Staff from Curriculum and Instruction Support and School Improvement presented to the Board on Structured Literacy for grades K-2.
The work towards all students reading at grade level by 2030 has already begun. Our district provides professional learning for early literacy instruction, is implementing Structured Literacy curriculum in grades K-2 and provides leadership for literacy improvement.
The Board of Education approved Structured Literacy in May 2024. To help guide this work, literacy was the focus of the Summer Principal Institute 2024. All staff have access to the Learning Framework, which provides evidence-based instructional tools that support literacy. Training and implementation of Structured Literacy for staff began before school started.
Structured Literacy has three components. They are:
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Explicit instruction: Directly teach the sound/spelling patterns of English in a clear sequence
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Aligned Practice: Students practice the spelling/sound patterns that have been taught
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Assessment of spelling/sound pattern mastery at regular intervals
Staff talked through each of the key lesson areas and shared classroom demonstrations. The key lesson areas are:
- Phonological awareness
- Visual, auditory and blending review
- Phonics focus skill
- Handwriting
- Spelling or dictation
- Irregular words
- Decodable text/fluency practice
Our literacy work is aligned from the classroom through leadership and Board of Education meetings. Our district will expand our professional learning in evidence-based reading instruction through various opportunities, including literacy workshops, school cohorts for UNO Early Literacy Workshop and more.
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