Louisa Moats

Reading researcher Dr. Louisa Moats explains the need for understanding the alphabetic principle.

Dr. Louisa Moats explains to a kindergarten teacher why it is critical to differentiate between the letters and sounds within a word when teaching children to read and write.

Dr. Louisa Moats discusses how nonsense words can help students learn word structure.

Dr. Louisa Moats discusses the critical role of spelling in reading and writing instruction and explains what teachers can learn about a child’s reading skills from invented spelling.

Specific spelling errors can signal a child’s slow progress and the need for extra help.

Dr. Moats gives examples of how teachers can be better prepared to enter the classroom.

Biography

Dr. Louisa Moats is the Director of Professional Development and Research Initiatives with Sopris West Educational Services. She directed the NICHD Early Reading Interventions Project in Washington, DC and worked on the California Reading Initiative as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar. She is the author of many books and articles including: Speech to Print: Language Essentials for Teachers, Parenting a Struggling Reader, as well as the professional development program, LETRS. Moats was recently a contributing writer of the CommonCore State Standards.

Moats began her professional career as a neuropsychology technician and teacher of students with learning disabilities. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Wellesley College, her master’s degree at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University, and her doctorate in reading and human development at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Moats has served as an adjunct professor of psychiatry at Dartmouth Medical School and a clinical associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Texas, Houston. She spent 15 years in private practice as a licensed psychologist in Vermont, specializing in evaluation and consultation with individuals of all ages who experienced difficulty with reading, spelling, writing, and oral language.

After advising the California Reading Initiative for one year, Moats spent four years as site director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Early Interventions Project in Washington, D.C., which included daily work with inner-city teachers and children. Conducted through the University of Texas at Houston, this longitudinal, large-scale project investigated the causes and remedies for reading failure in high-poverty urban schools.

In addition to LETRS her authored and coauthored books include Speech to Print; Straight Talk About Reading; and Basic Facts About Dyslexia. Instructional materials include Spellography and Primary Spelling by Pattern. She also has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, chapters, and policy papers, including the American Federation of Teachers’ Teaching Reading IS Rocket Science, the Learning First Alliance’s “Every Child Reading: A Professional Development Guide,” and Reading First’s “Blueprint for Professional Development.”

Dr. Moats also appeared as an expert in the Reading Rockets webcast, Teaching Writing.

Books by this author

A must-have guide for any parent or teacher of a child struggling to learn to read, this essential resource begins by answering the question “What is Dyslexia?” The authors have masterfully selected and distilled the most significant research in the field to provide clear and detailed explanations of the : (1) widely accepted research-based definition of dyslexia; (2) identification and treatment of dyslexia at various stages of development; (3) emotional consequences of reading difficulties; (4) current research on the role of genetics and the brain; (5) essential elements of effective reading instruction; and (6) treatment options for the most severe cases of dyslexia and other reading problems.

Basic Facts About Dyslexia & Other Reading Problems

Louisa Moats, Karen Dakin

Age Level:

Adult

Parenting a Struggling Reader

Louisa Moats, Susan Hall

Age Level:

Adult

Instructors who use Speech to Print in teacher education courses now have a companion workbook for their students. This engaging, interactive workbook has an easy-to-use format and contains all the exercises in Speech to Print, plus bonus exercises, tables, and new consonant and vowel cards. Exercises include fill-in-the-blanks, multiple choice, matching activities, and transcription. Use this workbook to learn to recognize and understand the problems with language children may encounter, and discover strategies for teaching children reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills.

Speech to Print Workbook: Language Exercises for Teachers, Second Edition

Louisa Moats

Age Level:

Adult

The new edition of this bestselling text helps elementary educators grasp the structure of written and spoken English, understand how children learn to read, and apply this foundational knowledge as they deliver explicit, high-quality literacy instruction. You’ll find expanded information on the critical elements of language, including orthography, morphology, phonetics, phonology, semantics, and syntax. See also: Speech to Print Workbook: Language Exercises for Teachers, Second Edition (opens in a new window).

Speech to Print: Language Essentials for Teachers, Second Edition

Louisa Moats

Age Level:

Adult

Today’s parents are increasingly concerned about the reading and spelling skills taught in schools and are taking charge of their children’s education. Full of ideas and suggestions — from innovative preschool exercises to techniques that older children can use to increase reading speed and comprehension — Straight Talk About Reading will instantly help any parent lay a solid foundation for their child’s formative educational years.

Straight Talk About Reading: How Parents Can Make a Difference During the Early Years

Louisa Moats, Susan Hall

Age Level:

Adult

This book offers teachers a complete framework for organizing instruction, aligned with the language comprehension strands of Scarborough’s Reading Rope. In-depth chapters are devoted to each facet of reading comprehension, including vocabulary, syntax and sentence comprehension, text structures, background knowledge, and levels of understanding and inference. Educators will also find practical guidance and tools for planning their units and lessons, adapting to the needs of individual students, and assessing student progress.

The Reading Comprehension Blueprint

Louisa Moats, Nancy Lewis Hennessy

Age Level:

Adult

Module 2 of LETRS: Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling, this book introduces phonemes (speech sounds) and discusses the importance of phonological awareness in reading and spelling instruction. Module 2 also discusses the features of consonants and vowels and covers some of the problems that children who speak other languages or dialects may have when learning English.