Literacy Sources

Written by: Brianna Guild, MHSc SLP(C)

Date: January 24, 2025

Updated: February 13, 2026

The top questions I get asked by other professionals are what literacy training I’ve done, what books I’ve read, and what I would recommend to others pursuing training and continuing education in literacy. My number one recommendation is always this: get your information and training from more than one reputable source!

The knowledge that I have gained and share on my website, social media, podcast interviews, and presentations is pulled from a variety of sources. This accumulation of more knowledge over time has also resulted in me shifting my literacy instruction to a Speech-to-Print (S2P)/Structured Linguistic Literacy (SLL) approach.

Here’s a running list (will be updated over time) of trainings I’ve completed, books I’ve read, and select articles (because there are truly too many impactful articles to list and I’m trying to keep this concise):

Literacy Training

(ordered based on when I took the course, with the most recent at the top)

• Sounds-Write Trained Practitioner - Sounds-Write

• Reading Simplified Expert - Reading Simplified Academy

• Basics of Decoding and Spelling Instruction - International Dyslexia Association Ontario

• SMARTER Intervention Reading & Writing Curriculum - Ascend SMARTER Intervention

• ABC and Beyond - The Hanen Centre

Literacy Books

(ordered based on when I read the book, with the most recent at the top)

• Sedita, J. (2025). The Essentials of Adolescent Literacy: Integrating Evidence-Based Reading and Writing Instruction in Grades 5–12. Brookes Publishing.

• Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., & Kucan, L. (2013). Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.

• Mesmer, H. A. (2024). Big Words for Young Readers: Teaching Kids in Grades K to 5 to Decode―and Understand―Words With Multiple Syllables and Morphemes. Scholastic.

• Sedita, J. (2022). The Writing Rope: A Framework for Explicit Writing Instruction in All Subjects. Brookes Publishing.

• Lewis Hennessy, N. (2020). The Reading Comprehension Blueprint: Helping Students Make Meaning from Text. Brookes Publishing.

• Rasinski, T. V. (2019). The Fluent Reader: Oral Reading Strategies for Building Word Recognition, Fluency, and Comprehension. (2nd ed). Scholastic.

• Blevins, W. (2016). A Fresh Look at Phonics: Common Causes of Failure and 7 Ingredients for Success. Corwin Press Inc.

Select Literacy Articles

(ordered based on publication date, with the most recent at the top)

• Fein, M. (2023). A Speech‑to‑Print, Linguistic Phonics Approach: What Is It and How Does It Compare to Orton‑Gillingham? The Educational Therapist, 44(2), 4–12. https://www.aetonline.org/images/MEMBER_CENTER_Section/Journal_Docs/2023/44-2/Fall2023_03_ASpeech-to-PrintLinguisticPhonicsApproach-Fein.pdf

• Wasowicz, J. (2021). A Speech-to-Print Approach to Teaching Reading. Pearson Assessments. https://www.pearsonassessments.com/content/dam/school/global/clinical/us/assets/spell-links/lda-article-on-speech-to-print.pdf

• Kearns, D. M. (2020). Does English Have Useful Syllable Division Patterns? Reading Research Quarterly, 55(Suppl. 1), S145–S160. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.342

• Seidenberg, M. S., & Cooper Borkenhagen, M. (2020). Reading Science and Educational Practice: Some Tenets for Teachers. Reading League. https://www.thereadingleague.org/wp‑content/uploads/2020/09/Reading‑Science‑and‑Educational‑Practice‑Some‑Tenets‑for‑Teachers‑Final.pdf

• Kearns, D. M., & Whaley, V. M. (2019). Helping Students with Dyslexia Read Long Words: Using Syllables and Morphemes. Teaching Exceptional Children, 51(3), 212–225. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040059918810010

• Castles, A., Rastle, K., & Nation, K. (2018). Ending the Reading Wars: Reading Acquisition From Novice to Expert. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 19(1), 5–51. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100618772271

• Moats, L. C. (2005/2006). How Spelling Supports Reading: And Why It Is More Regular and Predictable Than You May Think. American Educator, 29(4), 12–22, 42–43. https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/Moats.pdf

Still looking for more sources?

Check out:

• Dr. Mark Seidenberg’s publications list.

• Dr. Reid Lyon’s 10 Maxims: What We've Learned So Far About How Children Learn to Read (and the list of research behind the maxims).

• Speech-to-Print (S2P)/Structured Linguistic Literacy (SLL) approaches including EBLI, Reading Simplified, and Sounds-Write. Their free resources and webinars are always a good place to start.

I hope this helps give you some reputable sources to explore if you are seeking more information about literacy!

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