reading. I didn't do
it. I did it like systematicallyand in some ways. But obviously,
there's so many layers to it,and what's really important
(15:13):
about it is when a student isstruggling to learn how to read,
to break that code, these extramodalities and manipulatives
help them to grasp the concept,because me just saying to you,
but you may not get it and andsome kids get it and they don't
(15:34):
need it, but the kids who needit, it's very helpful to have
these different manipulatives sothey could see you doing that,
or using your arm, or doing yourat you know, like you're helping
them through. And that's who Iserve as an interventionist, if
you're a struggling reader,that's so we need those extras,
(15:56):
yeah, because that is what theyneed to really grasp the concept
something's not connecting andtrying all these different
things helps them.
Lauren Moseley (16:05):
Yeah, I just wrote down pick up pipe cleaners
TD Flenaugh (16:10):
I love. Yes, I learned so much by just going,
that's like the bestprofessional development seeing
other teachers, because even theway they've organized things,
actually the you know, justseeing them deliver something, I
may be delivering it a littlebit differently, but when you
know, but that is helpful to seethe way they deliver and
(16:30):
interpret that same lesson, butthen also just how they organize
things, how they have things up.
All of those things are verywere very helpful for me. So I
was very excited to be able tosee that. And I was they had
something in the book, Theteacher's edition, that was
saying, manipulative letters,right? And I got some magnetic
(16:54):
letters, but they were allseparated, and they were like,
seven, S's, seven, TDS, like,all in a row, right? But it just
took so much time. I would belike, Okay, let's pass out the
S's, let's pass out the TDS,let's pass out the A's, right?
We did it and it was, it worked,but it was takes a long time,
(17:16):
and we only have 30 minutes forthe kids, right? But finally, I
thought with, you know, it hadmagnetic trays, like cookie
sheets from the 99 cent store,which is no longer 99 cents. But
anyway, magnetic cookie sheets.
(17:36):
And then they had, we had thealphabet typed out, right? And
then it was very similar to themagnetic letters, and then you
put them on top of it on thetray, so it's all magnetic. I'll
show a picture. I need to show apicture. But, yeah, it just was
such an easier way to organizeit, right? I got six of those
(18:02):
printouts and then magnetizedthose letters on top of the on
top of the typed letters right,and then put it on the cookie
tray. And so then, now kids willhave their whole ABC Alphabet
already organized with magnets.
And then you could pull down thes, pull down the A, right,
rather than let me pass out anS, let me pass out an A, I
(18:24):
forgot to pass out the B's,okay, right? So now we have
everything a through z there,and we can easily make cat and
then put it back at the C, A, T,put it back. We just need to
change the C to B, pull down theB, right? And so it was just so
nice to have those materials.
(18:49):
And I actually put those in theshow notes. So you'll Yeah, I
love that, yeah. So it's just somuch easier to organize it,
easier for the kids to put itback together at the end and get
and store
Lauren Moseley (19:00):
it sheets. Okay, I got pipe cleaners and cookie
sheets.
TD Flenaugh (19:13):
Now the rewrite method and the rewrite method
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fall in love with writing, ithas the tips, tools, resources,
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(19:39):
of writing heat and into lovingto write, get your book set
today.
We have today, Tiffany's Tip onplay based learning
Tiffany Curry (20:01):
movement is another way, just maybe making
thing, like a freeze dance typeof thing, where you're like,
have the music going, and thenyou have, like, a magic word
that makes everybody freeze, or,you know, you're counting, and
(20:21):
you're jumping around, you know,and you're hopping, you're
counting as your hop, and justall kinds of fun ways that are
learning that aren't as theconventional ways, yes,
typically think of sitting at adesk with your pencil and your
book and your paper and thingslike that, you know, kind of
(20:45):
thinking outside of the box inthat way. And I also wanted to
share some of the Instagramaccounts that really inspire me
when I'm trying to come up withideas and things to do with the
kids, just three of them. One ofthem is where learning meets
(21:06):
play. So it's like, whereunderscore learning underscore
meets underscore play. Okay,that's a really cool teacher in
Australia, actually, and she hasthis big, beautiful classroom
with so many just engaging toysand manipulatives and textures
(21:30):
and colors, and it's just like adream. So I like to see what she
comes up with, what she sets outfor the children. Each day, she
just makes it so beautiful andengaging. And it's like, I want
to, I want to go to her class,definitely do some of the
activities I'm so, you know,inspired by her. And then
(21:52):
there's mulberry HOUSE PlaySchool. And they are also a play
based learning preschool, andit's just beautiful how
everything is set up for thekids. It's very engaging. And
(22:12):
the kids just their creativityis on full display. They are
just in their creating andplaying and building and making
all day long in such a funenvironment. So I get a lot of
inspiration from that, thatInstagram account, and she has
(22:35):
an amazing Amazon storefrontwhere you see all the materials
that she has at her school. Youcould buy them, you know, some
of them to kind of help yourkids. But I, I really find her,
her really helpful, helpful. Andthen another one is called
(22:56):
Tinker, wonder play, and she'slike, lots of creative ideas as
well for play based learning. SoI just think that is just helps
the child become more engaged.
And as we mentioned in anothertip about noticing what your
kids are interested in andincorporating that into play and
(23:20):
learning it could be reallypowerful, and giving them the
competitive advantage. Like, Iknow you Yes.
TD Flenaugh (23:36):
I mean, it's so amazing, like, you know, and so
I have the parent forms andstuff. I see a lot of people
talking about their kidsstruggle. Struggling to read and
things like that. Now, computerprograms are great, and I'm
saying, yes, use the computerprograms, but when you don't be
exclusive to computer programs,right? They need to move their
(23:56):
hands, but they need to be ableto move the letters around and
stuff like that. And of course,there are computer programs
where you could move letters andstuff like that, yeah. But if
your child is, you know, trywhat. You can't try different
things because you don't knowwhat it is that's gonna get it
unstuck. Yeah, some of our kidsare stuck. They don't they're
not making the connection. Andall of these different ways,
(24:18):
seeing it over again, the Bagain, the A again, in a
different form. It's magnet,it's online, it's typed, it's on
the whiteboard, although, youknow. And then at some point,
it's like, oh, that, you know,they're gonna get it, you know.
But you you know, trying thesedifferent things are really
worth it. And the kids have fun.
We also use sand. Okay, yeah. Sothey gave our, our, our district
(24:42):
gave us sand, wow. And so then,you know, then you could write
where to stand in the trays. Youput it in a little bit. Sand is
in trays, yes? So it still makesa mess, still makes a mess,
still makes a mess, please? Intrays. Yeah. TD, and so you have
cat, right? And you can writecat, yeah, right in the sand.
(25:03):
And then you also could do yourauditory drill, which letter
makes the sound. You could justwrite t So, wherever they are in
the lesson, or where they arewherever they are,
developmentally, this sand canbe helpful,
Lauren Moseley (25:18):
nice. Have you ever seen the the shaving cream
in a little ziploc bag with alittle food coloring, and so you
then they can use the littleZiploc bag, and with their
finger pressing the, you know,the letters they can write in,
it just makes, you know, makesthe whip the shaving cream kind
(25:38):
of separate, so you can seewhere your finger is written the
letter, if that's helpful, likethat, but,
TD Flenaugh (25:45):
yes, maybe, yes, yes, yes, my instructional aide
is great, but she doesn't like,like, I'm the only one who does
the sand. She's just like, shedoesn't want it too much, and
I'm fine with that. It's fine.
You know? It's fine. I use thesand every once in a while, I
don't use it like every day andnot even once a week, but we
pull it out every once while thekids, like, beg for it, like,
(26:06):
can we get the sand? And I'mlike, Okay, next week, next
week, the sand.
Lauren Moseley (26:12):
So bye, and do an outdoor lesson.
TD Flenaugh (26:17):
That would work. I like that. That could be like a
ca-, like, we could be out inthe cafeteria area that's
outside, and it's not so badbecause, you know, the janitor,
like, sprays it down orwhatever. So that would, that
would solve some of that. Yeah,yeah. So it is a big mess, but I
they love it so much, andthat's, that's the thing, like
parents and educators out there,like, try to think about, like,
(26:40):
what's fun and engaging forthem, and that's why, sometimes
it's whiteboard, sometimes it'smagnetic letters, sometimes it
might be the Magna doodle thatshe has, that she's and then she
could erase it right away.
Sometimes it's the sand, right?
Because all of these differentways are engaging to them. And
then, you know, when the kidsare struggling, they are very
(27:02):
much aware that other kidsaround them are moving and
they're not getting it andthey're frustrated by it. So
having fun and manipulatingletters and words in different
ways helps them to focus againon it, and hopefully, you know,
keep trying, because some ofthem, some of that, when they're
(27:24):
saying I can't read, is also asign of them giving up, right?
Like I don't I can't do it. Likeyou can do it. You are doing it.
And, yeah, yeah. So it's reallyimportant, gotta dial into that
Absolutely.
Lauren Moseley (27:43):
One of the things I really love about our
reading program is howsystematic it is. So they spent
about 20 lessons in review, likereviewing sounds and reviewing,
uh, sight words or tricky words,what you know, whatever you want
to call them. And then the firstlast week was the first time
(28:04):
they they read out of theirreader. So they're like, Oh, you
get a first grade reader now. Sothey open up the reader, and lo
and behold, all the words onthat first page. And it's only
like two pages of text, and it'smaybe three sentences, maybe per
page, lots of pictures, but it'sall the words we've been doing
for the past 20 lessons, right?
So everything on there, theythey've seen it, they've read
(28:29):
it, they've sounded out. Theyhave interacted with these words
and lots of differentmodalities. So they sit down and
they open the book, and they'relike, I know this. I know all
these words. So now it's just amatter of having them read it
fluently so that that's wherewe're at now, like they're,
(28:50):
they're at the point wherethey're feeling like, oh, wow,
maybe I can read. But we talkabout reading like a robot
versus reading like speaking. Sothat's, you know, I said, if I
talk to you like this all day,you would fall asleep just
trying to add, add someinflection. And I said, you
(29:10):
know, once you get comfortable,that's why you have to read it
over. So they're finished withtheir work. Like, I'm finished.
I'm like, Okay, go get yourreader. I already read it like
you're gonna read it again.
You're gonna read it over andover. And that's the reason
we're having you read it over,is so you want to get to the
point where it sounds likeyou're talking. We want your
(29:31):
teacher. So I even have, like,a, I got the little Janet
Jackson headphones, you know,with the little microphone now,
so now kids can read to theirpartner on the microphone, and
they're trying to see who cansorry, it's my it's my child
TD Flenaugh (29:51):
who can judge me here, we're all about family
here on the following Flenaughpodcast.
Lauren Moseley (29:55):
Thank you. We love it anyway. Yeah, we're, you
know, because we want them to.
Sound like, you know, they're,if you're on a microphone, that
means you have something to say.
So we want you to say it likeyou are, like you are
performing. So now that's wherewe're at. We're, we've had
three, three stories so far, andthey're practicing with their
little microphone. I only haveone, so they have to take turns.
(30:16):
But anyway, maybe, maybe myprincipal will hear this. And,
you know, give me some moremicrophones.
TD Flenaugh (30:23):
Started. Donors Choose, and then our audience
will give it to you. Oh, we
Lauren Moseley (30:27):
have some at the school. We have, we have them.
I'm almost positive I've seenthem. I think they were
leftovers from covid. So I knowwe have them somewhere in the
building. It's just a matter of,you know, if you'll let us like,
you know, get a class set. Not aclass I don't want a class set,
but maybe a few anyhow, yeah,you know, parents like realize
(30:53):
that what they're doing atschool. Let them take those
readers home, or let them takethose little, you know, whatever
they're reading, get, get ifit's in their skills book or in
whatever notebook they have,make copies of them and have it
read it over and over and overagain. It is that it builds
fluency, and it builds theirconfidence, and it builds their
(31:13):
sense of like, Oh my gosh. I iknow this, this passage so well,
I can read it so fluently, andthey they will start seeing the
difference in just how theysound when they read like I
think that's the big difference.
Like the kids who still readvery choppy, they sometimes look
at awe at the kids who readfluently. I'm like, it's the
(31:35):
same year. It's the same thing.
It's just they've read it moretimes than you Yeah, that's it,
yeah.
TD Flenaugh (31:44):
And that's so good for us to talk about reading
like you're talking because Iknow that sometimes fluency is
misinterpreted, and peoplethink, because, of course, that
one of the measures that we givethe students is a fluency
assessment, where we have themsee how much they could read in
a minute. And some people willmisinterpret that, and kids will
(32:05):
misinterpret it as this is speedreading. You know, it's like,
no, this is not it. This isreading like you're talking our
normal speaking voices arefluent, right? It'll meet the
whatever that fluencybenchmarking is, if we're
reading, if we are speaking theway we're reading, the way we
(32:28):
speak, at that rate and speed itworks so you don't have to rush
through it. And a lot of peopleget this wrong, and the kids get
it wrong, because I'm sureyou've seen it. I've seen it
where the kids will read reallyquickly and they have no idea
what they read, and so that'snot the purpose of reading is to
decode by itself. You have todecode, and you have to
(32:52):
comprehend you're still notreading. If you're just decoding
you have no idea what you read.
That is not reading. So it's onepart of the equation, but, you
know, it's like a multiplicationproblem. You got to have the the
coding times comprehensions ofthe comprehension of the words,
(33:14):
and if you got a zerocomprehension of the words, but
you've read it's, it's like 100times zero, a million times
zero, the answer is zero.
There's no reading there. Soit's important to know that.
Lauren Moseley (33:28):
And I think also intonation helps your I feel
like your brain, like I said, ifI'm if I was reading like this
all day, I think my brain wouldjust fall asleep. So I wouldn't
it would be boring. But if, inmy head, I'm thinking about the
characters, I'm thinking aboutthe intonation, like, is the
(33:49):
character excited? You know, allthose little things that that,
once you get the kids reading,and you add that to their their
toolbox of strategies for, howdo I, how do I, you know,
grapple with this, thisliterature, this text I'm
reading. It really does helpthem with their comprehension.
To understand, you know, oh, Ihave to go back and say that
again because there's anexclamation mark that was, I
(34:11):
need to say it with excitement,or that's a question. So I need
to, I need to ask. I need toread it again like it's a
question. So I often times havemy kids read things over, just
to give them that opportunity toput those intonations in so that
when they go back in theirreading with their partner, they
(34:32):
can practice reading with somefeeling. And I think that does
really help with comprehensionas well.
TD Flenaugh (34:40):
Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah. I
Lauren Moseley (34:42):
was gonna say something else, but my brain,
yep.
TD Flenaugh (34:46):
So with the reading, one of the things we do
because we do have them readtheir passages, and that's what
you call decodable passages. Soif the audience members aren't
clear, decodable is like.
Passages that they have beentaught. It's very restricted,
right? It's, you know, this hasa lot of at words in it. We've
(35:07):
been working on the short a andso we had a little sound, I
don't know
Lauren Moseley (35:17):
if I don't know what that was myself. That was
my dog, sorry, or not.
TD Flenaugh (35:20):
Was it or a growl?
It was like a ding or something?
Yeah, sorry, that was probablyme. Okay, no, it's fine. I
didn't know if it was like, youknow, it was like a microphone
issue anyway, so, yeah. So thething about decodable passages
is very controlled based on whatkids have already learned, yeah,
(35:41):
and so they are, you know,beginning readers. It helps give
them some success with apassage. We know that fluent
readers, readers on grade level,they could read most second
grade level texts, whatevergrade level they are, and be
able to read it with very littleissues. But when we have
struggling readers, we keepdecodable text so they could
(36:03):
practice like Lauren was sayingthose sounds and spellings that
they've been working on thatthey should have be able to have
success with, even though it maytake them still some time to get
fluent with it, they should beable to read the words. So when
we have the kids read, one ofthe first things we do is give
them a yellow highlighter, andso we'll have some kind of
(36:27):
spelling that they worked on. Soall the short a words in this
passage we want you tohighlight, and so maybe we're
working on the SH so all the SHwords you want, you know,
whatever it is. So that's oneway that they could get ready to
read. And then one of the thingsthat I was learning about in,
(36:47):
you know, when I had myprofessional development on
Friday, is that also havingthem, you know, mark the tricky
words, or those sight words, sotricky words, if people aren't
familiar with that, trickywords, sight words, high
frequency words, words that yousee all the time in text and
(37:09):
that often don't follow rules,right? So the right TD doesn't
follow the rules. It should saylike the but it says the right.
And so helping students, andthen is that s says a z sound.
You know, those words like thatare a R, E, helping them to go
(37:33):
back and also highlight thosetricky words with red, or
something like that. And thenpracticing those words helps. So
trying to give a purpose, orevery time that they read also
is helpful. Like, now you'rereading, you know, for the
tricky words, now you're readingfor that short a sound. Maybe
(37:53):
this time you're going to readand you're going to draw a
picture of what, like threethings that are in the passage.
So that's also helpful to try tothink about different purposes
for reading.
Lauren Moseley (38:04):
Yes, yes. One of the things we do is we put our
tricky words in yellow. Andyellow means slow down. I was
trying to incorporate somethingthat's real world, that's, you
know, they can grasp like, youknow, help them remember. So,
yeah, hello, because you have toslow down and pay attention to
see what and I usually underlinethe part that's tricky. I do
(38:28):
have a set of tricky words thatare printed out, and the part
that's that doesn't follow therules is underlined so that
knows that that's the part thatI have to slow down and stop
and, you know, it's, it'smemorization. But I also have
little, I don't know, we do thisthing where, like, some, some is
a tricky word, and I have kidswho could never get the word
(38:49):
some that that's just, there'sno no. So I started saying, you
know, like, some money, and I'llput my hand in my pocket, like I
have some money. So now, whenthey get to that word, I put my
hand in my pocket, and they'relike, some money, not some
money, but just things to helpyou know that that could be a
(39:14):
strategy, you know, giving thema signal of some sort to help
them reframe their brain forlike, how to attack this word.
So now I know for, probably, forthe rest of the year, they're
going to see that word and thinkof me putting my hand in my
pocket.
TD Flenaugh (39:29):
Yeah, it's great.
Yeah. You have to think aboutwhat works for them.
Lauren Moseley (39:33):
What works?
Yeah, I think try all thethings, because it's going to
help. You know, like you likeyou said some kids don't need
that, but the ones who did now,now they know the word some and,
yeah, it's important.
TD Flenaugh (39:50):
Yeah, even as adults, I think I you know, we
all have, like, certain wordsthat we're like, what is that
spelling? Again? Mm, hmm. I.
Don't know. We should know it,but we don't. Like, I mean, we
do, but we got a question, like,Is that the right way to spell
receive? Wait a minute, I know
Lauren Moseley (40:11):
me, it's restaurant. I don't know why,
restaurant? I Yeah. I always
TD Flenaugh (40:19):
slow down right and ask ourselves, like, Yes, I'm
right, I'm right. Well, I thankyou so much for joining us. And
audience members, thank youagain, and we're going to put
all of these different ideas inthe show notes, and we know that
(40:40):
you are, you know, raising kidsand supporting kids in
education, and we want to helpmake sure that you do something
today that gives them thecompetitive advantage. Thank
you. Have a great week. Enjoybeing on. Thanks again for
supporting the falling forlearning. Podcast. New Episodes
go live every Saturday at 5pmyou can watch us on youtube.com
(41:05):
at falling for learning, orlisten on all major podcast
platforms such as Apple, Google,Audible, Spotify and much more
for More resources, visitfalling in love with
learning.com we reallyappreciate you. Have a wonderful
week.
Lauren Moseley, I'm so glad you're back on the
podcast.
Lauren Moseley (00:06):
Well, hello
TD Flenaugh (00:09):
Audience, she's here. I mean, she's like, been
playing hard to get I don't knowwhere she was! No, just playing.
Tell them what's been...
Lauren Moseley (00:19):
What's been going on. Come here. this is,
this is why I've been busy. Comehere, come here. Hold on. Let me
see if she'll come up. Comehere, come here. This is my new
I love so much, and she takes upall of my time. This is Anise.
She is my foster dog. Actually,I rescued her. And yeah. So it's
(00:42):
been part of the reason I have anew baby. You know how new moms
are?
TD Flenaugh (00:47):
Yep, new moms.
Yeah, you had your maternityleave. Yeah, she's back. I'm
back.
Lauren Moseley (00:52):
Yes, we got her a little a little bit more
trained, so now I'm, I can haveher in the house, and she's,
she's got a free roaming I don'thave to worry about stuff too
much.
TD Flenaugh (01:02):
Okay
Lauren Moseley (01:03):
yeah, so we're good, and she already has a
potential adopter, and I've onlyhad her for a little over a
month.
TD Flenaugh (01:13):
Okay, you have to tell me about this because,
like, give me the details,because you were telling me that
your foster dog, I don't knowyou have a transport sit like,
Tell me about it, because I it'sso unfamiliar, and I don't know
if people in the audience outthere like, if they need to
(01:34):
foster dogs and just have aplace to give them or like, tell
us about it.
Hi. Thank you so much forjoining the falling for learning
podcast. We have this podcast tohelp parents and caregivers with
having the resources, strategiesand tools needed to make sure
that their children are on trackfor learning and to stay on
(01:54):
track for success.
Lauren Moseley (01:57):
So I have this thing. People collect different
things. Some people collectcoins, collect vintage, you
know, milk glass vases. Icollect dogs, and I don't keep
them, because I would have 20dogs, and that's just not
sustainable. So I partnered withthree little pitties, which is
here in Texas, an amazingrescue. And, you know, they
(02:22):
they're very well established.
They have a great program. Theyhave a great veterinarian
program. They have a greattraining program, beautiful
facility. The dogs are kept safeand they're exercised. They have
tons of volunteers. So wheneverI find a dog that I know would
make an amazing pet, I, youknow, just tell them, Hey, I
(02:45):
found this dog I am willing tofoster. Can you help me find her
a good family? And that's whatthey do. They they have a social
media crew that, you know, putsthis great montage together for
her, like, she's got, like,little glamor shots, little, you
know, little video. I'm Anise.
Exactly
TD Flenaugh (03:05):
glamor roll. Okay, yes, you call that like, when
kids are being scouted, or theywant to be scouted for the
teams, they have, like, a, Idon't know what they call it.
Lauren Moseley (03:15):
portfolio, like, a little, yeah, yeah, yeah. So
she's got hers. It's online, andbecause they are such a good
rescue, and they really do, youknow, they have great outreach
programs. They have spay andneuter programs. They just do so
much for people who are animallovers like myself. They want to
(03:36):
place these dogs with the rightwith the right families, so they
vet them very well to make surethat the family fits the dog,
and the dog fits the family, andthey have so much success that
they're popular, and peoplewill, you know, refer friends
and say, Hey, if you want a pet,don't, don't shop adopt. And
that's, ah,
TD Flenaugh (03:56):
don't shop adopt.
So we definitely put that in theshow notes, because I know he's
out there, they want to know,like, if they could foster a
dog, or, you know, they might becollecting dogs and they need to
give some away, but they don'twant to, you know, leave them
just out on the street orwhatever. Can you tell us a
little bit about the dog story
Unknown (04:17):
my dog? Oh, okay, so I took a year off from fostering
back in November, my my last dogwas placed in November. Her name
was ginger, and she she just,was just such a great, great
dog. But I was tired and Ineeded a break, because it's a
lot of work. You got to trainthem, you have to exercise them,
you have to keep them social. SoI took a year off, and in March,
(04:41):
I kept seeing this dog at thegas station, and I was like, No,
I can't do it. I can't do it. Ineed a break. So March went by,
and I saw her in like, a fewmonths later and she was
pregnant. Like, oh no. And I'mlike, Lauren, if you take this
dog. You're gonna have to take adog with puppies. So what are
(05:02):
you gonna do? So I thought aboutit, thought about it, and then I
didn't see her again for a long,long, long, long time. And then
the next time I saw her, whichwas in August, she was no longer
pregnant, so I went, I wentaround the area and asked, Hey,
do you guys? Have you seenpuppies? Do you know this dog?
Do you know who owns his dog.
They're like, Oh, no, we justfeed her. She hangs out. You
know, she's just kind of astray. There was a food truck
(05:26):
out there, so, you know, she wasin the trash at the food truck
never found the puppies. Butthen one day, I was driving home
and I did see a little puppy inthe street. Rip. That's it. I'm
going to get her so yeah, August19, I and she knew me by then,
(05:46):
because I had seen her at thegas station several times. I
gave her like little tree Pather on the head. But yeah, I got
her on the 19th, she camestraight to me. She was like, I
was waiting for you. Out ofretirement, out of retirement,
yep, and yeah. Got her in theprogram immediately, and they
(06:06):
were like, We love her. She'sgreat, and her application is
out there already. Three LittlePitties. Look her up. I wish I
had some more information. Somaybe if some of the listeners
want to check her out, but she'sgot applications already. She'll
probably be gone.
TD Flenaugh (06:23):
She's a hot commodity, but at least if, if
you weren't aware of threelittle pities, yes, you know,
this is something, I mean whenwe think about falling for
learning and getting our kidsinvolved with the community like
this is something they could do.
They could help foster dogs.
They can help, you know,volunteer, you know, because the
(06:44):
dogs are just out, and thenunfortunately, like she said
her, that the puppies, you know,at least we know that one of
them, or more, probably more,because we don't know where the
puppies are, did not survive.
So, yeah, we're doing a servicefor the community, and that
could be a pathway, you know, toa kid's career or something like
that, so or just a lifelonghobby. I mean, it's gives your
(07:09):
your life dimension and purpose,or whatever you know, every dog
additional purpose. You know,
Lauren Moseley (07:18):
I tell people, every dog is an emotional
support dog. When I'm having ourday, we can go play fetch, I
feel instantly better. Just,even just taking her for a ride
in the car, I feel instantlybetter. There's something about
the way that dogs kind of likethey're studying you. They want
to know all about you, andsomething about the connection
(07:38):
is just, yeah, it's therapy. So,yeah, lots of young volunteers
at the rescue too. Soabsolutely, get your kids
involved.
TD Flenaugh (07:48):
Okay, all right, so you're back with us. And so the
school year has been underway.
We've had lots of differentinterviews and stuff like that.
What are you noticing this year?
Like, what's going well? What'shappening going well?
Lauren Moseley (08:08):
Well, I am self contained this year, last year.
I'm sorry. I am departmentalizedthis year, last year, I was self
contained. So I taught allsubjects this year. I'm only
doing language arts and socialstudies, which is less work in
the sense of, I don't have asmuch to plan for, but it's
(08:28):
really opening up some space forme to do a little bit more of a
deeper dive into language arts.
And you know, what are someother resources and tools that
are out there ways betterincorporate my language arts and
my social studies together. Soeven though i I miss having that
intimate group, that core 20kids and that's all I have, and
(08:49):
we, you know, I can manage mytime a little better now,
because I have that hard stopand you gotta switch classes. I
40 kids now, but this week, Ithink I have learned all their
names, because that was
TD Flenaugh (09:05):
Wow. When'd you start? Though,
Lauren Moseley (09:09):
we started August 18. No, not 18th. August
11. August 11, okay,
TD Flenaugh (09:17):
so a month and a half,
Lauren Moseley (09:21):
and I have an Isaiah and an Elijah, and they,
I get those flip flopped all thetime. I'm like, hey, they're
both biblical names. I'm sorry,
TD Flenaugh (09:29):
but, yeah, it's just so funny. I I haven't had
that perspective. Yeah, yeah. Imean, you know, I've done
middle, elementary, high school,and, yeah, I mean, I think it's
a long time, but I'm not goingto judge you,
Lauren Moseley (09:48):
but I've never had to do 40 names. No,
TD Flenaugh (09:51):
no, I understand an adjustment for you. It's twice
what you need to do. I'm notgoing to say I didn't get kids
mixed up. Still, I still gotnames mixed up. Up and yeah,
just their look sometimes, andit's not always like that. They
look exactly alike, butsomething about them is the
same, yeah, yeah. They'll remindme every time I get mixed up,
(10:12):
but I'll get it, you know.
Sorry, you know. But okay, howdo you like just focusing on
English, you know, Englishlanguage arts and history,
Lauren Moseley (10:27):
um, I, I like it. I think the pro we're doing
a science of reading. You know,our program is amplify reading.
And I really love the program.
So, you know, the first year wasa little learning curve. I
understood the concepts, but,you know, there's lots of
components and pieces, and I'mjust trying to learn the core
curriculum at the time. Secondyear, okay, I dabbled a little
(10:49):
bit into the extra things. I hadsome supplementary materials and
some additional resources. Thisyear, I really am understanding
better how to infuse all thethings that we talk about, signs
of reading throughout the day,like even when we're like for
names, for instance, forinstance, just even helping the
kids understand how names,because their their origin
(11:14):
stories are sometimes from othercultures or other languages that
they don't follow the normal Therules are English language
rules, and so just having thekids say, hey, my My name has a
tricky spelling. You know, thosekind of conversations with them
about words. And you know,having the kids really
(11:37):
understand that there's a codeto reading. Yes, you can break
the code. You can read anythingyou know, stand you know, the
process, the literal science ofhow to learn to read. So even
though I have kids who are maybethey're not fluent readers, I
love how I've been able to kindof help them have this mindset
(12:00):
of, of, even if you just candecode and segment words that's
considered that counts, youknow, like, I can't read yet.
I'm like, sure you you just, youjust read that word yes, had to
go at cat, but you read it back,
TD Flenaugh (12:19):
yes, I have had those conversations as you know,
I'm a interventionist forliteracy, and I am working on my
reading Specialist credential,you Yeah, so I'm working on
that. I've already been trainedin Orton Gillingham, LETRS ,
which is, I always like to saywhat acronyms mean, but I can't
(12:44):
remember right now, l, e, t, R,S, which is why we have the
alphabet soup, because we don'thave to remember what. Anyway.
So we're, yeah, we're working onthat. And I've been getting,
like, great training from myprogram through my district, and
(13:06):
then good, really good trainingfrom my like, we have academies
like for our interventionistsonce a month we go, and today,
on Friday, we went to go see oneof our leaders, the leaders that
is intervention, and she's beenan interventionist for five
years to teach. It's a group ofus. About 10 of us, watched her
(13:28):
class, her and her intervention,her instructional aide. We're
teaching a group of small groupand switching kids. It was about
six of them, and she was, it wasjust really good. She had so
many layers of things likelittle Magna doodles for them to
write on when they were doingtheir auditory drill, where they
(13:49):
had the like, what letter? Whatletter makes the /m/ sound? So
they have to say M. And so theyon their little Magna doodle
thing, they wrote M, they coulderase it for the next one. And
they're like, which letter, Imean, which letters or spells
/sh/. So you can put sh on theMagna doodle and it erase. So I
(14:11):
was like, That is so nice. Andthey're segmenting oral,
segmenting where they're like,/p/ at or pat. Then they had,
like a pipe cleaner, and it waslike it had like, like three
bumps on it, or something like,I don't know, so they could kind
(14:32):
of like feel the three bumps,like three sounds, so they
touched it, so it is like somany like layers of things,
because I'm, well, I wasactually high school right
before this position. But Iactually don't keep saying I
(14:52):
never taught, well, I taught afirst grade class long, long
time ago when I had a privateschool before I started in
public school. So. But I didgrow up teaching kids to read,
but I didn't have like thescience of reading. I didn't do
it. I did it like systematicallyand in some ways. But obviously,
there's so many layers to it,and what's really important
(15:13):
about it is when a student isstruggling to learn how to read,
to break that code, these extramodalities and manipulatives
help them to grasp the concept,because me just saying to you,
but you may not get it and andsome kids get it and they don't
(15:34):
need it, but the kids who needit, it's very helpful to have
these different manipulatives sothey could see you doing that,
or using your arm, or doing yourat you know, like you're helping
them through. And that's who Iserve as an interventionist, if
you're a struggling reader,that's so we need those extras,
(15:56):
yeah, because that is what theyneed to really grasp the concept
something's not connecting andtrying all these different
things helps them.
Lauren Moseley (16:05):
Yeah, I just wrote down pick up pipe cleaners
TD Flenaugh (16:10):
I love. Yes, I learned so much by just going,
that's like the bestprofessional development seeing
other teachers, because even theway they've organized things,
actually the you know, justseeing them deliver something, I
may be delivering it a littlebit differently, but when you
know, but that is helpful to seethe way they deliver and
(16:30):
interpret that same lesson, butthen also just how they organize
things, how they have things up.
All of those things are verywere very helpful for me. So I
was very excited to be able tosee that. And I was they had
something in the book, Theteacher's edition, that was
saying, manipulative letters,right? And I got some magnetic
(16:54):
letters, but they were allseparated, and they were like,
seven, S's, seven, TDS, like,all in a row, right? But it just
took so much time. I would belike, Okay, let's pass out the
S's, let's pass out the TDS,let's pass out the A's, right?
We did it and it was, it worked,but it was takes a long time,
(17:16):
and we only have 30 minutes forthe kids, right? But finally, I
thought with, you know, it hadmagnetic trays, like cookie
sheets from the 99 cent store,which is no longer 99 cents. But
anyway, magnetic cookie sheets.
(17:36):
And then they had, we had thealphabet typed out, right? And
then it was very similar to themagnetic letters, and then you
put them on top of it on thetray, so it's all magnetic. I'll
show a picture. I need to show apicture. But, yeah, it just was
such an easier way to organizeit, right? I got six of those
(18:02):
printouts and then magnetizedthose letters on top of the on
top of the typed letters right,and then put it on the cookie
tray. And so then, now kids willhave their whole ABC Alphabet
already organized with magnets.
And then you could pull down thes, pull down the A, right,
rather than let me pass out anS, let me pass out an A, I
(18:24):
forgot to pass out the B's,okay, right? So now we have
everything a through z there,and we can easily make cat and
then put it back at the C, A, T,put it back. We just need to
change the C to B, pull down theB, right? And so it was just so
nice to have those materials.
(18:49):
And I actually put those in theshow notes. So you'll Yeah, I
love that, yeah. So it's just somuch easier to organize it,
easier for the kids to put itback together at the end and get
and store
Lauren Moseley (19:00):
it sheets. Okay, I got pipe cleaners and cookie
sheets.
TD Flenaugh (19:13):
Now the rewrite method and the rewrite method
workbook are your go to resourcefor helping kids to learn to
fall in love with writing, ithas the tips, tools, resources,
strategies and skill buildingactivities to Help kids fall out
(19:39):
of writing heat and into lovingto write, get your book set
today.
We have today, Tiffany's Tip onplay based learning
Tiffany Curry (20:01):
movement is another way, just maybe making
thing, like a freeze dance typeof thing, where you're like,
have the music going, and thenyou have, like, a magic word
that makes everybody freeze, or,you know, you're counting, and
(20:21):
you're jumping around, you know,and you're hopping, you're
counting as your hop, and justall kinds of fun ways that are
learning that aren't as theconventional ways, yes,
typically think of sitting at adesk with your pencil and your
book and your paper and thingslike that, you know, kind of
(20:45):
thinking outside of the box inthat way. And I also wanted to
share some of the Instagramaccounts that really inspire me
when I'm trying to come up withideas and things to do with the
kids, just three of them. One ofthem is where learning meets
(21:06):
play. So it's like, whereunderscore learning underscore
meets underscore play. Okay,that's a really cool teacher in
Australia, actually, and she hasthis big, beautiful classroom
with so many just engaging toysand manipulatives and textures
(21:30):
and colors, and it's just like adream. So I like to see what she
comes up with, what she sets outfor the children. Each day, she
just makes it so beautiful andengaging. And it's like, I want
to, I want to go to her class,definitely do some of the
activities I'm so, you know,inspired by her. And then
(21:52):
there's mulberry HOUSE PlaySchool. And they are also a play
based learning preschool, andit's just beautiful how
everything is set up for thekids. It's very engaging. And
(22:12):
the kids just their creativityis on full display. They are
just in their creating andplaying and building and making
all day long in such a funenvironment. So I get a lot of
inspiration from that, thatInstagram account, and she has
(22:35):
an amazing Amazon storefrontwhere you see all the materials
that she has at her school. Youcould buy them, you know, some
of them to kind of help yourkids. But I, I really find her,
her really helpful, helpful. Andthen another one is called
(22:56):
Tinker, wonder play, and she'slike, lots of creative ideas as
well for play based learning. SoI just think that is just helps
the child become more engaged.
And as we mentioned in anothertip about noticing what your
kids are interested in andincorporating that into play and
(23:20):
learning it could be reallypowerful, and giving them the
competitive advantage. Like, Iknow you Yes.
TD Flenaugh (23:36):
I mean, it's so amazing, like, you know, and so
I have the parent forms andstuff. I see a lot of people
talking about their kidsstruggle. Struggling to read and
things like that. Now, computerprograms are great, and I'm
saying, yes, use the computerprograms, but when you don't be
exclusive to computer programs,right? They need to move their
(23:56):
hands, but they need to be ableto move the letters around and
stuff like that. And of course,there are computer programs
where you could move letters andstuff like that, yeah. But if
your child is, you know, trywhat. You can't try different
things because you don't knowwhat it is that's gonna get it
unstuck. Yeah, some of our kidsare stuck. They don't they're
not making the connection. Andall of these different ways,
(24:18):
seeing it over again, the Bagain, the A again, in a
different form. It's magnet,it's online, it's typed, it's on
the whiteboard, although, youknow. And then at some point,
it's like, oh, that, you know,they're gonna get it, you know.
But you you know, trying thesedifferent things are really
worth it. And the kids have fun.
We also use sand. Okay, yeah. Sothey gave our, our, our district
(24:42):
gave us sand, wow. And so then,you know, then you could write
where to stand in the trays. Youput it in a little bit. Sand is
in trays, yes? So it still makesa mess, still makes a mess,
still makes a mess, please? Intrays. Yeah. TD, and so you have
cat, right? And you can writecat, yeah, right in the sand.
(25:03):
And then you also could do yourauditory drill, which letter
makes the sound. You could justwrite t So, wherever they are in
the lesson, or where they arewherever they are,
developmentally, this sand canbe helpful,
Lauren Moseley (25:18):
nice. Have you ever seen the the shaving cream
in a little ziploc bag with alittle food coloring, and so you
then they can use the littleZiploc bag, and with their
finger pressing the, you know,the letters they can write in,
it just makes, you know, makesthe whip the shaving cream kind
(25:38):
of separate, so you can seewhere your finger is written the
letter, if that's helpful, likethat, but,
TD Flenaugh (25:45):
yes, maybe, yes, yes, yes, my instructional aide
is great, but she doesn't like,like, I'm the only one who does
the sand. She's just like, shedoesn't want it too much, and
I'm fine with that. It's fine.
You know? It's fine. I use thesand every once in a while, I
don't use it like every day andnot even once a week, but we
pull it out every once while thekids, like, beg for it, like,
(26:06):
can we get the sand? And I'mlike, Okay, next week, next
week, the sand.
Lauren Moseley (26:12):
So bye, and do an outdoor lesson.
TD Flenaugh (26:17):
That would work. I like that. That could be like a
ca-, like, we could be out inthe cafeteria area that's
outside, and it's not so badbecause, you know, the janitor,
like, sprays it down orwhatever. So that would, that
would solve some of that. Yeah,yeah. So it is a big mess, but I
they love it so much, andthat's, that's the thing, like
parents and educators out there,like, try to think about, like,
(26:40):
what's fun and engaging forthem, and that's why, sometimes
it's whiteboard, sometimes it'smagnetic letters, sometimes it
might be the Magna doodle thatshe has, that she's and then she
could erase it right away.
Sometimes it's the sand, right?
Because all of these differentways are engaging to them. And
then, you know, when the kidsare struggling, they are very
(27:02):
much aware that other kidsaround them are moving and
they're not getting it andthey're frustrated by it. So
having fun and manipulatingletters and words in different
ways helps them to focus againon it, and hopefully, you know,
keep trying, because some ofthem, some of that, when they're
(27:24):
saying I can't read, is also asign of them giving up, right?
Like I don't I can't do it. Likeyou can do it. You are doing it.
And, yeah, yeah. So it's reallyimportant, gotta dial into that
Absolutely.
Lauren Moseley (27:43):
One of the things I really love about our
reading program is howsystematic it is. So they spent
about 20 lessons in review, likereviewing sounds and reviewing,
uh, sight words or tricky words,what you know, whatever you want
to call them. And then the firstlast week was the first time
(28:04):
they they read out of theirreader. So they're like, Oh, you
get a first grade reader now. Sothey open up the reader, and lo
and behold, all the words onthat first page. And it's only
like two pages of text, and it'smaybe three sentences, maybe per
page, lots of pictures, but it'sall the words we've been doing
for the past 20 lessons, right?
So everything on there, theythey've seen it, they've read
(28:29):
it, they've sounded out. Theyhave interacted with these words
and lots of differentmodalities. So they sit down and
they open the book, and they'relike, I know this. I know all
these words. So now it's just amatter of having them read it
fluently so that that's wherewe're at now, like they're,
(28:50):
they're at the point wherethey're feeling like, oh, wow,
maybe I can read. But we talkabout reading like a robot
versus reading like speaking. Sothat's, you know, I said, if I
talk to you like this all day,you would fall asleep just
trying to add, add someinflection. And I said, you
(29:10):
know, once you get comfortable,that's why you have to read it
over. So they're finished withtheir work. Like, I'm finished.
I'm like, Okay, go get yourreader. I already read it like
you're gonna read it again.
You're gonna read it over andover. And that's the reason
we're having you read it over,is so you want to get to the
point where it sounds likeyou're talking. We want your
(29:31):
teacher. So I even have, like,a, I got the little Janet
Jackson headphones, you know,with the little microphone now,
so now kids can read to theirpartner on the microphone, and
they're trying to see who cansorry, it's my it's my child
TD Flenaugh (29:51):
who can judge me here, we're all about family
here on the following Flenaughpodcast.
Lauren Moseley (29:55):
Thank you. We love it anyway. Yeah, we're, you
know, because we want them to.
Sound like, you know, they're,if you're on a microphone, that
means you have something to say.
So we want you to say it likeyou are, like you are
performing. So now that's wherewe're at. We're, we've had
three, three stories so far, andthey're practicing with their
little microphone. I only haveone, so they have to take turns.
(30:16):
But anyway, maybe, maybe myprincipal will hear this. And,
you know, give me some moremicrophones.
TD Flenaugh (30:23):
Started. Donors Choose, and then our audience
will give it to you. Oh, we
Lauren Moseley (30:27):
have some at the school. We have, we have them.
I'm almost positive I've seenthem. I think they were
leftovers from covid. So I knowwe have them somewhere in the
building. It's just a matter of,you know, if you'll let us like,
you know, get a class set. Not aclass I don't want a class set,
but maybe a few anyhow, yeah,you know, parents like realize
(30:53):
that what they're doing atschool. Let them take those
readers home, or let them takethose little, you know, whatever
they're reading, get, get ifit's in their skills book or in
whatever notebook they have,make copies of them and have it
read it over and over and overagain. It is that it builds
fluency, and it builds theirconfidence, and it builds their
(31:13):
sense of like, Oh my gosh. I iknow this, this passage so well,
I can read it so fluently, andthey they will start seeing the
difference in just how theysound when they read like I
think that's the big difference.
Like the kids who still readvery choppy, they sometimes look
at awe at the kids who readfluently. I'm like, it's the
(31:35):
same year. It's the same thing.
It's just they've read it moretimes than you Yeah, that's it,
yeah.
TD Flenaugh (31:44):
And that's so good for us to talk about reading
like you're talking because Iknow that sometimes fluency is
misinterpreted, and peoplethink, because, of course, that
one of the measures that we givethe students is a fluency
assessment, where we have themsee how much they could read in
a minute. And some people willmisinterpret that, and kids will
(32:05):
misinterpret it as this is speedreading. You know, it's like,
no, this is not it. This isreading like you're talking our
normal speaking voices arefluent, right? It'll meet the
whatever that fluencybenchmarking is, if we're
reading, if we are speaking theway we're reading, the way we
(32:28):
speak, at that rate and speed itworks so you don't have to rush
through it. And a lot of peopleget this wrong, and the kids get
it wrong, because I'm sureyou've seen it. I've seen it
where the kids will read reallyquickly and they have no idea
what they read, and so that'snot the purpose of reading is to
decode by itself. You have todecode, and you have to
(32:52):
comprehend you're still notreading. If you're just decoding
you have no idea what you read.
That is not reading. So it's onepart of the equation, but, you
know, it's like a multiplicationproblem. You got to have the the
coding times comprehensions ofthe comprehension of the words,
(33:14):
and if you got a zerocomprehension of the words, but
you've read it's, it's like 100times zero, a million times
zero, the answer is zero.
There's no reading there. Soit's important to know that.
Lauren Moseley (33:28):
And I think also intonation helps your I feel
like your brain, like I said, ifI'm if I was reading like this
all day, I think my brain wouldjust fall asleep. So I wouldn't
it would be boring. But if, inmy head, I'm thinking about the
characters, I'm thinking aboutthe intonation, like, is the
(33:49):
character excited? You know, allthose little things that that,
once you get the kids reading,and you add that to their their
toolbox of strategies for, howdo I, how do I, you know,
grapple with this, thisliterature, this text I'm
reading. It really does helpthem with their comprehension.
To understand, you know, oh, Ihave to go back and say that
again because there's anexclamation mark that was, I
(34:11):
need to say it with excitement,or that's a question. So I need
to, I need to ask. I need toread it again like it's a
question. So I often times havemy kids read things over, just
to give them that opportunity toput those intonations in so that
when they go back in theirreading with their partner, they
(34:32):
can practice reading with somefeeling. And I think that does
really help with comprehensionas well.
TD Flenaugh (34:40):
Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah. I
Lauren Moseley (34:42):
was gonna say something else, but my brain,
yep.
TD Flenaugh (34:46):
So with the reading, one of the things we do
because we do have them readtheir passages, and that's what
you call decodable passages. Soif the audience members aren't
clear, decodable is like.
Passages that they have beentaught. It's very restricted,
right? It's, you know, this hasa lot of at words in it. We've
(35:07):
been working on the short a andso we had a little sound, I
don't know
Lauren Moseley (35:17):
if I don't know what that was myself. That was
my dog, sorry, or not.
TD Flenaugh (35:20):
Was it or a growl?
It was like a ding or something?
Yeah, sorry, that was probablyme. Okay, no, it's fine. I
didn't know if it was like, youknow, it was like a microphone
issue anyway, so, yeah. So thething about decodable passages
is very controlled based on whatkids have already learned, yeah,
(35:41):
and so they are, you know,beginning readers. It helps give
them some success with apassage. We know that fluent
readers, readers on grade level,they could read most second
grade level texts, whatevergrade level they are, and be
able to read it with very littleissues. But when we have
struggling readers, we keepdecodable text so they could
(36:03):
practice like Lauren was sayingthose sounds and spellings that
they've been working on thatthey should have be able to have
success with, even though it maytake them still some time to get
fluent with it, they should beable to read the words. So when
we have the kids read, one ofthe first things we do is give
them a yellow highlighter, andso we'll have some kind of
(36:27):
spelling that they worked on. Soall the short a words in this
passage we want you tohighlight, and so maybe we're
working on the SH so all the SHwords you want, you know,
whatever it is. So that's oneway that they could get ready to
read. And then one of the thingsthat I was learning about in,
(36:47):
you know, when I had myprofessional development on
Friday, is that also havingthem, you know, mark the tricky
words, or those sight words, sotricky words, if people aren't
familiar with that, trickywords, sight words, high
frequency words, words that yousee all the time in text and
(37:09):
that often don't follow rules,right? So the right TD doesn't
follow the rules. It should saylike the but it says the right.
And so helping students, andthen is that s says a z sound.
You know, those words like thatare a R, E, helping them to go
(37:33):
back and also highlight thosetricky words with red, or
something like that. And thenpracticing those words helps. So
trying to give a purpose, orevery time that they read also
is helpful. Like, now you'rereading, you know, for the
tricky words, now you're readingfor that short a sound. Maybe
(37:53):
this time you're going to readand you're going to draw a
picture of what, like threethings that are in the passage.
So that's also helpful to try tothink about different purposes
for reading.
Lauren Moseley (38:04):
Yes, yes. One of the things we do is we put our
tricky words in yellow. Andyellow means slow down. I was
trying to incorporate somethingthat's real world, that's, you
know, they can grasp like, youknow, help them remember. So,
yeah, hello, because you have toslow down and pay attention to
see what and I usually underlinethe part that's tricky. I do
(38:28):
have a set of tricky words thatare printed out, and the part
that's that doesn't follow therules is underlined so that
knows that that's the part thatI have to slow down and stop
and, you know, it's, it'smemorization. But I also have
little, I don't know, we do thisthing where, like, some, some is
a tricky word, and I have kidswho could never get the word
(38:49):
some that that's just, there'sno no. So I started saying, you
know, like, some money, and I'llput my hand in my pocket, like I
have some money. So now, whenthey get to that word, I put my
hand in my pocket, and they'relike, some money, not some
money, but just things to helpyou know that that could be a
(39:14):
strategy, you know, giving thema signal of some sort to help
them reframe their brain forlike, how to attack this word.
So now I know for, probably, forthe rest of the year, they're
going to see that word and thinkof me putting my hand in my
pocket.
TD Flenaugh (39:29):
Yeah, it's great.
Yeah. You have to think aboutwhat works for them.
Lauren Moseley (39:33):
What works?
Yeah, I think try all thethings, because it's going to
help. You know, like you likeyou said some kids don't need
that, but the ones who did now,now they know the word some and,
yeah, it's important.
TD Flenaugh (39:50):
Yeah, even as adults, I think I you know, we
all have, like, certain wordsthat we're like, what is that
spelling? Again? Mm, hmm. I.
Don't know. We should know it,but we don't. Like, I mean, we
do, but we got a question, like,Is that the right way to spell
receive? Wait a minute, I know
Lauren Moseley (40:11):
me, it's restaurant. I don't know why,
restaurant? I Yeah. I always
TD Flenaugh (40:19):
slow down right and ask ourselves, like, Yes, I'm
right, I'm right. Well, I thankyou so much for joining us. And
audience members, thank youagain, and we're going to put
all of these different ideas inthe show notes, and we know that
(40:40):
you are, you know, raising kidsand supporting kids in
education, and we want to helpmake sure that you do something
today that gives them thecompetitive advantage. Thank
you. Have a great week. Enjoybeing on. Thanks again for
supporting the falling forlearning. Podcast. New Episodes
go live every Saturday at 5pmyou can watch us on youtube.com
(41:05):
at falling for learning, orlisten on all major podcast
platforms such as Apple, Google,Audible, Spotify and much more
for More resources, visitfalling in love with
learning.com we reallyappreciate you. Have a wonderful
week.
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