November/December 2020
ORTIi News & Updates
Greetings from Oregon Response to Instruction and Intervention

Educators always look forward to winter break for a chance to take a breath, relax with family, do some fun reading while we eat the treats our students bring us, and recharge to be ready for the rest of the school year. This year your break is even more necessary and well-earned!

We hope that the New Year brings better circumstances for all Oregon districts so that more of you will soon be able to get students back into your buildings and keep them there!

The ORTIi Team: Brad, Christie, David, Jamie, Jon, Lisa, Nicole, Shelby, and Beth
Updates from ORTIi
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When we launched this newsletter in the spring, our goal was to sort through all the "great stuff" that was landing in our inboxes about distance learning, the Science of Reading, and many other topics and to share with you the pieces that we found to be most relevant to your work in building and sustaining high quality reading instruction in your multi-tiered systems of support in normal and Covid times.

How are we doing? As part of our own continuous cycle of improvement, we would love to get your feedback about this ORTIi newsletter. Please Click here for a quick survey about the newsletter.

Everyone who submits a response will be entered into a drawing for a copy of Rich Milner's book Start Where You Are, But Don't Stay There. The drawing will be held December 14th so that we can mail you the book for your vacation reading pleasure!
Thanks in advance.
Registration Coming Next Week!

ORTIi'S ANNUAL CONFERENCE

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

This year's virtual conference will be held on 3 half-days over 3 months.

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

COST: This year's conference is FREE!

Additionally, all sessions will be recorded, so your whole staff can attend! 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, instructional assistants, board members, and other community members). Look for more information to come about the additional sessions each conference day.

If you receive this newsletter, you will receive the registration information. It will also be on our web site.
What are families looking for when they ask about reading instruction in our schools?
(Audience: K-5 Educators and Families)

Families are also learning more about the Science of Reading. There are numerous resources out there for families to use to ask us about how we are teaching reading. Here are a few great ones that can also help staff continue to build their own understanding about reading instruction and materials.

The Right to Read Project has a series called Is My Child's School Getting Reading Right? What to Ask. What to Look For. Part 2 of the series was also reposted by Reading Rockets (the format on this one is a bit easier). The "what to look for" could also serve as a checklist for educators to make sure our materials and instructional practices align with the Science of Reading.

Stephanie Stoller (a great friend of ORTIi) worked with Colorado's K-3 literacy initiative to create this Literacy Dialogue Tool for families so they can ask about the kind of reading instruction their children are receiving in core and interventions. Again, it is a good reflection tool for us, as well.
The Distance Learning Playbook on The Teaching Channel
(Audience: Teachers and Admins)

If you were not able to dedicate a whole day and a few hundred dollars to The Distance Learning Playbook workshops, here is a free alternative to get a lot of the great content.
Assessment During CDL
(Audience K-12 Educators)

We have been impressed with how current and relevant the webinars by Doug Fisher, Nancy Frey, John Hattie and other contributors such as Vince Bustamante have been. They constantly collect ideas from teachers all over the world. This webinar has some new tips for how to assess student learning during distance learning. Many of the ideas are so simple but can make assessment so much easier during remote instruction. Make sure you also read the chat that is available, as there are even more tips in there.
Support for English Language Learners
(Audience: K-5 Educators)

Click here to watch "Using the Science of Reading to Improve Literacy Instruction for English Learners" sponsored by CORE and Pivot Learning. It has a lot of great information about how the Science of Reading applies to instruction for ELs. The topics included:
  • What is known about promoting development in two distinct but related and complex domains: oral language and reading
  • How the science of reading can be applied to teaching ELs to read and write in English
  • The importance of English language support and English Language Development instruction to optimize ELs’ literacy development

This additional resource from Northwest IES/REL gives you some great extension activities for English Language Learners to do at home. Don't forget to download the educator guide for how to use these activities.
What's on our minds?

Visit our Padlet to see what the ORTIi staff have been reading, watching or listening to lately.