January 2021
ORTIi News & Updates
Greetings from Oregon Response to Instruction and Intervention

It’s hard to believe that we are just a few weeks away from the first day of our Annual Conference. We are excited about the virtual format this year! We have been able to book national presenters whom we have gotten to know through other virtual conferences over this school year. We are thrilled to have them join us! We have also been able to expand our audience. We will have attendees from nearly every state and even a few international folks. Welcome to Oregon!

We hope that despite all you are going through with continued CDL, transitioning to hybrid learning, or moving into (or for a lucky few, continued) in-person instruction, you will have some time to attend the conference sessions. There is something for everyone over the next 3 months and we hope to “see” you there!


The ORTIi Team: Brad, Christie, David, Jamie, Jon, Lisa, Nicole, Shelby, and Beth
Updates from ORTIi
ORTIi'S ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Join us virtually in February, March and April!
(Audience: ALL)

This year's FREE virtual conference will be held on 3 half-days over 3 months.
Breaking News: We have added a bonus day! (see below)

February 17, 2021
Building Multi-Tiered Systems on a Foundation of Equity
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Rich Milner

March 31, 2021
Ensuring Inclusive Practices for Students with Disabilities
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Chris Lemons

April 28, 2021
Effective Instruction Based in The Science of Reading
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Steve Dykstra
Registration coming soon!

May TBD
New Bonus Session
Conference Endnote Speaker: Dr. Anita Archer
Registration coming soon.

While we encourage you to attend live, sessions will be recorded. Be thinking about how to use these sessions in your winter and spring professional development planning. You could even think about including other stakeholders in the conference (think families and caregivers, instructional assistants, board members, and other community members).

Look for more information to come about the additional sessions each conference day as well as the exact date of Dr. Archer's traditional endnote address that will close out the conference.
Are your families and caregivers asking how they can help their children with reading?
Here are some resources for them.
(Audience: K-5 Educators and Families)

This REL/IES Guide called Supporting Your Child's Reading At Home is specifically for families and caregivers who want to support their PreK-3rd grade readers but are unsure what the best way is to help. The hints are broken down by grade level.

Reading Rockets also has a great resource called How to help your child with reading at home. Included in this article is a terrific video that teaches adults a good correction routine for supporting accurate and fluent reading.
Photo by rupixen.com on Unsplash
Listening to More Voices?
Check out The 8 Black Hands Podcast.
(Audience: All)

The episode linked here: The Powerful Parent Movement (episode 90) is an amazing discussion with families from The Powerful Parent Network across the country about their fight to get high-quality education for their children. It is a very emotional podcast that gives even more WHY to your work in reading!
(Some episodes may have some explicit language.)
How does text structure influence reading comprehension and writing? Teaching Text Structures in CDL and In-person
(Audience: All)

This webinar from the AIM Institute for Learning and Research discusses how knowledge of text structures can support comprehension and how it can be taught in all grade levels. The presenter also gives good suggestions for how to teach this during CDL and in-person. AIM's whole series of webinars has been very informative. Check them out if you have a chance.
Why is a strong MTSS necessary to support reading instruction to ensure every child becomes a proficient reader?
(Audience: District, building and teacher leaders)

Reading experts Sharon Vaughn and Jack Fletcher wrote this article called Identifying and Teaching Students with Significant Reading Problems. It is about reading, what teachers know about teaching reading, and how MTSS can support both teachers and students. Here is a great quote:

"... but the key to improved outcomes for the vast majority of struggling readers, including those with a reading disability, is enhanced core instruction—and that means enhanced curricula, assessments, pre-service and in-service professional development, and supports."

Sound familiar?
Very Time Sensitive!
Indiana's Focus on Inclusion Week is NEXT WEEK (February 1st-5th)
(Audience: All)

The Indiana IEP Resource Center will open their annual training to out of state attendees this year. The cost is $100. We have been to sessions with them in the past and found them to be very informative. They will also present one session at our March conference day. But if you are looking for more about inclusion, this promises to be a good conference. You can get more information here: Focus on Inclusion Week
What's on our minds?

Visit our Padlet to see what the ORTIi staff have been reading, watching or listening to lately. You can like, comment, and also make suggestions on the Padlet!