Frankly Freddy Blog
TextProject president and CEO Elfrieda H. (Freddy) Hiebert blogs about important issues in reading research and practice.
Frankly Freddy entries (published from 2005 to 2014) have been sorted into five topics of literacy learning and instruction. Click here to download the ebook!
Upcoming Webinar-The New Science of Vocabulary: AI-Enhanced Approaches to Word Selection
December 12, 2024
Join Dr. Elfrieda “Freddy” H. Hiebert, President and CEO of the non-profit organization TextProject, which was founded to provide resources to support higher reading levels, as she explores the opportunities to use AI to help strengthen vocabulary instruction and enhance students’ literacy skills.
Terminology, Texts and Teachers in an AI World
December 9, 2024
Dr. Elfrieda Hiebert delivered a keynote address during the Reading Hall of Fame Mentoring session organized by the Literacy Research Association on December 5, 2024.
The Science of Word Zones: How Big Data is Building Better Readers
November 5, 2024
Unlike the strict vocabulary limits of the past, scaffolded texts use language research to create rich learning opportunities. At their core is the organization of words into morphological families – groups that share the same root. This structure comes from analyzing large collections of texts to identify the word families that occur most often at different grade levels.
Revolutionizing Vocabulary Learning: AI’s Contributions to Word Selection in Education
October 15, 2024
Artificial intelligence (AI) offers educators a data-driven alternative to intuition-based word lists. By analyzing vast language datasets, AI tools can identify word clusters supporting text comprehension and general knowledge, as well as words with rich webs of related vocabulary.
Using Story Structure for Comprehension and Enhancing Vocabulary
September 26, 2024
By exploring vocabulary through the lens of story structure, we empower students to engage more deeply with texts and enrich their vocabularies.
Elevating Adolescents’ Literacies: Recognizing Strengths and Building on Curiosities
September 6, 2024
It’s time to shift our perspective and focus on recognizing and celebrating the literacies, curiosities, and strengths of adolescents.
ILA Webinar Q & A Highlights: Knowledge Building as the Foundation for Literacy Learning
June 20, 2024
In these clips from the Q & A session of a webinar for the International Literacy, Cervetti and Hiebert emphasize the importance of integrating content area learning with ELA, cautioning against replacing experiential learning with superficial knowledge in ELA curricula. They advocate for diverse text sets to build depth in students’ reading comprehension and vocabulary, and to foster meaningful engagement and ownership in their learning.
Reclaiming Our Field: Three Highlights from Research & Practice
June 19, 2024
Slides from Freddy’s recent presentation to Wisconsin Teacher Educators. Download presentation slides as PDF file Related Research Articles Enhancing Opportunities for Decoding and Knowledge Building through Beginning TextsCitation: Hiebert, Elfrieda HRead More »Reclaiming Our Field: Three Highlights from Research & Practice
The Usefulness of Semantic Maps in Navigating Knowledge
May 22, 2024
One learning technique has proven effective in supporting students in organizing and remembering knowledge: semantic maps. Whether the technique is called a semantic, concept, or mind map, the distinguishing feature is that words, phrases, or sentences that represent concepts are presented in a diagram-like scheme.
ILA Webinar: Knowledge Building as the Foundation of Literacy Learning
May 14, 2024
In this session, speakers Gina N. Cervetti and Elfrieda (Freddy) H. Hiebert will discuss the importance of knowledge building in the literacy instruction classroom and draw direct connections to both students’ academic success and their social-emotional well-being through developing other critical skills essential for personal growth.