Fresh from The Reading League's 10th Annual Conference in Chicago, Lindsay, Donell, and Stacy share the research, ideas, and classroom strategies that caught their attention. From the growing influence of AI to the importance of oral language, reading comprehension, and explicit instruction, the trio explores what excited them, what surprised them, and what left them with more questions. Whether you attended the conference or couldn't make it, this Conference Rewind brings valuable insights and practical takeaways straight to you.
Show Notes
The Reading League celebrated its 10th annual conference by bringing together researchers, educators, and literacy advocates to explore the science of reading and its implications for classroom instruction.
In this episode, Lindsay, Donell, and Stacy revisit standout presentations, share instructional strategies they plan to use, and reflect on questions that deserve continued discussion.
AI, Technology, and the Human Side of Learning
Opening keynote speaker Adam Kronk challenged educators to consider not simply what AI can do, but what it should do. His presentation explored the relationship between technology, human dignity, agency, and the cognitive work essential to learning.
The hosts discuss the risks of outsourcing too much thinking to technology and the importance of preserving attention, deep reading, and meaningful human interaction.
Strengthening Oral Language and Vocabulary
Oral language emerged as one of the conference's strongest themes.
Drawing on presentations from Sonya Cabell, Charles Hulme, and members of The Reading League team, the hosts explore how purposeful conversations, sophisticated teacher language, interactive read-alouds, and explicit language instruction support vocabulary development and reading comprehension.
Stacy also shares research presented by Charles Hulme connecting language intervention with improvements in measures of classroom behavior and self-regulation.
Practical Lessons in Explicit Instruction
Anita Archer's presentations prompted the hosts to revisit some foundational principles of effective teaching, including clear objectives, purposeful modeling, and active student engagement.
Donell emphasizes three essential stages of learning: accuracy, automaticity, and transfer. Students need sufficient mastery before they're expected to apply newly learned skills independently.
What Really Supports Reading Comprehension?
Lindsay highlights Amy Elleman's presentation on evidence-based comprehension strategies and the relationship between background knowledge, vocabulary, and strategic reading.
The hosts also consider why instructional approaches may have different effects for students with and without reading disabilities—and why continuing to examine the research matters.
Questions Worth Exploring
Not every conference takeaway offered a simple answer. The hosts discuss differing perspectives on productive struggle, misconceptions about the science of reading, culturally responsive instruction, and emerging questions about digital versus print reading.
They also reflect on the importance of making high-quality professional learning accessible to more teachers.
Resources Mentioned in This Episode
These links provide additional information about the conference, presenters, research, and instructional approaches discussed.
- The Reading League Conference | Conference information, featured presenters, and future events
- 10th Annual Conference Overview | Background on the 2026 Chicago conference and its major themes
- Adam Kronk — The Dignity of Learning in the Era of AI | Preview of his keynote and the DELTA framework for human-centered AI
- Strive-for-Five Conversations — Tricia Zucker and Sonia Cabell | Practical framework for building language comprehension through extended conversations
- Using Strive-for-Five Conversations to Strengthen Language Comprehension | Research article with classroom examples, available as a PDF
- The Science of Reading: Defining Guide | The Reading League's resource for understanding the science of reading as a body of research, rather than a single instructional approach
Additional presenters and works discussed include Anita Archer's explicit instruction research, Charles Hulme's language intervention research, Amy Elleman's comprehension research, Maryanne Wolf's work on deep reading, and Stanislas Dehaene's Reading in the Brain.
Additional useful links:
- Anita Archer and Charles Hughes — Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching
- Maryanne Wolf — Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World
- Stanislas Dehaene — Reading in the Brain
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