In this episode, Dr. Cassandra Suggs talks with Jennifer Weirthwein about how she helps learners find books, media, and texts that interest them and develop a love of reading.

Dr. Cassandra Walker Suggs talks with guest Dr. Peter Stiepleman about literacy lessons learned throughout his career as a teacher and superintendent. Topics include the value of shared scope and sequence, the differing needs of teachers with varying levels of experience, family engagement, and systems thinking.

We talk to Gelene Strecker Sayer about her experience teaching English as a second or other language to emerging bilingual and multilingual students in Missouri. 

In this episode, hosts Dr. Cassandra Suggs and Dr. Shea Kerkhoff discuss what disciplinary literacies are and why it is important to teach literacy in each content area.  We explain the difference between content area literacy and disciplinary literacies and give examples from science, social studies, and ELA> 

Dr. Robert Petrone talks with us about what rural literacies are and why rural literacies are important.  

Melanie Barrett, an elementary and middle grades teacher and librarian, talks with us about how she makes literature exciting for children and young adults. She talks about the popularity and the literary value of graphic novels and novels in verse. 

Tess Larson provides a compelling argument for why reading at home, in family life, and in community life is an important part of childhood. 

In this episode, we hear from veteran English language arts teacher Amy Krueger about what works with her 7th and 8th graders. Amy shares her experiences teaching critical literacies through multicultural literature.  She gives us examples of how she supported middle school students in considering multiple perspectives and lived experiences and in deepening their understanding of complex social issues.