What do a dog, a girl, and a robot have in common? First and foremost, Dusty, Dott, and Alphabott are best friends. But they are also reading buddies! Dusty loves to talk, but learning to read is a new skill. With the help of Dott and Alphabott, he discovers that it can be so much fun! Along the way, the friends practice letters, sounds and reading words, improvise stories, get letters from their globe-trotting friend Otto, practice social skills, and so much more.
Teaching, Reading & Learning: The Podcast elevates important contributions to the educational community, with the goal of inspiring teachers, informing practice, and celebrating people in the community who have influenced teaching and literacy to the betterment of children. The podcast features guests whose life stories are compelling and rich in ways that are instructive to us all. The podcast focuses on literacy as we know it (reading and writing) but will also connect to other “literacies” that impact children’s learning; for example, emotional, physical, and social literacies as they apply to teachers and children.
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This episode is brought to you by Benchmark Education Company, publisher of researchbased and awardwinning literacy and language resources in English and Spanish, as well as Worldclass Professional Development. Our powerful supplemental and core programs give diverse learners the support they need to succeed. Benchmark Education is proud to offer explicit and systematic phonics instruction by Wiley Blevins and important works by Jan Hasbrook on reading fluency, phonics and spelling assessment and dyslexia. Our content rich and culturally relevant texts connect children to the world around them, building knowledge and perspectives. We invite you to learn more@benchmarkeducation.com.
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Hello, Reading League friends and welcome to Teaching Reading and Learning the TRO Podcast. Today we have a special episode. We are in the Reading Buddies clubhouse with my new friends, Dusty and Dot. Hello.
[00:01:13.770] - Speaker 3
So tell us about yourself.
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Tell us about yourself, Dot.
[00:01:16.260] - Speaker 3
Okay, well, I'm a performer. I am Dusty's reading buddy. And when we're not together, I sing, I dance, I edit. Now, I do all sorts of things creatively. And I'm from Syracuse, New York.
[00:01:32.400] - Speaker 2
Downtown girl.
[00:01:33.440] - Speaker 3
Exactly. Dusty and I, we are normally in the New York City area, but we're home now.
[00:01:39.170] - Speaker 4
One city. Yes.
[00:01:40.850] - Speaker 3
And we're making the best of it, aren't we?
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We love it here. We go on so many walks. Hey, I'm Dusty. Think about me. Think about me. I'm a dog. Oh, I can talk.
[00:01:52.190] - Speaker 3
Yeah, you can.
[00:01:55.290] - Speaker 2
You are a talented dog.
[00:01:58.050] - Speaker 3
Now, how did you become friends? Well, Dusty's original owner is my husband, Brendan. But he's always like, he's got his hand in everywhere.
[00:02:06.950] - Speaker 2
He's got his hand in everywhere.
[00:02:08.350] - Speaker 4
Yeah.
[00:02:08.930] - Speaker 2
Okay. Got it.
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So Dusty keeps me company when Brendon's doing other things, right?
[00:02:14.940] - Speaker 4
Yeah. We become best friends.
[00:02:17.880] - Speaker 3
Besties.
[00:02:18.670] - Speaker 2
You are besties. Well, now why are you called Reading Buddies?
[00:02:23.910] - Speaker 3
Well, because Dusty is such a good talker. He's very expressive and good. That was a good.
[00:02:30.550] - Speaker 4
Yeah. I brought your Q dot there for everyone. Listening to the podcast, I smiled really widely. Good.
[00:02:40.650] - Speaker 3
But we had so much time on our hands with the pandemic. And I felt like everyone was learning a new skill, whether it was like sourdough bread or like the ukulele or cross stitching. And so Dusty thought his new skill should be reading. So we read some lullabies to some bedtime stories. We sang some lullabies.
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So you're sharing his journey to become a reader?
[00:03:07.660] - Speaker 4
Yeah, we are.
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And why is that important? Why is that important to you, Dusty? Why do you think?
[00:03:12.000] - Speaker 4
Because it's scary to learn new things. Sometimes it's scary to learn new things by yourself. But when you have friends with you, it makes it a little bit easier and a lot more fun. That's true. Yeah.
[00:03:24.010] - Speaker 3
And I feel like something that Dusty and I, because we're so close and we just love each other and we have a lot of fun that's one of our special skills is making things fun. And I know this past year hasn't always been fun, especially for the kids that we're targeting with our show and including them. And I think we could all use community right now. So to share what we're going through just seems easy. And especially nowadays, everything's on Instagram, everything's on social media.
[00:03:53.930] - Speaker 2
Right.
[00:03:54.430] - Speaker 3
So it was like a nice way to document what we're learning together.
[00:03:57.590] - Speaker 2
Oh, that's fantastic. So your show is called Reading Buddy.
[00:04:00.780] - Speaker 4
Yes.
[00:04:01.370] - Speaker 2
And I know that your show is made up of several segments.
[00:04:04.170] - Speaker 4
Yeah.
[00:04:04.400] - Speaker 2
So maybe you can describe those segments to our listeners.
[00:04:07.000] - Speaker 3
Okay, Dusty, I'll do my favorite, and then you can do yours. Okay.
[00:04:09.400] - Speaker 2
Sounds good.
[00:04:09.860] - Speaker 4
Okay, great.
[00:04:10.960] - Speaker 3
One of my favorites is Squat With that.
[00:04:13.960] - Speaker 4
That's a good one.
[00:04:18.070] - Speaker 3
We realized that so many of the exercises we were working on was just on nouns and we weren't getting the verbs and we wanted to get active. So swap with that helps everybody get up. And we do little dance routines and we do workouts and it helps put it into our bodies because I find so much reading. Sometimes I get so in my head and it's good to get in my body. So I love Squat With that. Well, Dusty, you'll probably love this one, too, but I love bath time when you take your bath and we play with the bubbles.
[00:04:48.920] - Speaker 4
I like playing with the bubbles. Yeah. Bath time in general is not my favorite. I like dirt time and mud time. Bath time is okay. But popping those bubbles is so fun. Yeah.
[00:05:00.540] - Speaker 3
And we go in your dog house, too. Well, I don't.
[00:05:03.100] - Speaker 4
That's my favorite segment. Yeah. We go into my dog house and all my friends help me clean up this big pile of junk that's always in my dog house. We do. So I put away some things and I only keep out the things that bring me joy.
[00:05:17.510] - Speaker 3
It's very Marie Kondo.
[00:05:18.810] - Speaker 4
Yeah.
[00:05:19.700] - Speaker 2
Okay. Very good. So you're condesizing or whatever you say.
[00:05:24.910] - Speaker 4
Things that bring me joy. Like one day I kept all the things that started with the M sound, and then the next day I kept all the things that started with the sound changes.
[00:05:36.020] - Speaker 2
Every day you're cleaning up, but you're also teaching about sounds.
[00:05:40.600] - Speaker 3
We are. We really focus on sounds. Dusty, are you having an AHA moment?
[00:05:44.190] - Speaker 4
I am having an AHA moment.
[00:05:46.930] - Speaker 3
Well, as Dusty likes to say, we have lots of haha moments on our show, too. We definitely embrace the silly. We embrace play. But I also think that we definitely have moments where we just sit down and we work, we focus. And even though sometimes Dusty has to have reminders of whole body listening and other social skills that are helpful, sometimes we all need those reminders. So we have segments that do that, too. Oh, great.
[00:06:09.630] - Speaker 2
So you've got segments that are kind of in the doghouse and active segments. And then you also have segments that deal just with reading. Yes. You're learning about sounds, as we said. And you're learning about letters? Yeah.
[00:06:24.540] - Speaker 4
A little more structure and repetition because repetition helps me. If I do really once, then it kind of flies into your hands. I'd like to go over and over and over until I get it right.
[00:06:36.440] - Speaker 3
And we have a reading tool that will actually introduce to you if you want to meet her Alphabet. And she's our robot, and she helps us kind of see sometimes some of our exercises. We don't have any kind of visual clues. But then when Alphabet comes, she teaches us new sounds and how to articulate them with our mouth and our voice box. And we do some Cheney exercises with her. We do some sound association exercises.
[00:07:05.150] - Speaker 4
And she's also a WiFi router. She's got great speed.
[00:07:10.870] - Speaker 2
She can do, like triple duty for you then, can't she?
[00:07:13.990] - Speaker 3
Definitely.
[00:07:15.610] - Speaker 4
If you learned how to make smoothies or something.
[00:07:17.750] - Speaker 2
Oh, yes. That would be handy. So, Dusty, are you learning to read?
[00:07:22.480] - Speaker 4
Yeah, I am. Slowly but surely, little by little. Right. Is good progress.
[00:07:29.170] - Speaker 2
Yeah. And reading is like that, isn't it? Sometimes you just take small steps and those steps all build and then you're able to read. And what a wonderful thing.
[00:07:37.620] - Speaker 3
I think it's cool to remember, like if Dusty can read.
[00:07:41.540] - Speaker 2
Yeah.
[00:07:41.810] - Speaker 3
No offense, Dust.
[00:07:42.800] - Speaker 4
Yeah. But it's odd.
[00:07:44.570] - Speaker 3
But if you can read, then we can really teach anybody to read.
[00:07:47.720] - Speaker 2
That's exactly right. And that makes me think about I know you are collaborating with the Reading League, so you can really bring that idea of teaching everyone to read, bring that to life and this whole idea of the science of reading. So maybe talk a little bit about how you collaborated how you collaborated with the Reading League to make sure that everything you're teaching is really grounded in that science. Right.
[00:08:09.620] - Speaker 4
We needed some experts. If it was up to us, it would be a 26 minutes show about me bearing my bone, digging it up and putting it over, which is a great show. I watch that show, but it doesn't really teach anything. Right.
[00:08:22.930] - Speaker 3
Dusty and Dusty and I think we're natural storytellers. That's what we do. Whatever we do in life, we're always telling stories. But then that only gets you to a point. Right. And then you really need to learn how to do it and how to use your voice, which is our special skills that we say. And the Reading League, they gave us classes. They were on call whenever we needed them or had questions. And we had books delivered to our house. And we watched so many YouTube videos. And we took a parent class, Dusty and I, and we met some of the parents.
[00:08:57.690] - Speaker 2
Yes.
[00:08:58.480] - Speaker 3
It's incredible how much some families are invested in reading and getting their kids to read. And I was not a great reader growing up, so I kind of feel like I'm healing. That's right.
[00:09:15.410] - Speaker 4
You're never too old with me. Right?
[00:09:17.160] - Speaker 3
You're never too old to learn something new.
[00:09:18.580] - Speaker 2
That's right. So you're really learning about the process of learning to read. You're learning about how we teach children and dogs to read. And then that's really what's going to be so exciting when children and teachers can watch this show and when teachers can show this show in their classrooms. I think that's really exciting. Well, I do want to pause here because we want to show you just a few segments.
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Say nail.
[00:09:52.970] - Speaker 4
Nail.
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Say it again, but don't say ale.
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Good dog. Say soup. Soup.
[00:10:03.630] - Speaker 3
Say it again, but don't say oop.
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That's right. Duh. Duh and I are working on new tricks. If I get it right, I get a treat.
[00:10:15.350] - Speaker 3
Say veil.
[00:10:16.680] - Speaker 4
Veil.
[00:10:17.800] - Speaker 3
Say it again, but don't say ale. That's right. Say Chip.
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Chip.
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Say it again, but don't say ain't.
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Good dog. Good Dot. Very good Dot.
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Where's my treat?
[00:10:58.360] - Speaker 4
It's this hug.
[00:11:02.390] - Speaker 2
So that is so exciting. And I know that everybody's just going to be so thrilled to see these shows.
[00:11:07.510] - Speaker 3
Thank you.
[00:11:07.890] - Speaker 2
Now, I know that you filmed 20 episodes, right. In a very short amount of time in two weeks after you filmed. Okay. What was that like, Dusty? What was that like for you?
[00:11:18.400] - Speaker 4
Well, my favorite part was the catering. Every day there was food, different food, crank service.
[00:11:26.670] - Speaker 3
We definitely felt very taken care of, that's for sure. But it was a lot. I mean, for our listeners right now, we have three cameras right here, right. Making this all look glorious. And we have three cameras at WCNY.
[00:11:38.560] - Speaker 4
But go ahead.
[00:11:39.990] - Speaker 3
We have three cameras at WCNY. So it was hard. Dusty and I are used to the stage. We're not used to film, so we had a learning curve a little bit interesting, but we felt so much support from the team. The director of production was just he became one of our close friends, and we felt like we had an ally, which was super helpful.
[00:11:58.540] - Speaker 4
And the Reading League was there the whole time.
[00:12:01.000] - Speaker 3
Oh, my gosh.
[00:12:03.270] - Speaker 4
In case I said error instead of err. Yes, exactly.
[00:12:09.870] - Speaker 2
Our important details. And I can just tell you, we at the Reading League. We're just so delighted to partner with you and to be able to bring this to our teachers and bring this to our children. So would you say the hardest part of the filming really was just the pace at which you had to keep to get this done?
[00:12:27.900] - Speaker 3
We've never done it before. I mean, the Reading League and Dusty and I, we're all new. And so we didn't know how long things would take. We didn't know if we get ahead of schedule or behind schedule. And so we just stayed at it and we just kept it a really quick clip, which actually is one of the things the Reading Week reminded me to do as the somewhat teachers to make sure that I had a perky face. That was the challenging part, I would say. But Dusty, were there moments that you felt like you needed the reading League there to help us?
[00:13:04.150] - Speaker 4
They didn't bring cookies. Sometimes they would.
[00:13:08.050] - Speaker 2
Would that be dog biscuit cookies?
[00:13:09.920] - Speaker 4
Yeah.
[00:13:12.970] - Speaker 2
Dog friendly.
[00:13:14.260] - Speaker 4
Dog friendly stuff. And I try to keep leaving them around the set and, like, burying them in their pillows and things, and people would find them. It was good because I could talk for ages about bones and treats, but I don't think I could talk forever on, like, the letter A or the sound without their help. It's true.
[00:13:32.820] - Speaker 2
That's so true. Well, and I think that this again, I just go back to how much teachers are going to really enjoy having this for their students and for the children. And I know that some kids and some teachers have already seen your show just as a sneak preview. And the feedback we've gotten has just been tremendous.
[00:13:51.800] - Speaker 3
We really hope to be a tool, especially in the classroom, but also at home if kids are sick or maybe you're trying to get your kids excited about these tools and the science of reading, and you need maybe a different lens to put it through. I know it was hard for me sometimes to sit down and focus, but I think Dusty would grab my attention, and so it kind of takes on. We have this other tool in your lovely adorableness that can maybe bring the science of reading to different years.
[00:14:22.690] - Speaker 4
You are adorable.
[00:14:23.690] - Speaker 2
I can't really I mean, just being here with you just makes me so happy. So if season one is a big success, which I think it's going to be, what do you see coming in the future?
[00:14:34.470] - Speaker 3
Well, Dusty wants a pool.
[00:14:36.920] - Speaker 4
He wants a jet.
[00:14:38.250] - Speaker 3
He wants lots of things.
[00:14:39.220] - Speaker 4
So step one, I learn how to read. Step two, I write my autobiography.
[00:14:43.410] - Speaker 3
Oh, great.
[00:14:44.300] - Speaker 4
I'm a first dog President.
[00:14:50.270] - Speaker 2
Wait a minute. So you're learning to read and write?
[00:14:53.140] - Speaker 4
Yeah. Slowly each episode, we kind of figure out we start to figure out what the symbols that make these sounds are and what they're called.
[00:15:02.760] - Speaker 3
We have an invisible paintbrush that we use on our tool because Dusty is not great at holding pencils, but we use this tool of the invisible paintbrush to make letter formations. And there's drawing in the show. So make sure that for our listeners that they have paper and pencils or coloring supplies handy when you're creating square interactive.
[00:15:23.630] - Speaker 2
So what I'm hearing about these segments sound and symbol and blending and writing. And then in addition, you have drawing and physical activity. There's a lot and bath time. And how about snack time?
[00:15:40.720] - Speaker 4
Oh, yeah.
[00:15:46.530] - Speaker 3
One of our plans for season two are, like, as far as aiming high, we want to expand the set so that you get to see our backyard, and we want a bigger cast of characters, more diversity, more inclusion. And so someday I would love to have our vet on the show. Now, Dusty, don't get scared. Sometimes. This is a hot button issue for Dusty, but we love our vet. So maybe one day they can be on the ship.
[00:16:12.450] - Speaker 4
Yeah. And kids, too. There might be kids on TV. Yeah. If we have our way, we don't bite viewers to come on.
[00:16:19.820] - Speaker 2
And wouldn't that be a treat for the kids to come on and be able to actually scratch you behind the.
[00:16:24.470] - Speaker 4
Earlier like a treat for me.
[00:16:26.420] - Speaker 3
Yeah, it sure does.
[00:16:27.730] - Speaker 2
I wanted to mention another segment that you have on your show. Is it called Speedy Story?
[00:16:32.060] - Speaker 4
Yes.
[00:16:34.050] - Speaker 2
Just describe that to our listeners.
[00:16:35.710] - Speaker 3
Okay. So we have Dusty loves to make up stories, but we try to stick to our schedule for our lesson plan because it is a lesson. After all.
[00:16:45.430] - Speaker 4
Sometimes you just need a brain break.
[00:16:48.030] - Speaker 3
Totally. So we put 30 seconds on the clock and then we have to make up a story about alphabets drawing. And we just kind of make it up. And they're usually very silly. We were thinking that maybe even students could maybe their teacher could say, okay, you have 30 seconds and you have to make up a story about Dusty. And Dusty goes to the grocery store and you have 30 seconds. And then it kind of sparks imagination. And I also think there's something really great about it. Doesn't matter if it's a silly story or if it doesn't make any sense just to kind of practice using your voice and coming up with ideas quickly is fun.
[00:17:25.690] - Speaker 4
Yeah.
[00:17:26.380] - Speaker 2
And language is so important to reading, isn't it, Dusty?
[00:17:28.970] - Speaker 4
Yeah. The ultimate goal, you want to learn how to read. You want to learn how to write. You want to hear other people's stories and read other people's stories and then tell your own stories.
[00:17:37.660] - Speaker 2
Oh, yeah, absolutely. And I was going to mention, too. You also just you have a lot of books in the clubhouse here.
[00:17:45.720] - Speaker 4
We do.
[00:17:46.300] - Speaker 2
So you do a lot with books.
[00:17:48.050] - Speaker 4
Yes.
[00:17:48.360] - Speaker 2
Like reading aloud and reading to each other, right?
[00:17:51.490] - Speaker 3
Well, yes. During a reading buddy lesson, we don't actually read a book necessarily, but Dusty and I, we do a lot of read alouds on Instagram, shout out to the Instagram. But as far as our bookshelves, they're covered in so many treats. I mean, there's a little Kitty cat behind you. That was my grandma's.
[00:18:11.950] - Speaker 4
There's some of Dusty's.
[00:18:21.070] - Speaker 3
And then we have some of Dusty's favorite toys, too.
[00:18:24.100] - Speaker 2
All this is very personal to you, isn't it? Very much everything's meaningful to you? Yeah, it's very nice. And some of these books are just lovely. And I hope they inspire our children to have books as well.
[00:18:36.120] - Speaker 4
Some of their drawings and stuff when we film, we have some of their drawings.
[00:18:42.320] - Speaker 3
That's true.
[00:18:43.220] - Speaker 4
If you're listening to this and you want to draw us a picture that might be on the set next year, come on.
[00:18:48.230] - Speaker 3
It's a great idea. Yeah, well, we have a pen Paul called auto, and he always writes every episode. He'll write a letter to dusty. And we would love if other people wrote to dusty.
[00:18:59.140] - Speaker 2
Oh, that's a great one.
[00:18:59.790] - Speaker 3
Or maybe showed us what letters you were working on. Anything.
[00:19:02.920] - Speaker 2
Oh, that's fantastic. Well, I do want to make sure we introduce there's another reading buddy. And you kind of mentioned this a little bit earlier, but why don't you go ahead and introduce our other reading buddy?
[00:19:21.590] - Speaker 3
Ab, this is Laura.
[00:19:23.090] - Speaker 4
Hi.
[00:19:23.710] - Speaker 2
Hi, AB.
[00:19:25.130] - Speaker 4
Oh, my goodness.
[00:19:25.950] - Speaker 2
It's lovely to meet you.
[00:19:27.160] - Speaker 4
She says it's lovely to meet you, too. Yeah, just go cuddle up.
[00:19:33.210] - Speaker 2
So, AB, what do you like about being a reading book?
[00:19:41.770] - Speaker 4
Really friendship of everybody. But wait, what was that? A B what what was the last time say that last thing you said? That should be called the Alphabet show.
[00:19:57.830] - Speaker 3
Just being silly. I know. Ab, I want to meet all of our reading buddies, too.
[00:20:04.430] - Speaker 2
Oh, that would be great. Well, this has really been delightful. This has really been so much fun and we've really kept a perky pace, to quote our friend Anita Archer really kept a perky pace. And I just have really enjoyed spending time with you, dusty, and BBU dot.
[00:20:19.970] - Speaker 3
And meeting you too as well.
[00:20:21.100] - Speaker 2
Alphabet.
[00:20:21.510] - Speaker 3
And I really encourage all of our.
[00:20:22.860] - Speaker 2
Listeners and all of our viewers to tune into reading buddies. Reading buddies is going to launch in September of 2021, coming up soon, and it's going to be available on YouTube and on WCNY's global connect station. We want you to make sure to like the show on Instagram and Facebook and YouTube and keep informed and subscribe on the YouTube channel.
[00:20:45.010] - Speaker 3
We'll have lots of teasers throughout the summer.
[00:20:47.750] - Speaker 2
Is there anything else you want to tell our listeners and our viewers today? How about you go first?
[00:20:52.240] - Speaker 4
I can't wait to meet all year. Come on, join us and bring treats. And you're allowed to eat during the show. That's fine, because I do it, too.
[00:21:00.370] - Speaker 2
Okay. You heard it from the dog. How about you do anything you want to say?
[00:21:03.800] - Speaker 3
Oh, my goodness. But I just can't wait to see all of the reactions from the show, even the little sneak peeks that we're getting. It just fuels the whole experience. Ab, final words.
[00:21:18.270] - Speaker 4
500 viewers get a car?
[00:21:23.970] - Speaker 2
Not yet. Well, thank you very much, reading buddies. This has been great. Thank you so much for tuning in and listening in. And we'll see you next time.
[00:21:35.990] - Speaker 4
Bye bye.
[00:21:40.970] - Speaker 2
Wasn't that exciting to meet the reading buddies? Thank you so much for tuning in today and be sure to catch the reading buddies on YouTube and also on WCNY's global connect. If you enjoy this podcast, Please be sure to rate us like us and share us on social media. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you again next time.