Helping Students Read Multisyllabic Words with Devin Kearns

Episode 228 If you’ve ever wondered how to help your students decode longer words, this episode is for you! We’re joined by literacy researcher and professor Devin Kearns to talk all about teaching multisyllabic words. Many phonics programs focus on single-syllable words, but what happens when students hit big words and get stuck? Devin unpacks the research behind why that happens and what we can do instead. We talk about: flexible decoding strategies, when and how to teach syllables and morphemes, and what “set for variability” really looks like in the classroom (spoiler: it’s not guessing!). You’ll walk away with practical, research-backed ideas to help your students read longer words with confidence. Devin M. Kearns, Ph.D. , is the Goodnight Distinguished Professor in Early Literacy at NC State, where he studies early reading and collaborates with experts in psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience to explore the brain basis of reading. RESOURCES Helping Students With Dyslexia Read Long Words: Using Syllables and Morphemes by Devin M. Kearns and Victoria M. Whaley Following the Rules in an Unruly WritingSystem: The Cognitive Science ofLearning to Read English by Devin M....