Welcome to the GPAEA Literacy Team Newsletter!
Happy New Year! The GPAEA Literacy team hopes you were able to enjoy some time with family and friends over the recent break from school.
There is lots to be excited about in the world of literacy (as always), especially in the state of Iowa. The Iowa Department of Education literacy page has been updated with a definition of the Science of Reading and includes information related to the LETRS professional learning opportunity.
Our agency also has lots of great learning opportunities happening now or starting very soon!
- The Writing Revolution course in January and February, with almost 30 participants registered, will learn ways to break down the writing process for students while embedding it within content. Registration is open through January 11th! See flier below.
- Many of our area preschool teachers have been participating in LETRS for Early Childhood Educators to solidify and increase their understanding of oral language, phonological processing, and print knowledge.
- We are excited that 18 area educators (instructional coaches/teachers & admin) will begin their LETRS journey with Amy and Amanda, literacy consultants for Regions 6 and 1, leading their learning. The other literacy consultants are also taking this course to continue their learning journey in literacy knowledge and best practices.
- The Parent Literacy Network continues to share information to support literacy at home. The next sessions include pertinent information related to secondary literacy (January and February) and preschool literacy (March and April). Please share with parents - flier is linked below.
- Our literacy team has joined forces with our Speech and Language Pathologists, who are a wealth of knowledge, to increase oral language opportunities within core instruction. The research is clear - there is a strong link between oral language and literacy. Thank you to those teachers who have embraced new strategies like Dialogic Reading, Collaborative Strategic Reading, Structured Word Inquiry, Story Champs, or the Expanding Expression Tool. The data speaks for itself! If you want to see how these strategies can impact student growth in oral language and literacy in your classroom, reach out to us to get started!
If you have missed the registration for these courses, they will be offered again! If you want to join the language and literacy implementation, contact your literacy consultant.
We will continue to share all learning opportunities as well as nuggets of information with each newsletter. As always, we are here to support you and your students. Please feel free to reach out to us at anytime.
The GPAEA Literacy Team
