Reading Acceleration Professionally Integrated Development (RAPID)

Developing Foundational Literacy Skills

Educator Series

Important Reminder:

This opportunity is open to New Jersey K-3 educators in Cape May, Cumberland and Salem counties.

Session #1 - Orthography, Orthographic Processing, and Print Concepts

Session #2 - Phonological Awareness and Processing Developing Foundational Literacy Skills

Session #3 - Phonemic Awareness

Session #4 - Phonics

Session #5 - Fluency

Session #6 - Vocabulary

Session #7 - Comprehension

Are you a K-3 educator passionate about fostering a love for reading and learning among young students? If so, we have an exciting opportunity for you!

The New Jersey Department of Education is proud to present a groundbreaking Foundational Literacy Instruction Professional Development, organized in collaboration with Children's Literacy Initiative. This comprehensive seven-part series is designed to equip educators with the latest tools and strategies for advancing foundational literacy instruction.

Why This Educator Series?

The ability to read and comprehend is a cornerstone of a child's educational journey, and it's crucial for their overall success. Our educator series is dedicated to empowering educators with the knowledge, skills, and resources necessary to foster literacy proficiency in K-3 students.

What You Can Expect:

📚 Expert-Led Sessions: Engage with leading experts in the field of literacy education who will share their insights and best practices.

💡 Cutting-Edge Strategies: Learn the latest evidence-based instructional strategies to boost student achievement.

🔄 Interactive Learning: Participate in dynamic discussions and activities to apply what you've learned in real-world settings.

🌟 Resource Sharing: Gain access to valuable resources and materials to build your capacity and knowledge.

🤝 Professional Network: Connect with like-minded educators, share experiences, and build a strong support network.

📝 Professional Development Hours - By attending this series, teachers and educators can earn up to 4 hours of professional development.

Who Should Attend?

K-3 Educators
Literacy Coaches
Curriculum Specialists

By participating in this Foundational Literacy Instruction Professional Development, you'll play a pivotal role in shaping the future of literacy education in your school and community. Together, we can empower young minds and inspire a lifelong love for reading and learning. Secure your spot today. Take a look at the session dates and times below.

Mark Your Calendars & Reserve Your Spot

This virtual educator series will be held over several weeks, providing you with a flexible schedule to accommodate your professional and personal commitments. All educator sessions below will be offered twice daily, once from 11-11:40 AM and then again from 4-4:40 PM.

Click the button below to register for the series. You can learn more about each session below.

Click here to register for the Educator series >

Upcoming Sessions

Comprehension

12/19/23

Morning Session: 11:00 AM - 11:40 AM

Afternoon Session: 4:00 PM - 4:40 PM

Duration: 30 - 40 minutes

Reading comprehension is the understanding of interpreting what is read by extracting and constructing meaning from written text. Further, comprehension is a life-long pursuit. However, critical instructional moves support developing readers to build and reinforce a mental frame for navigating all types of text. We will explore three ways of framing comprehension pedagogy, including comprehension-as-outcome, comprehension-as-procedure, and comprehension-as-sensemaking, and what each can look like in practice.

Session Goals

Develop a shared understanding of the components of comprehension

Identify guiding principles for planning high-quality comprehension instruction

Resources

Developing Comprehension - Gradual Release in Literacy Practices

Integrating Writing and Reading - Mentor Texts, Reading Response Journals, and Quick Writes

Read Alouds - Responsiveness and Rich Discussions

Text Sets - Quad Text Set Framework

Whole Class Text Discussion - Questioning the Author

Sources for More Learning

Don't miss out on this transformative opportunity.

Be the change-maker your students need. Register your interest and secure your spot in this extraordinary educator series. Let's create a brighter future, one word at a time.

Previous Events

Orthography, Orthographic Processing, and Print Concepts

11/28/23

Morning Session: 11:00 AM - 11:40 AM

Afternoon Session: 4:00 PM - 4:40 PM

Duration: 30 - 40 minutes

Reading is a complex process involving different skills, processes and strategies. Join us to learn how to support children’s emergent literacy skills and help them grow into readers and writers. In this session, we will provide an overview of the Simple View of Reading and Scarborough’s Reading Rope to understand the components of skilled reading. We will explore ways to support emergent reading development through concepts of print, alphabet knowledge, alphabetic principle, phonology, and orthographic processing.

Session Goals

Understand the components of skilled reading.

Explore ways to support emergent reading development.

Resources

Sources for More Learning

Phonological Awareness and Processing Developing Foundational Literacy Skills

11/30/23

Morning Session: 11:00 AM - 11:40 AM

Afternoon Session: 4:00 PM - 4:40 PM

Duration: 30 - 40 minutes

Phonological awareness is a critical early literacy skill that supports children in recognizing and working with the sounds of spoken language. During this session, we will develop and build a common understanding of what components are included in phonological awareness and why they are important for children's early literacy learning. We will explore practical some ways that we can use phonological awareness activities to help children identify and manipulate sounds in speech.

Session Goals

Understand the concept of Phonological Awareness, and how it serves in literacy acquisition.

Explore a range of activities to support Phonological Awareness instruction

Resources

Phonological Awareness – Overview

Phonological Awareness – Quiz

Sources for More Learning

Phonemic Awareness

12/5/23

Morning Session: 11:00 AM - 11:40 AM

Afternoon Session: 4:00 PM - 4:40 PM

Duration: 30 - 40 minutes

Phonemic awareness is the ability to notice, think about, and work with the smallest individual sounds in spoken words. To fully understand language, children need practice around individual phonemes to understand the relationship among words, letters, and sounds. In this session, we will develop and build a common understanding of the components included in phonemic awareness instruction and explore activities that support children to notice, articulate, and manipulate phonemes.

Session Goals

Understand the concept of Phonemic Awareness and how it serves in literacy acquisition.

Examine and practice a range of activities for teaching Phonemic Awareness

Resources

Activities for Phonemic Awareness Growth

Adding and Removing Sounds from Words

Blending

Elkonin Boxes

Saying Individual Sounds in Words

Sources for More Learning

Phonics

12/7/23

Morning Session: 11:00 AM - 11:40 AM

Afternoon Session: 4:00 PM - 4:40 PM

Duration: 30 - 40 minutes

Phonics is the knowledge of how spoken sounds (phonemes) can be represented by written letters (graphemes). Phonics connects phonological awareness—the ability to hear and work with spoken words, word parts, and individual sounds—to written language. Phonics helps children learn how oral language is written as print and how the spelling of words is related to speech sounds. In this session, we will examine what is needed for effective phonics instruction and how we can support children in developing their phonics skills.

Session Goals

Understand that phonics is the study of the relationship between sounds and letters

Understand the elements of effective phonics instruction that helps move children from easier to more difficult skills

Learn about phonics practices that help children's ability to accurately and fluently identify letter names and continues with the mapping of letters to sounds for reading and writing

Fluency

12/12/23

Morning Session: 11:00 AM - 11:40 AM

Afternoon Session: 4:00 PM - 4:40 PM

Duration: 30 - 40 minutes

Fluency is the ability to read words, phrases, sentences, and connected text accurately, at an appropriate pace, and with expression. Fluency is a bridge between word recognition and comprehension, allowing readers to make meaning for a text “on the run.” In this session, we will learn the elements of fluency, and how to assess a child’s fluency. We will explore ways to support children’s reading fluency through modeling and repeated reading.

Session Goals

Understand what reading fluency is, and why it is important

Explore strategies for supporting emergent and early reader’s fluency

Resources

Fluency Rubric

Readers Theater for Fluency

Repeated Readings for Fluency

Sources for More Learning

Vocabulary

12/14/23

Morning Session: 11:00 AM - 11:40 AM

Afternoon Session: 4:00 PM - 4:40 PM

Duration: 30 - 40 minutes

Vocabulary refers to the kinds of words and phrases children must know and understand to read increasingly challenging texts with comprehension. Building children's vocabulary is an incredibly important component of literacy instruction. When children know more words, they can comprehend more of what they read, communicate more of what they know, and develop a joy of reading! In this session, we will outline three ways that will help increase children’s vocabulary development. We will also explore some ways we can help build children’s vocabulary.

Session Goals

Understand why vocabulary matters in literacy instruction

Identify effective strategies that foster vocabulary learning

Stay Informed

Sign up for updates and be among the first to know when registration opens. Join us in making a significant impact on literacy education in New Jersey and beyond.

If you have any questions or need further information about this webinar series, please feel free to contact us. We look forward to embarking on this educational journey with you!