Amplify Education
13 August 2025
In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, literacy coach (and podcast host in her own right) Amie Burkholder joins us to discuss her new book, Literacy Unlocked: How to Implement the Science of Reading With Young Learners. Amie talks through the origins of the book, how she structured it to be really actionable for educators, and what she hopes educators will take away from it. Amie and Susan also discuss some of the biggest recent changes to the Science of Reading movement, the areas Amie most often sees educators struggle when making the switch to research-based literacy instruction, and some tips educators can implement today—including a walkthrough of a classroom activity targeting phonemic awareness. Show notes: Access free, high-quality resources at our brand new, companion professional learning page: http://amplify.com/science-of-reading/professional-learning Connect with Amie:Instagram: @literacy.edventures Listen to Amie’s podcast: Route2ReadingResources:Book: Literacy Unlocked: How to Implement the Science of Reading With Young LearnersDownload the Science of Reading: A New Teacher's Guide today! amplify.com/sorguide Join our community Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/scienceofreadingConnect with Susan Lambert: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-lambert-edd-b1512761/ Quotes: “Look to those that you trust to guide you.” —Amie Burkholder “If you try to change everything you're doing, you're not going to do anything well. Pick one area of your literacy block you’re really gonna nail. Once you nail that—add another one.” —Amie Burkholder “I want [the book] to follow the research, but I want it to be simple enough for teachers to execute, [and] also engaging enough for kids to want to do it.” —Amie Burkholder Episode timestamps* 02:00 Introduction: Who is Amie Burkholder? 07:00 Literacy Unlocked: How to Implement the Science of Reading with Young Learners 11:00 Book Structure 12:00 Phonemic awareness classroom activity walkthrough 16:00 Learning while writing the book 17:00 Strategy for getting the most out of conferences 18:00 Favorite conferences 19:00 Biggest changes to the science of reading movement 20:00 Recommendation for people diving into the research for the first time 22:00 Implementation: Biggest struggle for teaching making the shift 24:00 Ideal takeaway from the book 25:00 Closing thoughts *Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute
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