We hope you all had a relaxing break and had some time to rejuvenate. Sometimes it seems like the winter break means the year is half-way over. But it's not and there is still loads of time to have a huge impact on the students in front of you this year. We have tons of resources to support you in this work. Keep reading to find out more!

The ORTIi Team

Carrie, Rachell, Sharyn, Matt, Ryan, Lisa, and Beth

The 2024 ORTIi Annual Conference registration is underway. The conference will be held at The Graduate in Eugene, Oregon on April 4th and 5th.

Scan the QR Code above or click here to register.

Plan ahead now to join educators from not just Oregon, but throughout the Pacific Northwest, for two learning filled days on April 4th and 5th. Topics include:

• The Science of Reading
• Effective Instruction
• Multi-Tiered Systems of Support
• Leadership
• Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Supports
• District Implementation Journeys
• Facilitated Team Times with an ORTIi Coach

Follow us on social media as we begin to release session presenters and titles this week.

Here are just a few names of presenters who will be with us: Dr. Carrie Thomas Beck, Dr. Lillian Duran, Dr. Chris Borgmeier, Dr. Kelly Powell Smith, Dr. Ronda Fritz, Dr. Jon Potter, Dr. Kent McIntosh and Audra Johnston-Zamora as well as MTSS implementers from a wide-range of Oregon school districts, the ORTIi coaches AND MORE NAMES TO COME!

We can’t wait to see you all in person! 

The Oregon Summit on Science of Reading

in Higher Education

(Audience: College and University Faculty)

Attention Teacher Preparation programs! After spending April 4th soaking up all the great professional learning at the ORTII Conference, gather upstairs at The Graduate from 4:30-6:30 with your fellow higher ed colleagues for discussion, networking, and resource sharing in order to enhance the science of reading in your courses and fieldwork.

This event is hosted by Mount St. Joseph's University's Center for Reading Science and Stronger Together - The Alliance for Reading Science in Higher Education (STARS-HE).

For more information about STARS-HE and to buy a ticket to this event, click here. (Note that this event is separate from the ORTIi Conference with separate registrations)

If you have more questions, contact the local coordinator, Sherrie Kendall, a doctoral candidate at Mount St. Joseph's University who works at Multnomah ESD.

BREAKING NEWS

Free Virtual Screening of The Right To Read Film

February 1st Only

(Audience: ALL)

Just as we were about to publish this newsletter, we got an email that The Right To Read will be available to view any time during the day on February 1st, as Black History Month kicks off.

If you have not seen this powerful movie yet, you should. Here is a link to register to get updates and the viewing info on February 1.

You can also go directly to this site to view it on February 1.

The Reading League Update

(Audience: ALL)

Did you know that there are 29 states across the country that have a chapter of The Reading League and Oregon is NOT one of them yet?

That's going to change; Oregon's application was approved! Now comes the work - establishing all the legal and financial aspects of a non-profit. The work is underway, with a goal date of January 2025.

The mission of The Reading League is to advance the awareness, understanding, and use of evidence-aligned reading instruction. 

To keep up to date on the progress of the organizing committee and to offer your assistance, please fill out this short form.

Live Webinar on February 15th

Meaningful Inclusion of All Learners in an MTSS Framework:

It Begins with Access

(Audience: All)

ORTIi invites you to attend a live webinar on February 15th, 3:30-4:40 PT with our guest presenter Debra Fitzgibbons, Coordinator for Oregon Technology Access Program (OTAP) and Regional and Statewide Services for Students with Orthopedic Impairments (RSOI).

This session will:

1. Establish Common Vocabulary
2. Connect the Dots: Share scenarios and examples of Accessible Technologies and Accessible Educational Materials in a variety of environments.
3. Share tools available through the OTAP short-term loan library, including tools for access, executive functioning and communication.

This live webinar will be recorded, but if you attend live you'll get a chance to ask questions. We hope you can join us!

Click here to register.

Podcast Highlights

(Audience: ALL)

Podcasts are such a great way to easily learn about new exciting literacy strategies based on recent research. We enjoyed listening to the following podcasts adding effective tools to our literacy tool belts to share with others.  

Science of Reading: The Podcast: Vocabulary is Unconstrained with Tanya S. Wright

Dr. Wright shares practical instructional strategies for effectively working with young learners, developing vocabulary skills, and integrating vocabulary and writing into daily lessons. She encourages listeners to be purposeful and intentional in planning vocabulary instruction and to recognize the value that each student brings to the learning based on lived experiences. 

Click here to listen: Session 8: Episode 7

Literacy Talks: Writing: Rethinking How We Build the Foundation

Teaching writing skills in an explicit and systematic way can be challenging. Listen to this episode to learn practical instructional strategies for how to teach students to develop strong foundational writing skills and to communicate clearly through written expression within literacy instruction.

Click here to listen: Session 4 Episode 13

Triple R Teaching: All About Teaching English Spelling with Dr. Louisa Moats

In this episode, Dr. Louisa Moats shares the importance of explicit spelling instruction to build reading fluency and vocabulary development. She explains the power of understanding basic phoneme/grapheme correspondences to support strong spelling skills and shares why English is not as irregular of a language as many have believed. This is a great overview for those of us who are in the midst of LETRS training or about to start. 

Click here to listen: Episode 151

Got MOY Data?

(Audience: Elementary)

You are probably in the midst of collecting your Middle of the Year (MOY) screening data. It's a good time to remind everyone about the two purposes of screening data - to see the impact of your instruction on your students and to determine which students may need additional levels of support. As you check out your winter data, here are some resources to guide your thinking:

• Here is a great blog post Stephanie Stollar wrote last year about MOY data.
• Here is a link to ORTIi's Core Review agenda and facilitation guide.

ORTIi Resources

MTSS Components

Does your PD plan include staff training on the components of MTSS? Do you have new staff who are unfamiliar with MTSS? We've got you covered!

Click here for the module page



If you are looking for specific meeting agendas or other resources that go along with the MTSS components, you can find them here.

ORTIi's

Professional Learning Resources

What do your current students need you to learn more about? Check out our library of content from from experts in the field of literacy instruction. View with your grade level team or as a school and discuss how the presentation relates to your school, your students and your practice.

Find the videos at the Professional Learning Tabs on our website.

The Science of Reading

Have you been asked to present some introductory information to your staff about the Science of Reading and don't know where to start? We created some slide decks you can use to start to build understanding about what science tells us about how we learn to read and how that science informs what and how we should teach reading and writing. These are not videos, so you will need to lead the sessions yourself and can customize them for your setting, but everything you need to get started is here. The topics include:

• What is the Science of Reading Anyway?
• Word Recognition
• Language Comprehension
• Explicit and Systematic Instruction
• Reading Assessment

Click here to find the Science of Reading PL Materials