The biggest news items in our newsletter this month are two special events: our Virtual Reading Symposium, and our in-person Annual Conference! 

The Virtual Reading Symposium was held on December 12th and included a stellar keynote from Dr. Mitchell Brookins. You can find the link to all the recordings below. 

Registration is now open for our Annual Conference in April in Eugene, Oregon. Read on for more information. 

We wish you all wonderful holidays and a relaxing break! 

The ORTIi Team

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

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

We have an amazing lineup of presenters and will start to share more details in the January newsletter and on social media.

Scan the QR Code above or click here to register.

Plan ahead now 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

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

What's missing on the West Coast?

(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? 

Crystal LeGallo and Susie Bang are leading the charge to begin the process of forming our own Oregon chapter of The Reading League!

The mission of The Reading League is to advance the awareness, understanding, and use of evidence-aligned reading instruction. One piece of the initial application is to provide a list of people who might be interested in becoming a member. 

If you are interested in learning more, please fill out fill out this short form

To read more about the process of becoming a chapter, click here.

Organizers hope to share more information at the ORTIi Annual Conference in April. If you won't be there, that's okay. We will let you know all the information.

Big News about

The Center on PBIS

(Audience ALL)

A few weeks ago Dr. Kent McIntosh from the Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) was on Oregon Public Broadcasting's "Think Out Loud" to talk about PBIS in schools and about new funding the Center on PBIS recently received. The short episode is a great overview of some of the basics of PBIS.

Click here to listen

Podcast Highlights

(Audience: ALL)

We continue to learn so much when we have opportunities to hear from other experts in the field. Here are a few that we have been talking about in our literacy community. 

Melissa and Lori Love Literacy: The Relationship Between Phonics and Language Comprehension with Tiffany Hogan 

Researcher Tiffany Hogan shares her expertise of how phonics and language comprehension are related. Listeners will hear how students develop knowledge through systematic and explicit language comprehension instruction and will gain insight on using valuable strategies to support this development.  

Click here to listen: Episode 167

Literacy Talks: The Write Stuff: Handwriting Instruction and Why It Matters

In this episode, the hosts share practical and critical connections between the meaning of writing and reading, the formation of words, and the shape of letters. Listeners will gain a new perspective on why teaching handwriting for automaticity and fluency matters. 

Click here to listen: Session 4 Episode 12

READ: The Research Education Advocacy Podcast: Structured, Integrated, Inclusive: Reading Instruction for English Learners with

Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan, EdD

In this episode, Dr. Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan explains the structure of the reading brain, no matter the language a student speaks. Listeners will learn how vocabulary and background knowledge build connections and schema when comprehending text. They will also hear about the power of oral to print language through the reading-writing connection. 

Click here to listen: Sept 5th, 2023 

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