Doug Lemov's field notes

Reflections on teaching, literacy, coaching, and practice.

03.07.25 A Great Example of Retrieval Practice from Kerrie Tinson’s classroom

  We love to share examples of great teaching on the TLAC blog–especially great teaching that demonstrates core principles of cognitive psychology in action. If you follow the learning science at all you’re probably familiar with the importance of Retrieval Practice: how critical it is to bring previous content back into working memory so students remember…


03.05.25 Reading Aloud From Real Books To Build Fluency, Attention and Meaning

  In our forthcoming book The Teach Like a Champion Guide to the Science of Reading, Colleen Driggs, Erica Woolway and I discuss the overlooked importance of shared oral reading of rich and complex literature in book form. This is a critical part of reading instruction for several reasons. 1) It builds student fluency, which is…


02.19.25 Application Window Open for The Teach Like a Champion Fellows–Cohort 4!!

  Since 2016, one of our most exciting projects here at Team TLAC has been our Teaching Fellowship, which has allowed us to learn from champion teachers and share their expertise through our workshops and materials with schools all over the world. We are excited to announce that we are opening applications for our fourth cohort…


02.13.25 The Power of Read Aloud & Come See Us in Denver

    In mid-March we’ll be in Denver leading a workshop on reading. The workshop will incorporate content for our new book, The Teach Like a Champion Guide to the Science of Reading. One of the themes of the book is bringing the text back into the center of the classroom. When we read together, from…