Reading Teachers Lounge

This is the Reading Teachers Lounge where listeners can eavesdrop on professional conversations between elementary reading teachers. We are passionate about literacy and strive to find strategies to reach all learners. Shannon and Mary are neighbors who realized that they were “literacy soul sisters” at a dinner in their Atlanta neighborhood. Once they started chatting about reading they haven’t really stopped. Come join the conversation.

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Reading Teachers Lounge

February 2026 Bonus

Subscriber Episode • February 20, 2026 • Shannon Betts and Mary Saghafi • Season 8

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In this bonus episode of the Reading Teachers Lounge, Shannon and Mary chat with longtime listener Andrea McCarty, a first-grade teacher with 28 years of experience in southwest Washington. Andrea shares her journey from guided reading and Marie Clay's influences to a strong focus on explicit, systematic phonics, spelling through dictation, and structured literacy practices.

Andrea discusses how analyzing student outcomes led her team to pursue deeper diagnostics, clearer scope-and-sequence planning, and new instructional approaches, including LETRS, UFLI, and resources from experts like Heidi Mesmer, Wiley Blevins, and Allison Ryan. Andrea also reflects on adapting instruction during COVID and the impact of strong collaboration and administrative support.

The conversation highlights practical strategies for supporting vocabulary and comprehension with decodables, teaching high-frequency words, integrating morphology, structuring an effective literacy block, and maintaining student engagement—along with Andrea’s advice to keep evolving, stay collaborative, and focus on what brings joy to teaching.

00:00 Welcome to the Reading Teachers Lounge
00:26 + Meet Andrea McCarty
02:26 Early Career & Looping Multi-Age Classrooms (K–6 Wings)
04:25 What Sparked the Literacy Deep Dive:
05:34 McCracken Dictation & Why Spelling-to-Reading Matters
07:05 Words Their Way, Guided Reading, and the ‘Something’s Missing’ Feeling
10:38 A Turning Point:
11:53 Piloting a Phonics Program… Then COVID Hits
12:25 Science of Reading Wake-Up Call
14:01 Back to Class
17:16 Switching to UFLI: What’s Great and What Needs Supplementing
19:28 Supporting MLL/ELL Students with Decodables:
24:16 Pacing for Mastery + Teamwide Scope & Sequence Conversations
27:46 Structured Word Inquiry in the Wild
31:35 Current Challenges
32:56 Keeping Engagement High
33:24 Inside the Literacy Block
35:33 Must-Do/May-Do + Small Groups
37:32 Supplementing Curriculum
38:48 Practice Turns = Progress
42:09 Long Vowels Next
47:29 What Teachers Need Most
55:44 Building a True PLC
01:02:00 Closing Reflections

RESOURCES REFERENCED IN OUR DISCUSSION:

UFLI
Reading Universe
Project Read
Secret Stories
Spelling Through Phonics by The McCrackens *Amazon affiliate link
The High Frequency Word Project
UFLI lesson videos
Alison Ryan (Learning at the Primary Pond)
From Sounds to Spelling
Letter Lessons and First Words: Phonics Foundations That Work by Nell K. Duke and Heidi Ann Mesmer *Amazon affiliate link