April 2023
Hello,
Wow, it is hard to believe that we are moving through April and things are in a full sprint toward the end of the school year. I hope your spring is off to a great start and you are enjoying the "greening of spring" in your part of the state. You will find information and opportunities below- but now is also the time that we are working to plan for the upcoming year. As our Early Literacy/ Dyslexia team plans for the future, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific needs for professional learning regarding implementation of structured literacy, please send me an e-mail at ELitDyslexia@ksde.org. My team will do our best to address your specific questions and/ or needs.
Even if we have moved beyond April Fool's Day...
My sister substitutes each week in an elementary school and comes home with jokes- and they are usually great. The one she told me this past week was...
"Why didn't the bike stand up in the bike rack?"....The answer..."it was too tired".
As we think about the complexities of our language, perhaps I should have just written "two tired". Hmmm It takes a great teacher to provide instruction that makes the complex not only accessible, but fun. Thank you for doing the hard work of teaching!
Please share this newsletter widely and let me know if I can help you in any way,
Yours in education,
Laurie
Dr. Laurie Curtis, KSDE Early Literacy/ Dyslexia Program Manager
The Kansas LETRS initiative has expanded!
We encourage educators in elementary, middle, or secondary schools who provide foundational reading instruction or intervention to students to take advantage of this opportunity! For Kansas educators who provide reading instruction in KSDE Accredited schools there is no cost for the online course, materials, or training days.
You can participate with a district cohort, through a service center, or individually. There are LOTS of options! For more details and to register, please contact TASN at this link. Kansas LETRS Initiative. College credit is available for an additional fee.
What is LETRS? LETRS stands for Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling. It is not a reading curriculum for students. It is focused professional learning for educators that provides instruction on how to provide exemplary reading instruction based on the science of reading. Through 8 units, LETRS provides information regarding what should be taught, how it should be taught, and why the way it is taught matters. More information can be found HERE
Time to Register!
JUNE 2023
Bring your book, hear from our guest speakers and gain some insight, knowledge...and credit!
Want to know more?
Select this link to see the content for each week!
The study will be held on Thursday mornings from 9:00- 10:00 AM via Zoom June 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th. Certificate of participation will be provided for those actively participating in all 4 sessions and graduate college credit is available. Information on graduate credit (1 or 2 hrs) from Ft. Hays State University can be found HERE
Please click Overcoming Dyslexia to register!
"We have sufficient knowledge to do better."
Dr. Sally Shaywitz
2023 KSDE Summer Academies for Teachers provided in four locations!
The Art of Teaching: Instructional Artistry
The academies will include various options for educators.
There will be 2 days specifically designed for foundational literacy and
dyslexia professional learning (K-12) created by the KSDE Early Literacy/ Dyslexia Team:
These sessions will focus on dyslexia and how to support struggling readers through using structured literacy as a model of instruction. Participants will receive information based on the science of reading and create protocols and materials to enhance instruction. Day 1 will have an elementary focus regarding phonemic awareness, phonics, orthographic mapping, intervention and the use of decodable texts. Day 2 will examine how the state's definition of dyslexia, partnered with the principles and elements of structured literacy, can be used to provide support for our middle/ secondary students who struggle with reading and how data for all students can be used to make informed decisions regarding curriculum and instructional practice.
June 12-13: Buhler High School Buhler, KS
June 15-16: Colby High School, Colby, KS
July 10-11: Billy Mills Middle School, Lawrence, KS
July 13-14: Atchison High School, Atchison. KS
Total cost for the two days, $150.00 (includes breakfast and lunch)
College credit will be available for an additional fee.
Register HERE
Do you wonder about the decision process for determining what intervention may be best for certain students? If you haven't heard of the quadrant model- or don't use it, you may find this quick guidance from Dr. Tiffany Hogan helpful. Dr. Hogan is a Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at MGH Institute of Health Professions in Boston and serves as Director of the Speech and Language (SAIL) Literacy Lab.
The Quadrant Model (The Reading League)
We just completed five locations of professional learning where we talked about Tier 1 supports for middle/ secondary students who have characteristics of dyslexia. Pedagoy matters! How do we make the information "stick" when we are teaching? How can we elaborate on what we are doing so our students make meaningful connections with the topic. These Learning Scientist Posters might be helpful to keep in mind as you design your reading instruction and help students make strategic connections to your content.
Kari Kurto- Reading Seeds- shared this fun song and additional resources for those of you who utilize sound walls. Enjoy her song, Vowel Valley, that reinforces vowel sounds and areas of mouth placement for correctly making those sounds! Enjoy!
KSDE has developed an optional 2nd grade reading assessment for districts, buildings or even individual teachers who might want to use it. This assessment is not required and the purpose is for instructional use only. It was designed as a bridge assessment to see how the intentional focus in foundational skills transitions to students applying those skills to connected text and reading comprehension passages. The assessment draws from Kansas standards in Kindergarten, First and Second grade, so it's purpose is quite different from any universal screener. This information was provided across the state last week in the KSDE Weekly. If you are interested in knowing more see: 2nd Grade Optional Reading Assessment
April is School Library Month! Thank your librarian and share with others the value of having books and an engaging place to read them in your school.
For more information and related events- check out the AASL page with additional ideas, including an infographic regarding the link between school libraries and student achievement at this link provided by the American Association of School Librarians:
April is also National Poetry Month! There is so much value in sharing words in various ways and reading poetry provides a wonderful opportunity for fluency practice!
Spring Song
Frogs croak
Rains soak
Chicks peep
Crickets leap
Bees hum
Robins come
Birds sing
It’s spring!
~ Author Unknown ~
If you know someone who would like to receive this newsletter, please ask them to contact me at lcurtis@ksde.org to request being added to this listserv, or visit the KSDE Dyselxia page and select the purple HERE button and select Newsletter to see the current and past issues.