Literacy
How spoken language underpins reading and writing, and how to teach talk deliberately. Here you'll find classroom videos, webinars and reading on teaching talk deliberately, and on developmental language disorder (DLD), with Pamela Snow's work on why oral language underpins reading and writing.
Practices in this area:Oral rehearsalFull-sentence responsesAccountable talkStructured discussion
Lesson with commentary
Teach Like a Champion (Doug Lemov) · F-12 · USA
Doug Lemov shares an excerpt from Teach Like a Champion 3.0 on Turn and Talk, with video from BreOnna Tindall's and Sarah Wright's classrooms. It covers the benefits and the pitfalls to plan for.
FreeOpens at teachlikeachampion.org
Lesson footage
Research Schools Network · Foundation · UK
Repeated reading and language learning opportunities in a Reception class (the first year of school).
FreeOpens at researchschool.org.uk
Lesson footage
Research Schools Network · UK
Shared reading and talk used to build vocabulary.
FreeOpens at researchschool.org.uk
Lesson footage
Research Schools Network · Year 5 · UK
Scaffolding pupil talk in a Year 5 classroom.
FreeOpens at researchschool.org.uk
Lesson footage
Nuffield Foundation · 5:11 · Foundation · UK
A Nuffield Foundation video of a group session from the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI), an oral language program for young children.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Lesson footage
Research Schools Network · UK
Structured talk opportunities across the curriculum.
FreeOpens at researchschool.org.uk
Lesson with commentary
Teach Like a Champion (Doug Lemov) · Four clips · 2023 · UK
Four short clips from one lesson on scientific writing, each showing a Turn and Talk shaped for a different purpose. Useful for comparing how small design choices change the talk.
FreeOpens at teachlikeachampion.org
Lesson footage
Research Schools Network · UK
Teachers use classroom talk to check understanding and adapt in the moment.
FreeOpens at researchschool.org.uk
Lesson with commentary
Research Schools Network · UK
Four principles for teaching high-quality talk in maths.
FreeOpens at researchschool.org.uk
Webinar
Think Forward Educators, with Tanya Serry · About 70 minutes · 2026 · Australia
Professor Tanya Serry uses Nancy Hennessey's assembly line metaphor to explain the language foundations of reading comprehension, from word identification and vocabulary to syntax and background knowledge.
FreeOpens at thinkforwardeducators.org
Explainer
RADLD · 7:28 · UK
RADLD's short introduction to developmental language disorder, a common condition that is easy to miss. A good first video to show a whole staff.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Explainer
RADLD · 5:33 · UK
A short RADLD video explaining the consensus behind the term developmental language disorder. Helpful if older reports at your school still use other labels.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Explainer
The DLD Project · 12:24 · Australia
A short video from Australia's DLD Project on why rich vocabulary teaching is hard for children with developmental language disorder. Relevant to anyone planning vocabulary lessons.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Webinar
Think Forward Educators, with Polly Anderson, Serpentine Primary School · About 1 hour · 2025 · Australia
Polly Anderson shares the routines Serpentine Primary uses to move early writers from oral sentences to short narratives and reports, including how scaffolds are faded.
FreeOpens at thinkforwardeducators.org
Webinar
Think Forward Educators, with David Didau · About 1 hour · 2026 · UK
David Didau explains how speech and writing differ and shows structured talk routines that lighten cognitive load and give students practice with academic English before they write.
FreeOpens at thinkforwardeducators.org
Webinar
Education Scotland, with Voice 21 · About 1 hour · UK
Voice 21 presents on why oracy matters, learning both through talk and to talk, in a session hosted by Education Scotland. Useful for teachers planning how talk is taught.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Webinar
Spellcaster Education, with Pamela Snow · About 75 minutes · Australia
Professor Pamela Snow speaks about oral language development and its relationship to reading, in a session hosted by Spellcaster Education.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Interview
Reading Universe, with Tiffany Hogan · About 35 minutes · USA
Researcher Tiffany Hogan on developmental language disorder, in a session for Reading Universe. A manageable length for teachers who are new to the topic.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Webinar
Speech Pathology Tasmania · About 1 hour · Australia
A session from Speech Pathology Tasmania on understanding developmental language disorder and dysgraphia together, from an Australian speech pathology point of view.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Talk
Gresham College, with Maggie Snowling · About 1 hour · UK
Professor Maggie Snowling's Gresham College lecture on dyslexia and language. An hour-long public lecture from a leading dyslexia researcher.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Webinar
Learning MATTERS, with Tiffany Hogan · About 1 hour · New Zealand
Dr Tiffany Hogan joins New Zealand's Learning MATTERS for a session on dyslexia and developmental language disorder together.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Webinar
Positive Partnerships · Two sessions of about 45 minutes · 2026 · Australia
Two recorded webinars on the different ways autistic people communicate, being a good communication partner and extending two-way interaction, with slides and a planning tool.
FreeOpens at positivepartnerships.com.au
Explainer
Spelfabet · About 9 minutes · Australia
A short video on building the language house from Spelfabet, the site run by Australian speech pathologist Alison Clarke. It runs for about nine minutes.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Interview
Teaching Literacy Podcast, with Pamela Snow · About 55 minutes
Pamela Snow joins the Teaching Literacy Podcast to talk about SOLAR, the Science of Language and Reading, the framework her Language House illustrates. This is the video of episode 21.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Interview
Progressively Incorrect (Zach Groshell), with Pamela Snow · About 1 hour
Pamela Snow talks with Zach Groshell about early language and literacy skills, in an hour-long episode of his podcast.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Webinar
Think Forward Educators, with Tanya Serry · 30 to 60 minutes · 2026 · Australia
Professor Tanya Serry's second session on the language foundations of reading comprehension, turning to what they mean for teaching reading and writing.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Explainer
RADLD · 22:56 · UK
RADLD's longer film on understanding developmental language disorder. Suits a staff meeting when you want more depth than a five-minute explainer.
FreeOpens at youtube.com
Developmental language disorder at school
The Talking DLD Podcast (The DLD Project) · Australia
An episode of the Australian Talking DLD Podcast about school for children with developmental language disorder, and what it is like to watch a child struggle there.
FreeOpens at thedldproject.com
Structured talk
Evidence into Action
Alex Quigley and Chloe Butlin talk with experts and practitioners from different phases about why subject-specific talk matters across the curriculum.
FreeOpens at evidenceintoaction.podbean.com
Oral language for reading and spelling
The Structured Literacy Podcast · with Jocelyn Seamer
Jocelyn Seamer links oral language to theoretical frameworks for reading and shares five tips for including it across all areas of the curriculum.
FreeOpens at buzzsprout.com
Alex Quigley, Alex Reynolds and guests including Jessie Ricketts discuss vocabulary instruction and its connections to reading and the curriculum.
FreeOpens at evidenceintoaction.podbean.com
Phonics for students with DLD
The Talking DLD Podcast (The DLD Project) · Australia
This Talking DLD Podcast episode explains why children with developmental language disorder are at higher risk of reading and spelling difficulty, and shares phonics strategies that help.
FreeOpens at thedldproject.com
RADLD · Fact sheet · UK
RADLD's fact sheet on developmental language disorder, from the international group that raises awareness of the condition. A short page to share with colleagues and families.
FreeOpens at radld.org
Tom Sherrington · Substack · 2026 · UK
From hundreds of lesson visits, Sherrington names three priorities for most schools, inclusive teaching, responsive teaching and teaching through talk, and links to his earlier writing on each.
FreeOpens at tomsherrington.substack.com
Tom Sherrington · Substack · 2026 · UK
Sherrington uses a simple memory model to explain how talk supports learning, and argues that if talk helps students learn, routines must give every student the chance to talk, not just a few.
FreeOpens at tomsherrington.substack.com
Pamela Snow, The Snow Report · Blog post · 2020 · Australia
Pamela Snow walks through her Language House on her blog, from the solid ground of early relationships up to the roof. She welcomes teachers using the model with attribution.
FreeOpens at pamelasnow.blogspot.com
Deslea Konza, for the South Australian Department of Education and Children's Services · Research into practice paper (PDF) · 2011 · Australia
Deslea Konza explains how oral language shapes later reading, with classroom strategies such as wait time, simpler teacher talk, think-alouds, shared story books and daily table talk.
FreeOpens at ecu.edu.au
David Didau (The Learning Spy) · Substack · 2026 · UK
Didau weighs England's push to give oracy equal status with reading and writing. He argues students speak well when they know a lot, and sets out what schools should prioritise instead.
FreeOpens at daviddidau.substack.com
Tom Sherrington · Substack · 2026 · UK
Sherrington explains why relying on hands up lets confident students dominate, and makes the case for routines that ensure every student's thinking is heard and explored.
FreeOpens at tomsherrington.substack.com
Doug Lemov (Doug Lemov's Field Notes) · Substack · 2026 · USA
Lemov shows how shared oral reading of a whole book frees students' working memory for discussion, using classroom video to illustrate how reading together leads to richer conversation.
FreeOpens at douglemov.substack.com
Teach Like a Champion · Substack · 2025 · USA
The Teach Like a Champion team shows how to set up a tight Turn and Talk, from the prompt and time cue to how teachers listen in and follow up afterwards.
FreeOpens at teachlikeachamp.substack.com
Mary Myatt (Curriculum 101) · Substack · 2026 · UK
Myatt asks whether sentence starters and talk frames can become a ceiling rather than a launch pad, and how teachers can push for fuller, more thoughtful answers.
FreeOpens at marymyatt.substack.com
Jen O'Sullivan · Substack · 2026 · International
Shows how to choose words worth teaching from picture books and read-alouds already on the shelf, with examples and guidance on planning vocabulary across primary school.
FreeOpens at readwritejen.substack.com
Ben Cooper (WAGOLL Teaching) · Substack · 2026 · UK
Describes the everyday habit of asking pupils to repeat answers in fuller, more precise language, and how it builds spoken and academic vocabulary.
FreeOpens at wagollteaching.com
Tom Sherrington · Substack · 2026 · UK
Sherrington rejects the idea that oracy competes with knowledge, and shows how the Voice 21 benchmarks place subject knowledge at the centre of talk in a rich curriculum.
FreeOpens at tomsherrington.substack.com
Tom Sherrington · Substack · 2026 · UK
Using his tree metaphor, Sherrington sets out how a school can build an oracy-rich curriculum from routines teachers already use, starting with shared values about talk and listening.
FreeOpens at tomsherrington.substack.com
Bishop, Snowling, Thompson, Greenhalgh and the CATALISE consortium · 2016 · Consensus study
The open-access consensus study in which an international expert panel worked towards agreed criteria for identifying children's language difficulties. It underpins the shift to the term developmental language disorder.
FreeOpens at journals.plos.org
Snowling, Hulme and Nation · 2020 · Review article
An open-access review that describes dyslexia as a difficulty in learning to decode and spell, places it among the neurodevelopmental disorders, and traces how understanding of it has changed.
FreeOpens at pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Pamela Snow · 2020 · Open access · Child Language Teaching and Therapy
Pamela Snow's paper proposing the Science of Language and Reading framework, which places oral language at the centre of learning to read. It sets out her Language House in full.
Opens at doi.org
Deslea Konza · 2014 · Open access · Australian Journal of Teacher Education
Deslea Konza's case for adding oral language and early literacy experiences to the National Reading Panel's five elements, which gives the Big Six.
Opens at ro.ecu.edu.au
Pamela Snow · 2016 · Open access · International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology
Pamela Snow's Elizabeth Usher Memorial Lecture, published as an open-access paper, on where speech-language pathology sits in education policy, practice and debate.
Opens at doi.org
Blog · Australia
Opens at pamelasnow.blogspot.com
