Not on our mailing list yet? Check out the REAP May 2020 newsletter. Topics: Training Georgia College pre-service teachers with REAP’s first online training session. Learn how REAP is moving forward despite the challenges of COVID-19 and its impact on struggling readers.
Read the online newsletter at: https://readingisessential.bmeurl.co/A514F3A
You already know that REAP trains teachers in Structured Literacy. Why do we do it? Because most teachers are never taught how to teach the hundreds of thousands of children who struggle with reading. Without the right kind of reading instruction, many of these students will continue to struggle with school, and will struggle to find a good job because they never become proficient readers.
It’s great to train experience teachers, but it would be even better for teachers to have this crucial training before they take on a classroom of their own. REAP is attacking this problem at the source by teaming with Georgia College & State University in a ground-breaking program to train students in Structured Literacy before they leave college.
This winter REAP’s Literacy Leaders taught the very first cohort of 100 pre-service teachers—juniors and seniors—at Georgia College. The students enjoyed learning about sound production, sounds, deck drills, closed and open syllables, the Alphabet King, and more. One student reported that she has already shared her knowledge with her host teacher, who implemented the new content into her classroom teaching. The student also had a job interview where they asked her about skills that their current teachers might benefit from. She was very excited to talk about her REAP training. The students received a second round of training this spring, including REAP’s first-ever online training session thanks to the COVID-19 shutdown.
REAP plans to expand the Georgia College training in 2020 and 2021 to include rising juniors. We also plan to develop a Faculty Workshop on the science of reading. REAP would administer the workshop and provide faculty all the resources, including the presentation, and would encourage faculty to use it in their curriculum.
REAP needs your help to continue this training
REAP is very excited about working with pre-service teachers. Imagine if every teacher was equipped from Day 1 with the skills to effectively teach reading! REAP provided part of the funding for this innovative program. As a nonprofit organization, we need your help providing funding for more Structured Literacy training programs for current and future teachers. We look forward to a day when all teachers arrive at their first classroom confident that they can transform struggling readers into successful learners!
REAP’s very first online training!
Amidst the chaos of the past six weeks, REAP has been planning how to move forward even though we can’t work with teachers and students in person. COVID-19 arrived just as we were about to complete our pre-service teacher training at Georgia College.
Our amazing Literacy Leaders worked feverishly to develop and present REAP’s first-ever online virtual training session in April, with the students attending remotely from home. We’re thrilled that these young women and men will be armed with knowledge and skills to successfully teach reading and assist struggling readers.
REAP’s dedicated team jumped into action to respond to the COVID challenge, seeking solutions to keep our training on track. This led to some very positive outcomes:
More online resources
We created and published more video and online support for the teachers we’ve already trained.
Online training components
We created new virtual learning sessions for the components of our program that can be successful online.
Planning to support at-risk students
We developed a plan for our most at-risk schools to support the inevitable and unplanned slide their struggling readers will face.We’re partnering with administrators and instructional coaches to support these children while providing a deeper learning opportunity for their EIP/Intervention and SPED teachers.
Although we really, really miss working with teachers and kids, we’re excited about the potential for technology to expand our reach. It will enable us to provide greater resources to metro Atlanta and, ultimately, to begin training teachers throughout Georgia.
Check out the REAP March 2020 newsletter. Topics: REAP kicks off its ground-breaking program to train 100 Georgia College pre-service teachers in Structured Literacy. Thanks to the Rotary Club of East Cobb for helping us fund Structured Literacy training. The Reading League is coming to Georgia!
Read the online newsletter at: https://readingisessential.bmeurl.co/A514EAE
With all the recent school closings, REAP Literacy Leader, Lisa Glickman (aka Lisa the Learning Lady), has put together a handy list of fun activities you can do with kids to help continue the learning when school is out. Her list includes fine motor activities, working with letters and sounds, phonemic and phonological awareness activities, and more.
Nicholson Elementary is going all in to attack reading challenges! Principal Faith Harmeyer wants to prepare her teachers to build the best possible readers. She’s a tireless champion for her large population of struggling readers, including students with dyslexia, English language learners, and economically disadvantaged students. She believes in the potential of every child, and has whole-heartedly embraced the opportunity to revolutionize the way her school educates and supports readers.
REAP is excited when schools train some of their teachers, but Nicholson worked with REAP to create a groundbreaking comprehensive plan for teacher training plus implementation, student assessment, and reading interventions.
Principal Harmeyer is not just along for the ride, but has bent over backwards to facilitate the training and assessments with REAP to ensure her teachers are invested and prepared to teach reading effectively to all students.
Nicholson is committed to moving all readers forward through:
Structured Literacy training for all teachers K-2, Intervention, ESS, and ESOL.
Practical application training includes modeling, co-teaching, and coaching to prepare teachers for success in the classroom.
Consistently implementing Structured Literacy instruction in the classroom for all children.
Implementing Acadience (formerly DIBELs) assessments to accurately measure each child’s reading skills 3 x per year.
Pinpointing areas of struggle and implementing interventions to better meet the needs of all readers.
Nicholson and REAP are eagerly awaiting the data as we implement this plan during the 2019-2020 school year. Stay tuned for details about the results!
Nicholson Elementary is a public school in the Cobb County school district in metro Atlanta.
REAP’s team of Literacy Leaders is working hard in 2020! Every month we’re working in multiple schools across metro Atlanta. We’re training, modeling, observing, giving feedback, and creating amazing reading teachers with the power to change their students’ lives.
(teachers from multiple metro-Atlanta schools & districts)
Georgia College & State University (training for pre-service teachers)
The Boyce L. Ansley School
Burgess-Peterson Academy, Atlanta
Hope-Hill Elementary, Atlanta
Brumby Elementary
Blackwell Elementary
Davis Elementary
East Side Elementary
Garrison Mill Elementary
Nicholson Elementary
Shallowford Falls Elementary
Sope Creek Elementary
Tritt Elementary
10-Day Structured Literacy Training
Modeling by REAP Literacy Leaders
Co-Teaching with REAP Literacy Leaders
Grade-level lesson planning with REAP Literacy Leaders
Phonological Awareness Workshops
Acadience Reading Assessment
Individual Teacher Coaching
Small-Group Coaching
Kindergarten Kickstart
Fluency Workshops
Without strong reading skills, the future often looks bleak for these kids.
Nearly every child is capable of reading, yet many schools write off struggling readers as hopeless. Why does this happen? Because they don’t realize that struggling readers need a different kind of reading instruction. Prevalent reading programs such as Balanced Literacy are not based on science, and they’re simply ineffective for the many thousands of Georgia students who struggle with reading.
“Scientific research has shown how children learn to read and how they should be taught. But many educators don’t know the science and, in some cases, actively resist it. As a result, millions of kids are being set up to fail.”
A quote from Hard Words: Why American kids aren’t being taught to read
https://www.apmreports.org/story/2018/09/10/hard-words-why-american-kids-arent-being-taught-to-read
There are struggling readers in every public school, yet most teachers don’t know how to help them. It’s hard to believe, but most teachers leave college without the tools they need to effectively teach reading. Struggling readers fall through the cracks. Illiterate kids get passed to the next grade with the hope that maybe the next teacher can help them.
REAP knows there is hope for these readers. Help REAP train teachers to effectively teach struggling readers using Structured Literacy so they can become confident, successful learners! There are many teachers who would love to have REAP training so they can help their struggling readers. There are schools that desperately need this training but have very limited budgets that can’t stretch to cover the costs of this intensive training. REAP works hard to subsidize the training in these cases, but we need your help to do it.
Not on our mailing list yet? Check out the REAP December 2019 newsletter. Topics: Imagine not being able to read. 28% of Georgia 8th graders still read below a basic level and 68% are not proficient. REAP is working hard to help all children learn to read.
Read the online newsletter at: http://readingisessential.bmeurl.co/9657A86
Not on our mailing list yet? Check out the REAP November 2019 newsletter. Topics: REAP helps prepare preschoolers for learning to read. Thanks to our generous donors & supporters!
Read the online newsletter at: http://readingisessential.bmeurl.co/95D184E
Reading is Essential for All People is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving reading proficiency in public school students through teacher training and enrichment. REAP provides public school teachers with specialized training that reinforces the foundations of reading. These training approaches are helpful for any child, in any classroom, small group, or one-on-one situation, and are especially critical for struggling readers. REAP is located in Decatur, Georgia.
Copyright 2023 by REAP: Reading is Essential for All People
website design and maintenance provided pro bono by Eve Wyatt
Copyright 2023 by REAP: Reading is Essential for All People
website design and maintenance provided pro bono by Eve Wyatt