FOCUS Newsletter Fall 2026
Georgia Association of Literacy Advocates (GALA)
In this ISSUE of the GALA FOCUS NEWSLETTER:
1. GALA UPDATES & ANNOUNCEMENTS
- North Georgia Literacy Association Update! ~ One Local Council Shares Their “Why”
- GALA Local Councils ~ Learn more about starting your own Local Literacy Council!
2. STUDENT BOOK TALKS!
- Salt in His Shoes? Michael Jourdan in Pursuit of a Dream ~ Reviewed by Jonah & Jaxson ~ South Douglas Elementary School
- Wood, Wire, Wings: Emma Lilian Todd Invents an Airplane ~ Reviewed by Zuriel & Keilani ~ South Douglas Elementary School
- America's Champion Swimmer: Gertrude Ederle ~ Reviewed by Shiloh & Mason ~ South Douglas Elementary School
3. K-12 BOOK REVIEWS!
- El Niño (2025) , Reviewed by Dr. Vicki Luther ~ Mercer University
- Maryam Mirzakhani: The First Female Mathematician to Win the Fields Medal (2021), Reviewed by Dr. William Bintz ~ Kent State University
- The Arrival of Uno: Before Uno and You’re Out (2026), Reviewed by Serena N. Brown ~ MeMe, JJ & Friends LLC
4. AUTHOR'S CHAIR (Showcasing Personal Writing)
- It Is Through Them I Am, Written by Fallon Holmes
5. TEACHING TIPS (NEW!)
- Content Literacy in Practice: Building Quad Text Sets for Social Studies Classrooms by Sarah Brown ~ Georgia Council for the Social Studies
- How Can EFL Teachers Help Students Approach Culturally Unfamiliar Texts? A Three-Step Reading Approach by Yilin Yang ~ Georgia State University
- Beyond “Read and Answer”: Applying the Science of Reading to an Eighth-Grade Georgia Studies DBQ by Dr. Robert A. Griffin ~ University of West Georgia
- Dorothy Vaughan: Human Computer and Civil Rights Trailblazer An Interdisciplinary Teaching Tip by Dr. William Bintz ~ Kent State University
- Scaffold the Load, Not the Thinking Using Cognitive Load Theory to Maintain Rigor in Literacy Instruction by Ashley Doty ~ Uncomplicate Ed
6. FEATURE ARTICLES
- Who Is Your Wallace? Breaking Georgia’s Cycle of Low Literacy One Family at a Time by Dr. Felicia Thomas Phelps ~ Technical College System of Georgia
- Do Our Literacy Supports Work Together for Students? Connecting Tier 1, Small-Group Instruction, and Advanced Tiers by Gin Munoz ~ American Reading Company
- Redefining Literacy in a Digital World by Savannah Parham ~ Kennesaw State University
One Local Council Shares Their “Why”
As literacy continues to be the focus in education, both in Georgia and beyond, concerned community members may find themselves asking, how can I make an impact? In North Georgia, a group of like-minded individuals from diverse backgrounds have joined together, bringing much-needed literacy support to their neighborhoods. Their organization, the North Georgia Literacy Association (NGLA) is an affiliate of GALA. Here are a few of the reasons why NGLA came together, in the words of its members.
Contributing NGLA Members Share Their Why:
Angela O’Brien-Scheidt, Angela Cortellino, Gaby Evers, Dr. Karen DiBella, Dr. Debby Pinion, Zach Scheidt, Abby Muniz, & Tyler Bennett
Chair Angela O’Brien-Scheidt and Secretary Gaby Evers
Presenting at the GALEO: Ponte Las Pilas Summit on August 29, 2026.
“A library is…”
Membership Chair Dr. Karen DiBella and Chair Angela O’Brien Scheidt
Handed out books and resources at a local elementary school’s meet and greet
Chair Angela O’Brien-Scheidt and Intern Tyler Bennett
Treasurer Zach Scheidt
Creative and Operations Assistant Abby Muniz
Hosted a table (along with Secretary Gaby Evers and Chair Angela O’Brien-Scheidt, not pictured) at a partnership event between the local library, YMCA and NGLA,
El Niño (2025)
Reviewed by Dr. Vicki Luther
Professor, Mercer University, Macon, GA
Some people trap their grief inside for fear that releasing it will suggest they didn’t love the deceased. Others run from it, thinking it will consume them. But the more you run from sadness, the more it will chase you.
Pam Muñoz Ryan’s most recent novel, El Niño, is a powerful reminder of the power of letting go of what was to move into what can be. Throughout the book, which is geared for readers in upper elementary and middle grades, Muñoz Ryan seamlessly weaves elements of realistic fiction with aspects of fantasy. By using a hybrid of literary genres, she mixes unique perspectives of sadness, loss, determination, and triumph together, and thanks to her poignant storytelling, readers are transported both to the realism of the Pacific coast of California and also to a magical Realm below the ocean’s surface. While the book is divided into 23 chapters, it is also organized into four sections: Above, Below, Between, and Beyond; each section adds layers and depth to the story’s structure. To further complement Muñoz Ryan’s words, illustrator Joe Cepeda’s beautiful drawings bring the story to life and capture readers’ interest and imagination.
Maryam Mirzakhani: The First Female Mathematician to Win the Fields Medal (2021)
Reviewed by Dr. William Bintz
Professor, Kent State University, Kent, OH
Math is not just a subject to study in school. It's a journey of discovery, a magical adventure where you can unlock the secrets of the universe. Doing mathematics for me is like being on a long hike with no trail and no end in sight. ~Maryam Mirzakhani
Maryam Mirzakhani - The Story of the First Female Mathematician to Win the Fields Medal (Eboch, 2021) is a picturebook biography about Maryam Mirzakhani. She was born and raised in Tehran, Iran. From an early age, she admired inspirational women and was ambitious herself. Over time, she discovered the joy of math. In high school, she won a gold medal two years in a row at the International Mathematical Olympiad. After graduation, Maryam moved to America to study mathematics. She was very interested in studying the math behind curves. She found joy in finding answers to math problems that had never been solved.
One day, Maryam was notified that she had won the Fields Medal, the highest honor in math. The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to mathematicians under 40 years of age at the International Congress of the International Mathematical Union to recognize outstanding mathematical achievement. Maryam won the award in 2014. Today, her work in mathematics continues to inspire other mathematicians to find answers to math problems that have never been solved.
The Arrival of Uno: Before Uno and You’re Out (2026)
Reviewed by Serena N. Brown
Owner/Managing Member, MeMe, JJ & Friends LLC, Woodbine, GA
Before Uno Arrives
Even before Uno shows up, things in the Forest of Friends are starting to shift. In The Quiet Visitor (Brown, 2026), Tank has begun rebuilding his life after abandonment when another newcomer appears: Lexus. She does not rush toward the group. She watches from a distance, staying close enough to feel safe and far enough to choose. Tank senses something changing before he fully understands what it is, and Lexus eventually steps closer only when she is ready. This quiet start is important, since The Arrival of Uno picks up with this new relationship and growing family. Tank, a black-and-white pit bull, had already found an unusual family with two Chihuahuas, MeMe and JJ, and Tuffie, a black-dominant calico cat. They were an unlikely bunch, with different personalities, sizes, and even species, but they had figured out how to be a family.
The Arrival of Uno begins before there is an Uno at all. It follows Tank and Lexus as the connection introduced in The Quiet Visitor continues to grow into a loving relationship. Their bond grows slowly, through patience, trust, and a lot of time together. Two animals who are still learning to understand each other gradually become something more, and that sets up the next chapter in the Forest of Friends.
It Is Through Them I Am
Written by Fallon Holmes
I was blessed beyond measure to begin my teaching career at Manchester High School (MHS) under Dr. Dennis “Chip” Medders’ leadership, the best principal I have EVER worked for in this lifetime. Dr. Medders gave me a chance to become an English teacher with a preliminary certification because he believed I could make a difference. And believe me, I did! I was supported by Mrs. Whitney Glisson, an amazing and kind instructional coach who gave me the academic autonomy to change the lives of children whom I still know to this day. As I reflect on my early teaching career, I must remember my three co-teachers who taught me valuable pedagogy during my initial introduction to the world of education. My former experiences with these three women are the reason I remain in this profession.
Content Literacy in Practice: Building Quad Text Sets for Social Studies Classrooms
Sarah Brown, Past President, Georgia Council for the Social Studies
When we launched our Quad Text Set Project at the end of the summer, we had no idea what to expect. Would literacy leaders be receptive? Would teachers wonder why “the social studies people” were addressing literacy? Would a very ill-timed website hack stop the whole project in its tracks? Most importantly, we wondered if teachers would find that the text sets provided a useful classroom resource. So far, the answer to the last question has been an overwhelming yes!
Bridging Literacy and Social Studies
The Georgia Council for the Social Studies (GCSS) serves as the state’s professional organization for social studies teachers, including everyone at the K-12 level who teaches social studies, along with many colleagues from colleges/universities and non-profit organizations. While our mission is to serve social studies teachers and advocate for our subject, we also recognize that too often modern education enforces an artificial delineation between content areas (Shanahan and Shanahan, 2008). Literacy and numeracy skills matter regardless of what subject a teacher is “responsible” for teaching, and content knowledge from science and social studies informs those same literacy and numeracy skills. By leaving our “social studies people” silo, we hope to encourage others to consider meaningful curriculum integration opportunities as well.
How Can EFL Teachers Help Students Approach Culturally Unfamiliar Texts? A Three-Step Reading Approach
Yilin Yang, Ph.D. student, Georgia State University
Reading in an EFL classroom involves more than understanding vocabulary and sentences. Readers also draw on prior knowledge and experiences to make meaning from a text (Anderson & Pearson, 1984). When students encounter texts from unfamiliar cultural backgrounds, limited cultural knowledge may make comprehension more challenging (Carrell & Eisterhold, 1983). I experienced this challenge when teaching an excerpt from The Odyssey to Chinese college students. Although some students had heard of Homer and The Odyssey, they knew little about the story and its cultural background. To make the text more approachable, I used a three-step reading approach: preparing for reading, reading and understanding, and connecting and extending. Together, these steps helped students build on what they already knew, develop an understanding of an unfamiliar text, and make their own interpretations and connections.
Step 1: Preparing for Reading Through Cultural Familiarity
Before introducing a culturally unfamiliar text, I began with something familiar to students. Students’ cultural knowledge and experiences can serve as meaningful resources for learning and create connections to new content (Gay, 2018). These connections can be especially helpful for EFL students when a text comes from a context they know little about. Therefore, rather than beginning the lesson directly with The Odyssey, I first activated students’ cultural knowledge through stories they already knew.
Beyond “Read and Answer”: Applying the Science of Reading to an Eighth-Grade Georgia Studies DBQ
Dr. Robert A. Griffin, Associate Professor of Literacy Education, University of West Georgia
If you teach middle or high school social studies, you have probably heard plenty about the science of reading by now. Most of that conversation has focused on early reading skills like phonics and decoding. But secondary teachers have a different question: What do you do when a student can read the words on the page but still cannot make much sense of the text?
This issue comes up frequently in social studies. Historical texts assume background knowledge, use unfamiliar vocabulary, contain long sentences, and ask students to think in ways that are specific to history. Historians do more than understand what a source says. They ask who created it, when, why, and how it fits with other evidence. That is part of what we mean by disciplinary literacy (Shanahan & Shanahan, 2008).
A good example comes from Georgia Public Broadcasting’s eighth-grade Georgia Studies materials. One document-based question asks students:
“To what degree did Georgia’s call for secession mirror the arguments and principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution?”
The DBQ includes 15 sources: founding documents, Georgia’s Ordinance of Secession, the state’s Declaration of the Causes of Secession, speeches, letters, and political images. Students must read across those sources and decide whether the arguments are similar and how similar they are.
Dorothy Vaughan: Human Computer and Civil Rights Trailblazer An Interdisciplinary Teaching Tip
Dr. William Bintz, Professor, Kent State University
“Reading aloud to children of any age improves their literacy” (Fox, 2008, p. 5)
This article shares an interdisciplinary teaching tip that integrates literacy, social studies, and computer science. I developed this teaching tip to use it in my university graduate course Reading in the Content Areas, as well as to share it with teachers and teacher educators interested in interdisciplinary teaching and learning.
The teaching tip is designed mostly, but not exclusively, for grades 4-6 and consists of two interrelated student learning experiences. One is a teacher interactive read-aloud of a picture book biography about the life of Dorothy Vaughan, a highly accomplished African American female mathematician and computer scientist. The other is “I” Prompts, a reader response strategy that is used with this picture book.
Scaffold the Load, Not the Thinking Using Cognitive Load Theory to Maintain Rigor in Literacy Instruction
Ashley Doty, Founder & CEO, Uncomplicate Ed
As teachers, we often know when a task is too much for students. We see the blank stare. We watch them lose track of what they are supposed to be doing. We notice that a question requiring several layers of thinking becomes a guessing game.
Our instinct is to help.
That instinct comes from a good place. The problem is that sometimes, in our effort to scaffold, we make the task so easy that we remove the thinking students need to learn.
This is where an understanding of Cognitive Load Theory can change the way we plan.
Developed by cognitive psychologist John Sweller beginning in the 1980s, Cognitive Load Theory considers how the limits of working memory affect learning and instructional design (Sweller, 1988). Working memory has a limited capacity, particularly when students are processing new information. In contrast, knowledge stored in long-term memory can be accessed and used with far less demand on working memory (Sweller et al., 2019).
When students are learning something new or complex, they can only hold and process so much information at one time. Teachers, on the other hand, have often worked with the content for years. We see connections automatically that students are still learning to make. Prior knowledge and experience can dramatically change how difficult a task feels because knowledge stored in long-term memory reduces the demands placed on working memory (Willingham, 2009).
Who Is Your Wallace? Breaking Georgia’s Cycle of Low Literacy One Family at a Time
Dr. Felicia Thomas Phelps, Grant Program Support Coordinator, Office of Adult Education, Technical College System of Georgia
Inside a small adult education classroom in rural Georgia, in the spring of 2005, students worked through mixed fractions and prepped for the GED exam. Then there was Wallace (a pseudonym; identifying details have been changed to protect his privacy), whose reading score was stuck at a fourth-grade equivalency, even though he was sixteen years old and had spent two months in the program. His math and language scores were even lower. When he did show up, he came in late, irritable, and unable to focus more than a few minutes at a time. The computer lab we had built to engage students had quietly become his hideout for naps.
That morning, Wallace strolled in around 9:30 am, an hour and a half late. When the 10 o'clock break came, he stood to walk out with classmates who had been working since eight. I called him to my desk and gently reminded him that breaks were earned through work, and he had done very little of that. I asked him to sit down, get something accomplished, then take his break.
He erupted. What began as a quiet, private conversation became a loud, threatening confrontation in front of the class. Wallace, five-foot-eleven, towered over my five-foot-four frame, and cursed and called me every name he could summon, racial slurs included, as he threatened my safety. Authorities were dispatched. He ran before they arrived.
Do Our Literacy Supports Work Together for Students? Connecting Tier 1, Small-Group Instruction, and Advanced Tiers
Gin Munoz, Regional Account Manager, American Reading Company
One question has followed me from my years in the classroom into my current work with school teams: Do the different parts of literacy instruction make sense to the student experiencing them?
Educators may organize literacy into Tier 1, the core instruction all students receive, and Advanced Tiers, which provide increasingly intensive support based on need. They also plan small groups, universal screening, and progress monitoring. Students experience these not as separate initiatives but as literacy moments across the day. Whether those moments build on one another matters.
Georgia is already asking important questions about alignment. The Georgia Department of Education describes the Georgia Multi-Tiered System of Supports (GaMTSS) as a comprehensive framework for high-quality instruction and support. Georgia guidance also makes explicit connections among literacy legislation, state standards, and the Early Intervention Program. More recently, the 2025 Georgia Reads Community Awardee Summary Report described strong local efforts as coherent literacy ecosystems and identified a next step: moving from strong programming to durable, measurable systems (Deal Center Evaluation Team, 2026).
Redefining Literacy in a Digital World
Savannah Parham, Partner Recruiter and Training Specialist, Kennesaw State University
Fifty years ago, practically everyone waiting for a bus or sipping their morning coffee was catching up on the day’s news by reading a newspaper. Fast-forward to today. Where are people getting their information? What media are they consuming while they wait for their Eggos in the toaster? Whether you’re sixty or sixteen, odds are you’re scrolling. Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok. It’s all instant, and it’s all on a screen.
The shift to digital information is not limited to one generation. Children, parents, and grandparents alike are increasingly relying on digital texts to learn, communicate, and stay informed. People may not always be thrilled about how media is delivered, but they continue to consume it. I honestly cannot remember a day when I didn’t hear someone complain about how technology has changed things. While many educators and families have reasonable concerns about the impact of technology on attention, reading habits, and academic achievement, technology is also an unavoidable part of modern life. The question is no longer whether technology belongs in literacy education. The question is how we prepare students to use it well.
Let’s zoom in a little closer on the media-consuming children. Not just high schoolers glued to their phones, but elementary schoolers still using Velcro on their shoes. Teachers are tasked with getting books into the hands of all their students to address concerning literacy trends (Literacy statistics 2024- 2025, n.d.). As a future librarian, elementary reading teacher, and mom to a kindergartener, I can’t believe I’m going to put this in writing, but literacy doesn’t have to come from a physical book.
FOCUS: A Newsletter of the Georgia Association of Literacy Advocates (GALA)
Dr. Bethany L. Scullin, FOCUS Newsletter Editor
Dr. Julie Kimble, FOCUS Newsletter Editor
FOCUS Editorial Reviewers
Dr. Jennifer K. Allen
Dr. Robert A. Griffin