Greetings,

It is hard to believe that it is already November! It is a time we turn our thoughts to thankgiving, and I am thankful for you and the role you have in helping all our Kansas kids reach their potential by giving ALL children the gift of reading and writing!

If you are a K-5 teacher in the western part of the state- time is running out for you to register for the 90 Minute Structured Literacy Block Party! This will be in Scott City on November 14th and we would love to see you there. Bring your curriculum and see how it aligns with the evidence based model for structured literacy! A great day of PD- registration is below!

In this issue, you will find the upcoming dates for professional learning related to working with middle/ secondary struggling readers. Please share these dates and mark your calendars! There are also free resources for you to consider and even a model video of a dedicated teacher explaining how she uses data to meet the needs of her students!

If you have specific questions you would like answered relating to identifying or working with our older students who struggle with reading, please send me an e-mail at ELitDyslexia@ksde.org and I will do my best to address your specific questions and/ or concerns.

Please share this newsletter widely and let me know if I can help you in any way,

Yours in education,

Laurie

This past month, KSDE provided a late afternoon text-based professional learning opportunity (3 Wednesday afternoons) over the book Shifting the Balance. While not heavily attended, the conversations that were held in the breakout rooms were rich. If you missed this study and are interested in self-study of the book, you may also be interested in the podcasts, which provide brief introductions for "the shifts". You can find those here.

We are considering facilitating more of those conversations that would be "drop in" opportunities to come together with others to discuss how the "shift" is working for you and to gain new ideas from others in the field who are working to shift their practice toward a structured literacy model that embraces the science of reading. While it would be helpful for you to have read the book- it isn't a requirement! These conversations would be facilitated by KSDE- but are not a formal presentation.

If you would be interested in joining us, please complete the following link to let us know what day or time might work for you and I will work to schedule and promote this opportunity for teachers to engage in professional conversations over shifting the balance of reading instruction to a more structured and explicit instructional model!

Are you interested in doing some additional reading and self-study about the science of reading...or reading and the brain? Check out these suggestions of further reading to help you shift the balance!