Science of Reading (SOR): Part 1: Overview of the Science of Reading

Summary

In this multi-part series, a panel of experts from GCU's College of Education discusses the science of reading, emphasizing its interdisciplinary research roots and practical classroom applications. They explore components like phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency, highlighting the importance of intentional, systematic instruction. The conversation also covers how to identify research-based curricula, the significance of structured literacy, and the role of professional development for educators to enhance literacy instruction.

Takeaways

• 📚 The science of reading is a comprehensive body of research that benefits both teachers and students and has been a topic in educational literature since the early 20th century.
• 🔍 The term 'science of reading' gained more attention after the National Reading Panel's 2000 report, which emphasized the importance of phonemic awareness and phonics for reading success.
• 🎯 Scarborough's rope model is often referred to in discussions about the science of reading, highlighting word recognition and language comprehension as critical components of skilled reading.
• 👥 Phonics is the systematic instruction of the English alphabetic system, including sound-symbol correspondences, which is crucial for decoding and is best taught explicitly and in a logical sequence.
• 📈 Phonemic awareness, the ability to manipulate individual sounds in words, is a strong predictor of a student's success in applying phonics and is essential for building reading proficiency.
• 🌐 The science of reading is interdisciplinary and has been developed over five decades, emphasizing the importance of fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension alongside phonics and phonemic awareness.
• 🏫 In the classroom, the science of reading should be implemented through intentional, systematic instruction with structured blocks of time dedicated to reading activities and high-quality conversations.
• 📝 When evaluating a curriculum for the science of reading, fidelity to the program is crucial, meaning that it should be followed step by step without skipping any parts to ensure consistent results.
• 📘 Structured literacy is an essential approach for all students, providing explicit, systematic, and multi-sensory instruction that is tailored to the needs of diverse learners.
• 👨‍🏫 School leaders should understand and support the science of reading by ensuring proper training, curriculum analysis, and the allocation of resources and time for effective literacy instruction.
• 👩‍🏫 Professional development for educators is vital and can be pursued through various avenues, including state Department of Education websites, university courses, and online communities.

Q & A

What is the science of reading?

The science of reading refers to the comprehensive body of research on how reading works, including phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. It is not a new concept but has been emphasized more since the National Reading Panel's report in 2000.

When did the term 'science of reading' begin to be used in educational literature?

The term 'science of reading' has been used in educational literature since the beginning of the 20th century.

What does the National Reading Panel's report in 2000 emphasize as foundational to reading success?

The report emphasizes that phonemic awareness and phonics are foundational and critical to reading success.

What is phonics and why is it important?

Phonics refers to the instruction in the English alphabetic system, including sound-symbol correspondences, which allows a reader to decode from print to pronunciation. It is important because it systematically teaches the 150 spellings of the 44 sounds in the English language, aiding non-readers in becoming successful readers.

What is phonemic awareness and how does it relate to phonics?

Phonemic awareness is the ability to identify and manipulate units of sound, including individual phonemes. It is a strong predictor of a student's ability to apply phonics to increase their reading proficiency and is complementary to phonics, not a replacement.

What are the five key components of the science of reading instruction?

The five key components are phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency.

How can educators find a research-based curriculum that includes the science of reading?

Educators can use tools like the Reading League's green and red flags to evaluate if a curriculum aligns with the science of reading, ensuring it covers word recognition, language comprehension, assessment, and writing.

What does 'Fidelity' mean in the context of curriculum implementation?

Fidelity refers to the faithful implementation of a curriculum, meaning that it is followed step by step without skipping any parts to ensure consistent results.

What is structured literacy and why is it important for student success?

Structured literacy is an approach that includes explicit and systematic instruction, assessment, and the use of multi-sensory strategies. It is important for student success because it addresses the needs of all learners and is essential for students with reading disabilities such as dyslexia.

What advice would you give to school leaders to improve literacy instruction?

School leaders should understand the science of reading, ensure proper training, analyze and adjust assessments, secure resources, build a strong curriculum, provide professional development, and be actively involved in the reading program.

What professional development opportunities are available for educators to learn more about the science of reading?

Opportunities include Department of Education websites, university courses, online resources, book studies, podcasts, and social media groups focused on literacy and the science of reading.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to the Science of Reading

The script opens with an introduction to a multi-part series on the science of reading, featuring a panel of experts from GCU's College of Education. The discussion aims to explore the comprehensive research supporting the science of reading, which is beneficial for both teachers and students. The term 'science of reading' is not new, dating back to the early 20th century, but gained prominence after the National Reading Panel's 2000 report emphasizing phonemic awareness and phonics as foundational skills. The National Early Literacy Panel's research further reinforced the importance of these skills. Scarborough's rope model is highlighted as a framework for skilled reading, including word recognition and language comprehension, with phonics and phonemic awareness being integral components.

05:01

🔍 Phonics and Phonemic Awareness in Reading

This paragraph delves into the specifics of phonics and phonemic awareness. Phonics is defined as the systematic teaching of the English alphabetic system to decode print to pronunciation. Phonemic awareness is the ability to manipulate individual sounds in words, which is a strong predictor of reading proficiency when combined with phonics. The importance of phonemic awareness tasks is emphasized, and it is noted that these activities should be engaging and interactive for young learners. The paragraph also mentions the availability of resources and the importance of not relying on expensive programs, as phonemic awareness is an auditory skill that can be taught without the need for print.

10:04

🏫 Implementing the Science of Reading in Classrooms

The conversation shifts to practical classroom applications, with Dr. West outlining the five key components of the science of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency. The instruction is described as intentional, systematic, and involving rich, complex texts with multiple reads, teacher modeling, student practice, and high-quality conversations. Dr. West also provides a resource for implementing the different areas of instruction and emphasizes the importance of fidelity in curriculum implementation.

15:06

📘 Evaluating Curriculum Alignment with the Science of Reading

Claudia introduces a tool from the Reading League to evaluate curriculum alignment with the science of reading. The tool uses green and red flags to assess various aspects of reading instruction, such as word recognition and language comprehension. The paragraph explains the importance of fidelity in curriculum implementation and provides guidance on how to use the tool to ensure that the curriculum is aligned with the science of reading principles. The emphasis is on the need for educators to be proactive in evaluating and supplementing their curriculums to serve all students effectively.

20:09

📚 Structured Literacy: Essential for Student Success

Amanda discusses the concept of structured literacy, highlighting its importance for all learners and its necessity for students with reading disabilities like dyslexia. Structured literacy is described as an approach that starts with assessment and is data-driven, weaving together elements of literacy through explicit and systematic instruction. The paragraph also explains the importance of multi-sensory strategies in teaching and intervention, emphasizing the need for intentional and collaborative efforts to provide the best literacy instruction for all students.

25:10

🛠️ Advice for School Leaders on Improving Literacy Instruction

Dr. West offers advice to school leaders on improving literacy instruction. The advice includes understanding the science of reading, getting proper training, analyzing and adjusting assessments, securing resources, and building a strong curriculum. Dr. West also encourages school leaders to become part of the reading program, be intentional about professional development, and collaborate with teachers, parents, and the school community to create a supportive environment for literacy learning.

🌐 Professional Development Opportunities in the Science of Reading

Katie discusses various professional development opportunities available for educators interested in the science of reading. She mentions resources such as the Department of Education websites, GCU's teaching in purple blog, publications, books, and social media groups for book studies. Katie encourages educators to be intentional about their professional development and to utilize the available resources to stay current with evidence-based strategies in reading instruction.

📘 GCU's Commitment to the Science of Reading Education

The script concludes with information about GCU's updated coursework in the science of reading for current and future educators. The university has incorporated this updated coursework into initial teacher licensure programs and offers continuing education courses for practicing educators. The courses aim to provide in-depth knowledge of phonics, reading remediation, intervention, and dyslexia. The paragraph also encourages educators to seek out additional opportunities for learning and professional growth in the field of reading education.

Keywords

💡Science of Reading

The 'Science of Reading' refers to the comprehensive body of research on how reading works and how to teach it effectively. It is central to the video's theme, emphasizing the importance of evidence-based practices in reading instruction. The script discusses its historical context, dating back to the 20th century, and highlights key components such as phonemic awareness and phonics, which are critical to reading success as identified by the National Reading Panel's report in 2000.

💡Phonemic Awareness

Phonemic awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate individual sounds, or phonemes, in words. It is a foundational skill in learning to read and is intricately linked to the video's theme of the science of reading. The script explains that phonemic awareness tasks should be practiced daily and are essential for decoding and encoding skills, with examples provided of how it fits into the broader literacy curriculum.

💡Phonics

Phonics is an approach to teaching reading that involves instruction in the relationship between letters and sounds. It is a key concept in the video, with the script detailing how phonics is explicitly taught and systematically sequenced to help students decode print to pronunciation. Phonics is also discussed in the context of its complementary relationship with phonemic awareness for building reading proficiency.

💡Structured Literacy

Structured literacy is an educational approach that integrates multiple components of reading instruction, including phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The script underscores its importance for all learners and its essential role in the video's narrative on effective reading instruction. It is presented as a method that is systematic, explicit, and multi-sensory.

💡Fidelity

Fidelity in the context of the video refers to the faithful implementation of educational programs or strategies as they were originally designed. It is a critical concept, with the script emphasizing the importance of following curriculum and instructional methods with consistency to achieve the desired learning outcomes.

💡Comprehension

Comprehension is the ability to understand and interpret what one reads. The script identifies it as one of the five key components of the science of reading instruction. It is highlighted as a necessary skill that goes beyond mere decoding and is part of the intentional and systematic approach to reading instruction.

💡Fluency

Fluency in reading refers to the ability to read text smoothly, accurately, and with appropriate expression. The video script mentions fluency as an integral part of the science of reading, noting that it is developed through repeated modeling, practice, and the use of connected text.

💡Vocabulary

Vocabulary is the set of words known to a person. In the script, it is discussed as a fundamental aspect of reading instruction that must be taught directly and intentionally. Vocabulary development is linked to comprehension and is part of the broader science of reading framework.

💡Assessment

Assessment in the video pertains to the process of evaluating students' reading skills to inform instruction. It is a recurring theme, with the script advocating for the use of assessment data to make instructional decisions and to monitor student progress in reading.

💡Intervention

Intervention in the context of the video refers to targeted support provided to students who are struggling with reading. The script discusses the importance of evidence-based interventions and the need for educators to be intentional in their approach to supporting students' reading development.

💡Professional Development

Professional development is the process by which educators enhance their skills and knowledge. The script highlights various opportunities for professional development in the science of reading, emphasizing the need for educators to stay current with best practices and to engage in lifelong learning.

Highlights

The science of reading is a comprehensive body of research benefiting both teachers and students, with a history dating back to the early 20th century.

The National Reading Panel's 2000 report emphasized the importance of phonemic awareness and phonics as foundational for reading success.

Phonemic awareness and phonics were identified as critical components of skilled reading by Scarborough's rope model.

Phonics instruction involves teaching the English alphabetic system and sound-symbol correspondences systematically.

Phonemic awareness is the ability to manipulate individual sounds in words and is a strong predictor of reading proficiency.

Structured literacy is essential for student success, incorporating assessment, explicit and systematic instruction, and multi-sensory strategies.

Explicit instruction in reading involves breaking down concepts into structured steps, providing modeling, and ample practice opportunities.

Systematic instruction follows a scope and sequence, starting with less complex tasks and progressing based on assessment and review.

Multi-sensory strategies in literacy education engage various senses to teach concepts, such as auditory and kinesthetic learning.

The science of reading should be intentionally and systematically taught, with fidelity to the curriculum to ensure effective learning outcomes.

Dr. West advises school leaders to understand the science of reading, secure resources, and support teachers with professional development.

Structured literacy is beneficial for all students and essential for those with reading disabilities, such as dyslexia.

Professional development opportunities for educators include Department of Education websites, blogs, books, and social media groups.

GCU offers coursework and continuing education for educators to deepen their understanding of the science of reading.

The importance of collaboration between parents, teachers, and administrators in supporting literacy education cannot be overstated.

Reading proficiency is built through intentional and repeated exposure to reading materials, especially for young learners.

The panel of experts emphasizes the need for educators to stay current with research and best practices in the science of reading.

Transcripts

welcome GC Lopes to part one of our

multi-part series on the science of

reading with us today is our panel of

experts from gcu's College of Education

I'm Leslie Foley joined by Claudia

Coleman Amanda Arrington

Michelle kiso

Danielle ramitawa essay

Katie spruty and Dr Stephanie West I'm

so excited for some rich discussions on

the science of reading with my

colleagues and friends so let's just

Dive Right into our first question what

is the science of reading Michelle can

you tackle this question for us I sure

will

the science of reading is a Hot Topic in

education and in the opinion of this

panel we believe that the comprehensive

body of research on the science of

reading is a benefit to both teachers

and students and it may feel like this

science is new but it's really not the

term has been used in educational

literature well since the beginning of

the 20th century

and although teaching reading has always

been an academic priority in classrooms

increased attention on why and how to

teach reading occurred after the

national reading panel released a report

in 2000 offering conclusive evidence

that phonemic awareness and phonics were

foundational and critical to reading

success the report also identified the

necessity of fluency and vocabulary and

direct instruction in comprehension in

addition the national early literacy

panel examined almost 500 studies in the

mid-2000s to determine which reading

skills need to be taught early on and

phonemic awareness and phonics were the

clear winners now Scarborough's rope is

often referred to when discussing

science of reading because that

identifies the critical components of

skilled reading which are as you can see

word recognition and language

comprehension and phonics decoding and

phonemic awareness are included in the

word recognition rope

thanks Michelle for that comprehensive

review it's important to note that while

the science of reading is gaining and

exposure and awareness and popularity

it's not a new concept as you mentioned

it is an interdisciplinary research that

has been conducted over the last five

decades across the world so thanks again

Michelle

our next question is one that I hear

quite often Michelle and Amanda can you

try to answer the question is the

science of reading only about phonics

well let's first talk about what is

phonics phonics refers to instruction in

the English alphabetic system which

includes sound symbol correspondences

allowing a reader to decode from print

to pronunciation

non-readers become successful readers

when phonics is explicitly taught uh

systematically

and it includes the pre a predetermined

and logical sequence to teach the 150

spellings of the 44 sounds in the

English language

in addition we know that repeated

modeling and practicing of decoding and

encoding using connected text is a win

for our students

now one of the strongest predictors of a

student successfully applying phonics to

increase their reading proficiency is

phonemic awareness and my colleague will

discuss this

thanks Michelle for that breakdown on

Phonics and connecting to phonemic

awareness I'm really excited to share an

overview of how the science of reading

has essentially revived this importance

on phonemic awareness instruction so

let's start with uh defining

phonological awareness which is the

ability to identify and manipulate units

of sound so as you can see in this

visual here we're talking

um syllables onsets and Rhymes now

phonemic awareness does fall under this

umbrella as you can see from the graphic

and phonemic awareness is described as

How Sound functions in words

specifically manipulating phonemes those

individual sounds

I want to talk about some key takeaways

in terms of signs of reading and

phonemic awareness so phonemic awareness

and phonics are complementary it's not

this or that they should be woven

together with other areas of literacy

Perkins and Yates has a book out that is

phenomenal and they describe a

recommitment to phonetic awareness by

providing students robust and

intentional instruction now it doesn't

mean boring this means that we can have

fun engaging and interactive instruction

and practice especially because these

are our youngest learners

the phonemic awareness tasks that are

described down here

um should be practiced daily in a

structured routine which I'll be talking

about later

um and I want everybody to tune in to

our next episode of uh phonemic

awareness science of reading where I

talk about these phonemic awareness

tasks and strategies more in depth

one thing I want to note is that

phonemic awareness doesn't need an

expensive program because it does not

involve print it's solely auditory

so I wanted to um put all of these

pieces together when it comes to

phonological awareness

um using our word of the day block when

you're thinking about phonological

awareness you're thinking about the

parts of the word what words rhyme with

this word

um Beginning Sounds then moving into

phonemic awareness is where you

manipulate those individual phonemes and

taking all that background knowledge

moving into phonics is where you start

seeing that sound symbol correspondence

moving into decoding encoding which

later plays a role in fluency

comprehension and vocabulary so

thanks ladies uh Amanda I appreciate

that focus on phonemic awareness because

it is a skill so often forgotten or

underrepresented in the classroom

um I like that you mentioned that

phonemic awareness activities can be

quick they can be short one minute

activities used to build sound awareness

and I'm certainly looking forward to

episode two to hear more about phonemic

awareness and some specific activities

that can take a place in the classroom

thanks ladies

okay next let's look at a practical

application Dr West what does the

science of reading look like in a

classroom

thank you well there are five key

components of Science of reading

instruction and we talked about a couple

of them the phonemic awareness and

phonics and then we add in the

vocabulary comprehension and fluency

um historically our reading instruction

has been a step-by-step process

um we've counted on these incidental

teaching moments you know the AHA

moments but now with the science of

reading is very intentional we need to

be intentional with our instruction by

planning systematic blocks of time

things that we go through from start to

finish

um and where it all fits together so

when you're moving your instruction with

reading it's you're using Rich complex

text

you're doing reading blocks multiple

reads teacher modeling student practice

small groups and Partnerships there's

going to be a lot of student voices in

the room

and the teacher student with the high

quality conversation so you're going to

be modeling as an instruction you're

going to be modeling how it's read what

it sounds like modeling that fluency

modeling the comprehension and being

very intentional about everything you do

step by step throughout the process

one other thing if you want to look up

some ideas for implementing the

different of the five areas on my blog

post our loves for literacy blog post I

have a whole blog post that lists

activities for each one three or four so

something else to look at when you have

the time

me I think the most important there was

your focus on instruction being

intentional I think you said it about

four or five times uh reading

instructions should be intentional

systematic and done with Fidelity so

definitely some active and multi-sensory

components to incorporate into that

instruction thank you Dr West

okay so now we have a solid foundation

with the science of reading but how can

I locate a research-based curriculum

that includes the science of reading how

do I know what should I be looking for

in a curriculum

Claudia well I am so glad that you asked

that first of all you mentioned it

Fidelity we definitely want to start

with Fidelity and let me explain really

what that is so Fidelity means that

um I like to think about it this way

when you're doing research and you want

to get the same results and you're going

to duplicate a study you're going to do

the same research steps by step you're

not going to skip anything and that's

the same thing with our curriculum

whatever curriculum we have it is

important that we follow step by step

and we are all doing consistent

um

we're using the strategies consistently

and the curriculum consistently so that

we can get the same results

so with that go ahead and you can go to

the next slide here the reading league

has offered a wonderful tool that we can

all use

to evaluate if our curriculum is

um if it is aligned to the science of

reading

so they have this wonderful tool that

has green and red flags and it goes

along with everything that we just spoke

about word recognition language

comprehension reading comprehension

assessment and writing at the bottom you

can see here that I included this link

it is important that everybody go in and

live and register because it is a living

document that means that any time that

there's a change they will go ahead if

you are registered with them they will

let you know that there's a chain a

change in the evaluation so let's go

ahead and go to the next one and I'll

show you how they use the green green

flags and red flags

so here is word recognition which has

what we were just speaking about right

phonological and phoneme awareness so if

we look at our curriculum let's say we

have some material like the ones that we

see here below looking at syllables word

families

um some onset rhyme and then some

blending

so first of all you need to understand

that it's not that the curriculum has to

have all the green flags it's just that

if the majority of the flags are red

then you know you have to go back and

reevaluate we can see here that our

instruction includes in this first box

our instruction includes phonological

awareness syllables Rhymes and it also

goes and moves into the phoneme level

which has the blends

in the second box it says instructional

includes all phoneme awareness tasks

do we have isolation blending segmenting

and deletion so if we don't see that in

here because we just have these

activities however in your curriculum if

it's scripted in there for you then you

would mark it as a yes

then the third box

um

is it accurate and uh automatic sorry

I'm getting all around here is it

accurate or automatic skills for

students in Kinder through first if it

is then we mark it as a check a green

box

in phoneme awareness is it taught

directly explicitly and systematically

in here I'm assuming that it's not I'm

not seeing any curriculum that's telling

me uh step by step how to introduce this

it's not explicit so I'm marking it with

a red flag and so forth if we go to the

next slide we could see how it will look

if we have everything so now I have

explicit instructions it's evident also

I now have assessments and I have a

regular monitor of Assessments that I'm

going to be doing with my students so

now I can see that my flags are there

I'm checking each one and going to see

if my curriculum matches the flags that

are in the tool put out by the reading

league so once again it's very important

that we go and use what we have already

created for us sign up at the reading at

the reading League which is that first

slide that we were first at there yep

and sign up so that way if this document

ever does change they notify you right

away but this is a great tool that we

can use to see if what we have at hand

is aligned to the science of reading

wow what a useful website Claudia

um I like that this allows Educators

opportunities to supplement with

additional resources to best serve all

students you know if their current

program doesn't have it isn't meeting

all those check boxes and I also

appreciated your emphasis on Fidelity so

remember all of these curriculums should

be done with Fidelity so thanks Claudia

Amanda what is structured literacy and

why is it so important

thanks for that question and I felt that

I was led up to this

um very very important topic and Claudia

really hit the evaluating your

evidence-based curriculum but I just

want everyone to know that no matter

what curriculum your school or your

child's school has a structured literacy

approach is essential for Student

Success and so it's important for the

needs of all Learners so I wanted to

start if you don't mind Leslie I wanted

to start with the why structured

literacy is important by looking at this

infographic from Nancy Young's ladder of

reading and writing as you can see these

descriptors here show the various types

of Learners that we'll find in our

classrooms and the percentages are just

percentages they're not exact because

we're dealing with humans we're dealing

with little humans here and so it's

really important to note that that there

are various types of Learners and

whether it's our struggling students our

on grade level students or even our

students that are ready for enrichment a

structured literacy approach is key to

literacy success

um so there's no one-size-fits all when

it comes to structured literacy it does

start however with assessment

data-driven instructional decisions are

key when it comes to structured literacy

a teacher is going to take that

assessment as well as all of the

elements of literacy so we're talking

Reading Writing listening speaking

um vocabulary and fluency and they're

going to weave them together explicitly

and systematically and I feel like we've

heard those terms a lot in this

discussion and you will continue to hear

those terms

um but they really are the heart of

Science of reading and also the

structured literacy approach so I

thought that we would break them down

and I would show you some visuals just

so that we're clear so let's start with

the how so explicit instruction is the

use of structured and sequence steps so

it's oftentimes referred to as direct

instruction

um but uh you know it's really how the

teacher explicitly breaks down a concept

so for example in this anchor chart here

you see the teacher is going to break

down and explain why the C makes a soft

C sound like in the word City

and why does the sea make a hard C sound

like in the word Cactus and they're

going to break down that concept give

modeling and give a lot of opportunities

for practice that is explicit

instruction

systematic is that plan or scope and

sequence that guides the teacher

they use that assessment and they guide

their Learners through learning goals

now I will tell you I have searched far

and wide for the scope and sequence

there is none so don't don't search but

what you'll find is your curriculum the

standards and also research say that a

systematic instruction starts with less

complex tasks like initial sounds short

vowels and then using assessment

cumulative review and formative

assessment moves through more complex

Concepts like down here where we're

getting into our influence valves or

contractions

um so it is very important to continue

to monitor that instruction with

assessment

so lastly something that is really

important with both instruction as well

as intervention if if students are are

struggling with the concept is the use

of multi-sensory strategies so I don't

know if you've seen a lot of

multi-sensory in the classroom but it's

where you incorporate various senses

um to teach a concept or to intervene so

we're talking auditory kinesthetic

um tactile or even a mix of both right

um so here are some examples we have air

writing you might see sandpaper letters

like in a Montessori classroom

um sand Echelon boxes and you'll see

tapping or counters so those are various

multi-sensory strategies that are

incorporated into a structured literacy

so that's a lot right that's a lot that

goes into structured literacy and

there's a reason for that it takes time

it takes planning it takes collaboration

with so many

um uh people in the school and families

and it takes intention to provide just

the very best literacy instruction and

environment for all students

thanks Amanda there's that word

intentional again just can't get away

from that word but

um you highlight the importance not only

of a strong curriculum but even more

important the knowledge and the skill

set of each individual educator the

international dyslexia Association says

that structured literacy is good for all

students and essential for some students

with reading disabilities such as

dyslexia so thank you so much for that

Amanda

Dr West what is a piece of advice that

you would give to a district or School

leaders who are working to improve how

literacy instruction is taught in a

classroom

let's say this is so important as school

leaders were the face of the school and

the school leaders we need to understand

exactly what the science of reading is

so they need to learn about a school

yourself get the proper training be a

part of the program

analyze and adjust the assist the

assessments analyze the assessments the

schools are using and determine what the

goals need to be

focused on what are the focus determine

the value of each

analyze the curriculum and secure the

resources you know we can't really teach

the science of writing without good

curriculum and good resources so build

that right into your program with the

science of reading higher literacy

coaches and reading Specialists if you

can redesign schedules so you you have

that allocated unripited time for 90 to

120 minute reading block

if if possible include a staggered

intervention block across grades to

provide that tier support so we can have

the support of our colleagues

um provide ongoing professional

development you know reading is the

foundation of everything and so our

professional development and everything

should be focused first on the reading

and then on the other Concepts

um and then become a part of the reading

program

be a part of the reading program and be

aware of what is being taught how it's

being taught and how it's been involved

in the classroom and then be in the

classroom be the face of the school for

the students also be the face of the

reading program

and then parents you know understand

what these five components of reading

are go through it learn what each one is

one one is what each component is

and talk to your kids you know read to

them talk to them find out what they're

learning in class and reinforce it at

home

the reading at home is so valuable

the kids need to see you modeling and

the reading is important because reading

again is everything everything is a word

everything takes reading

um and you should be reading to your

kids and help them explore that world of

reading and the knowledge of words

um and then re-read too every every

parent knows how tired it is to read

stories over and over but the children

especially the littles this is how they

learn they learn to read by repetition I

start to memorize the words and they

memorize what's on each page and my

two-year-old grandson now is reading

brown Bear Brown Bear he knows the words

he knows the story so when he changes

the the pages he knows what to do

and that's the first exam experience of

them reading so always the repetition of

greeting is so key in your homes

that's some great advice Dr West is so

important for administration to support

not only teachers but also to become an

expert themselves I also appreciated

your stance on showing up it is really a

team effort it should be a collaboration

between parents teachers and

administration and the PD opportunities

you mentioned translate next to our next

question Katie what are some

professional development opportunities

that are available to Educators who want

to learn more about the science of

reading

you know as Michelle had indicated

earlier uh the research behind the

science of reading has been in existence

since the you know 2000s so early 2000s

so there is a lot out there that is

available for teachers and and to go

back and touch on what Dr West said you

know as Educators we're lifelong

Learners and one of our responsibilities

is to stay current and so one of the

ways that we can do that is to go to

your respective Department of Education

website

um for us at GCU we are located here in

Arizona so we have the Arizona

Department of Education website doing a

little search in there is going to

populate a wide variety of trainings

that are available

um as Dr West had indicated earlier as

well GCU we also have the teaching in

purple blog and we have a couple of our

uh recent Publications with regard to

the science of reading um in the images

above here

um and then there are a variety of books

and so the Shifting the balance is a

great text proust in the squid another

the experts perspectives and

interventions and reading as we've

touched on before we should be using

evidence-based strategies and we should

be doing them with Fidelity and so

that's a great text to be able to

identify some of those in those

interventions that we want to be using

and again That explicit instruction that

we had mentioned before

um Claudia had indicated how important

explicit instruction was and so did

Amanda so those are highly encouraged

and if you don't want to do the reading

on your own you don't have to there are

Facebook groups that have book studies

available there and then I would also

really encourage others to join forces

with the other faculty and staff on your

respective campuses or if you are a

student

starting your own book study at your

respective college campus and just

getting the conversation going because

we need to be intentional we've got that

word again we need to be intentional

about our personal professional

development and

um you know when it comes to the science

of reading we as humans it's natural for

us to speak but reading and writing is

not natural for our brains which is why

we really need to be systemic and

explicit and intentional in the

professional development that we have

because it's a very complex thing for

our students to learn so these are a

couple of those suggestions I highly

encourage you to check them out

thank you Katie those are all really

wonderful suggestions

um GCU has also created some coursework

to support a deeper dive into the

science of reading using some great

Insight from our subject matter experts

um and these courses uh these updates

that we've made are for our current and

future Educators so we do have all of

our uh initial teacher licensure

programs all currently have updated

coursework in phonics and the science of

reading as well as coursework in Reading

remediation and intervention including

dyslexia so students in that are

currently enrolled in our early

childhood Early Childhood special

education Elementary special education

programs we'll see that coursework in

both areas while students enrolled in

our secondary education programs will

focus more on the reading remediation

and intervention including dyslexia

coursework due to the populations of

students that they serve

um

students who have already passed this

Pro point in their program can also use

some of the resources that Katie is

speaking to for our practicing Educators

and then for our current Educators GCU

currently offers two continuing uh

teacher education courses those are edu

5600 and edu 5650. these two courses are

geared towards our K-12 Educators the

first one edu 5600 contains our products

and science of reading coursework and

that has more of a K-5 educator Focus

but is open to all Educators and then

the second one edu 5650 focuses on

reading remediate reading remediation

excuse me an intervention as well as a

lot of that dyslexia content

um so if uh excuse me in both of those

there are no clinical field experience

hours required so you are welcome to

join as a currently practicing educator

and uh that would help you apply some of

this coursework immediately into your

teaching practices

and if you are interested in either of

those you can get more information by

taking a screenshot or as a photograph

of those QR codes on the side here

um and as Katie shared the Arizona

Department of Education offers some

additional opportunities so it would be

a wonderful to check out your own State

Department of Education to see what

opportunities or information they may

have as well you can also email GCU at

coeprograms gcu.edu for more information

on any of the training opportunities we

offer here

thanks Katie and Danielle I know

personally I am so excited about the new

courses and all of the training that's

available on the science of reading

there are just so many free trainings

podcasts I listen to them often in the

car social media groups online book

studies the list just goes on so if you

want to know more there are

opportunities out there like you said

Katie we must be intentional we must

seek to broaden our knowledge on best

teaching practices when we know better

we can do better

so here's some additional resources and

readings if you need a place to get

started on but I just want to say many

thanks to our panel of experts for

joining us today and especially to you

our viewers for tuning in to part one in

our series on the science of reading

thanks everybody