Heartland AEA Literacy Newsletter

AEA and LEA educators in Iowa are encouraged to complete the two Iowa Reading Research Center's e-Learning modules on Dyslexia. The Dyslexia Overview module is designed to refresh and enhance their knowledge of this disability. The base of knowledge provided by the module will help you recognize when students might be exhibiting signs of dyslexia. The module also covers the important elements of a supportive learning environment for students identified with dyslexia.

When students struggle with the particular pre-reading and early reading literacy skills described and demonstrated in this module, it may be an indicator of dyslexia. The Understanding and Observing the Literacy Skills Associated with Dyslexia module explains the reading and writing skills associated with typical development, suggests ways to evaluate whether students can successfully use the skills, and provides indicators of when a student may need to be referred for further diagnostic assessments. This module is intended for professional educators, especially those whose teaching involves early reading development as well as those providing reading intervention to older students.

With the FAST screening window closing and data review sessions beginning, it is important to ask strategic questions at each grade and classroom level. The first question Is universal core sufficient? Research shows that if 80% of the students are meeting grade level expectations then the universal core is sufficient or healthy. If universal core is not sufficient then what instructional needs must be met? Included in this section are resources to support evidence-based instructional responses to screening data at the classroom level. For classrooms where there are higher numbers of students with unfinished learning, it is important to implement the big ideas of accelerating learning which involves:

1. Understanding the demands of grade-level materials and content
   
2. Identifying the most critical prerequisite skills and content knowledge students will need to access that grade level content when they encounter it throughout the year.
   

If currently in your classroom or grade level, fewer than 60% of your learners are meeting the universal screening benchmark, in addition to instruction on grade level literacy standards, you will want to consider providing:

• Classwide interventions around the critical prerequisite literacy skills OR
  
• Purposeful practice around high priority literacy skills that students are accurate at but not automatic or effortless.
  

The Universal Tier Tools provides the following description and guidance regarding classwide interventions: A classwide intervention/program includes foundational content skills or concepts needed to access universal tier and make progress in grade-level standards. Classwide intervention is implemented with an entire class of students. This would be implemented in addition to core instruction in classrooms when large numbers of students are not at benchmark.

Key Components of Classwide Intervention

• Delivered in addition (time) to universal instruction in the Iowa Academic standards, Social-Emotional Learning Competencies and behavioral expectations and part of the universal tier of instruction (everyone receives it).

• Provided to all students in a classroom in Kindergarten through grade 8.

• Driven by data that suggests students need support to learn specific grade-level skill(s) that they should have already mastered.

• Explicit in nature.

• Frequent and ongoing monitoring of student progress and implementation fidelity.

• A targeted or intensive intervention for students who are persistently at-risk.

• Differentiation is part of universal instruction used with all learners as part of meeting needs in learning the Iowa Academic Standards, Social-Emotional Learning Competencies and behavioral expectations.

• A replacement for collaboratively identifying and removing barriers to implementation of a comprehensive, effective universal tier.

If an analysis of your student data indicates a majority of the student are accurate at the high priority skill, purposeful practice routines added daily is an excellent instructional response to ensure automaticity of these skills and enables student application of these skills.

To assist you, your grade level team or building in these instructional responses, we have provided two sets of resources. The first set of resources are reference tools that can help with identifying high priority literacy skills as well as critical prerequisite literacy skills for grade level content:

• Building the Foundation

• High Priority Milestones for K-3 Literacy Development

• Big Ideas in Beginning Reading: Curriculum Maps K-3

• Vertical K-12 Progressions for the Iowa Core ELA Standards

The second set of resources are high-impact instructional routines around the 5 main components of reading. The document includes routines, samples of data collection tools, ways to give feedback, and video examples for both synchronous and asynchronous instruction.

• K-2 High Impact Instructional Routines

• 3rd - 8th Grade High Impact Instructional Routines

  
  

These Teacher's Guide provides information for kindergarten, first grade, second grade and third grade teachers on how to support families as they practice foundational reading skills at home. It serves as a companion to the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade. Both guides present four research-based recommendations and how-to steps: the WWC guide is for teaching children at school, and this guide is to help teachers support families in practicing foundational reading skills at home.

The information in these Teacher's Guides is designed to assist teachers in supporting out-of-school literacy activities that are aligned to classroom instruction, informed by student need, grounded in evidence-based practices, and facilitated by ongoing parent-teacher communication. The Teacher's Guide provides a framework for literacy support activities presented during schools' family literacy nights and parent-teacher conferences. This Teacher's Guide includes:

• Recommendation Reminders that provide a snapshot of each recommendation and how- to steps from the WWC guide
• Teacher scaffolds that model the language teachers can use with families to describe a specific skill why it is important in learning to read, and how to support that skill.
• Family resources that contain evidence-based literacy activities with easy-to-follow plans, and materials that teachers model and share with families.
• Family Literacy Videos that show families engaging their child in activities related to the skills teachers modeled during family literacy night or at parent-teacher conferences.
  

Kindergarten Teacher's Guide to Supporting Family Involvement in Foundational Reading Skills

First Grade Teacher's Guide to Supporting Family Involvement in Foundational Reading Skills

Second Grade Teacher's Guide to Supporting Family Involvement in Foundational Reading Skills

Third Grade Teacher's Guide to Supporting Family Involvement in Foundational Reading Skills

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Read.Inquire.Write. prepares students to write arguments that are supported by evidence and disciplinary reasoning. To accomplish this overarching goal, students learn to read and analyze sources, recognize multiple perspectives, assess the reliability of sources, discuss and deliberate sources and ideas, and develop disciplinary language. In working on writing, students also improve their reading, analysis, and speaking skills along with their knowledge of the particular topics under investigation. These goals are consistent with the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards and the Common Core State Standards for Literacy.

Watch this video Inquiry in a Read.Inquire.Write. Classroom