There is a need for support, guidance, and sharing of best practices in order to meet the needs of all readers when it comes to early reading instruction, and these needs have been exacerbated by school closures and distance or hybrid learning over the past six months. In this 3-part series, experts and urban school district practitioners will present and discuss (1) the latest findings about teaching foundational skills and making use of complex text as part of a comprehensive literacy approach and (2) the pedagogy related to teaching foundational skills, including phonemic awareness, to monolingual students and English Learners (ELs).

During the third session of this series, guest presenters from the various Member Districts share their experience from the educator perspective. Viewers will hear from teachers about their experience teaching with a focus on the Early Reading Accelerators, and how teachers focused on teaching with complex, knowledge-rich texts and teaching the skills of early reading in both monolingual and dual language early childhood classrooms. Next, teacher presenters journey up the grades to get a sense of strategies and content addressed in upper elementary and middle school classrooms, with an emphasis on how educators used the 3Ls (Language, Literacy, and Learning) to address vocabulary and language work in the classroom while exploring compelling issues in grade-level content. All presenters address the following guiding questions:

• What are examples of innovative practice that teachers are using in hybrid, remote, and face to face early literacy instruction?
• What benefits are educators seeing on the students they work with?
• Are there students where this work has had more or less impact, and can educators trace why?
• What things have educators learned that haven't worked for the students in their class?

If you’re accessing this page on a mobile device, the recording and resources from the webinar are available under “files.”