NEISD Reading Academies News

Check out all the fantastic Reading Academy learning in the pictures below. It's not enough to learn about the science of teaching reading. The real magic happens when participants take their learning and apply it to classroom instruction.

Meet Mrs. Harris:

"Reading Academy has taught me techniques and strategies that I can use in my teaching daily. Being consistent with these strategies and being informed on how to use strategies has built my knowledge and skills and makes it easier to implement in the classroom. Students are excited to learn and they are picking up skills that I didn't think they could achieve or do. For example, teaching the students the terms of "voiced and unvoiced sounds." Using that vocabulary and students being able know what it means for a sound to be "voiced or unvoiced." My phonological and phonemic skills have grown tremendously. I have an open mindset, a new found confidence, and I get excited to learn, and then go use the skills I have learned in the classroom."

-Celina Harris, Kinder, Woodstone

In Module 7, participants gained the knowledge and skills to promote all students' development of grade-level print concepts, alphabet knowledge, and handwriting to support strong foundational literacy skills. Participants also learned various activities to use with an alphabet arc. An alphabet arc is a fantastic resource to help students learn letter names and gain accuracy in letter recognition. Click on the alphabet arc pictured above to access a video on alphabet arc activities!

Helpful Tip for Letter Knowledge:

Letter names that contain the letter sound within the name (ex: h, b, c, d) are easier to learn than letters that do not have the letter sound in their name (ex: h, w, y).

Because of the letter-sound transparency and structural importance of vowels, emergent Spanish readers are taught vowels as building blocks of Spanish literacy before being introduced to consonant letters and their sounds. After the students have mastered the Spanish vowels, the instruction should progress from simple to more complex consonant sounds. As soon as students have been introduced to the five vowels (a-e-i-o-u), students quickly pair their knowledge of vowels with consonants to read and spell syllables. Click on the interactive Alphabet Arc provided by Region 4 to practice making syllables with consonants and vowels!

In Module 8, participants learned the connection between decoding and encoding skills within students' literacy development, explored the six syllable types, and identified the most common spelling generalization rules of the English language.

In this module, biliteracy participants learned how to apply their knowledge of phonological skills, the alphabetic principle, and Spanish orthographic rules to support student development of decoding and encoding skills. Teachers are finding that these skills have also enriched their instruction in the classroom.

Bringing Words to Life is a book that provides research-based tools for effective vocabulary instruction. Teachers will find engaging vocabulary activities that are easy to follow and implement. The great news is every NEISD campus has a copy of the book! Enjoy this wonderful resource and happy reading.

{Module 5: Oral Language and Vocabulary}

I am reading Reader, Come Home by Maryanne Wolf! This book will have you question your opinions and rethink your reading experiences at school and at home. It is a great read to affirm what we see in our classrooms and at home. As a mom of teenagers and a grammie to a toddler this book made me think twice about screen time. Technology is a precious thing, and I do believe there is a healthy way to use it. M. Wolf, shared that people check their phones on an average of 150 to 190 times per day. I wonder is this an accurate sum for myself? I recommend for you to add this to your TBR (to be read) stack. I will say it may challenge you, as it has me. It will also motivate you to want to learn more about the research behind teaching learners how to read and keeping the joy in reading.

~Cohort 2 Leader: Laurie Olive-Solano

"The act of taking on the perspective and feelings of others is one of the most profound, insufficiently heralded contributions of the deep-reading processes." M. Wolf

Science of Reading: The Podcast by Amplify