Advancing Literacy at Teachers College

Advancing Literacy at Teachers College Advancing Literacy at Teachers College TCRWP is now Advancing Literacy at Teachers College

📖 What do good readers do when meaning breaks down?Strong readers don’t just keep going. They notice when something does...
10/01/2026

📖 What do good readers do when meaning breaks down?

Strong readers don’t just keep going. They notice when something doesn’t make sense and do something about it. They might reread, read on for clues, slow down, or break the text into smaller parts. Then they check again: Does it make sense now?

In our virtual Focused Topic Course, Data-Based Small Groups to Support Readers with Developing Fluency, Comprehension, and Vocabulary, we’ll explore practical, research-based routines like these and how reading data can help us decide what to teach, who needs it, and what to teach next.

Participants will leave with strategies for planning responsive small-group instruction in fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary.

📅 Three sessions: 10/20/26, 12/8/26, 2/23/27
📚 Grades K–2 & 3–8
💻 Online via Zoom
https://advancingliteracy.tc.columbia.edu/events/data-based-small-groups-to-support-readers-with-developing-fluency-comprehension-and-vocabulary-grades-3-8

🎁 Comment “MONITOR” below and we’ll DM you a free vocabulary tool to start using today!


Save the date for Literacy Fest 2027 📚Join us Saturday, January 30, from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM ET, at Teachers College or ...
09/30/2026

Save the date for Literacy Fest 2027 📚

Join us Saturday, January 30, from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM ET, at Teachers College or on Zoom. Our annual Literacy Fest brings together literacy leaders, staff developers, and friends of TC to learn from one another and celebrate reading, writing, and the best new books in children’s literature.

What to expect:
📖 Free, interactive workshops for teachers, librarians, school leaders, and families
✏️ Practical strategies to bring back to your classroom, library, or learning space
📚 New fiction and nonfiction picks from early childhood through high school
🤝 Time to connect with fellow literacy advocates

Come for a mid-year boost in your teaching life, or for new ways to support your child’s reading and writing at home.

The schedule, Zoom link, and in-person details are coming soon. Follow along so you don’t miss them.

https://advancingliteracy.tc.columbia.edu/events/january-30-2027-literacy-fest-with-advancing-literacy

ReadingCommunity

📚 New blog alert! When everything feels urgent, how do we help teachers decide what matters most?Instructional coaches a...
09/28/2026

📚 New blog alert! When everything feels urgent, how do we help teachers decide what matters most?

Instructional coaches are often caught between district initiatives and what teachers can realistically take on. Our latest blog explores how coaches can help teachers cut through the noise, identify meaningful priorities, and find an entry point that feels manageable.

Because effective coaching isn’t about adding one more thing—it’s about helping teachers focus on what will make the greatest difference for students.

🔗 Link https://advancingliteracy.tc.columbia.edu/blog/when-every-initiative-feels-urgent-helping-teachers-choose-what-matters-most

📖 What does purposeful rereading look like in a small group?Rereading with a clear focus on accuracy, smoothness, phrasi...
09/24/2026

📖 What does purposeful rereading look like in a small group?

Rereading with a clear focus on accuracy, smoothness, phrasing, and expression can help students develop more fluent reading.
In our virtual Focused Topic Course, Data-Based Small Groups to Support Readers with Developing Fluency, Comprehension, and Vocabulary, we’ll explore practical routines like this and how reading data can help us decide what to teach, who needs it, and what to teach next.

Participants will leave with research-based strategies for planning responsive small-group instruction in fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary.

Apply here: https://advancingliteracy.tc.columbia.edu/events/data-based-small-groups-to-support-readers-with-developing-fluency-comprehension-and-vocabulary-grades-3-8

📅 Three sessions: 10/20/26, 12/8/26, 2/23/27
📚 Grades K–2 & 3–8
💻 Online via Zoom

Comment “FLUENCY” below and we’ll DM you a free vocabulary tool to start using today! 🎁

A lot of writing instruction leans on response to reading, having students write about a text they just finished. This i...
09/23/2026

A lot of writing instruction leans on response to reading, having students write about a text they just finished. This is an important way to build comprehension and analytical thinking.

But, genre-based writing, teaching students to write in different forms for different purposes, is just as important, and is sometimes the piece that gets skipped or misunderstood.

Swipe through for five myths about genre-based writing next to what the research actually found, from K-2 classrooms to multilingual learners.

If a teacher or a team wants to build this into their practice, our live online topic course Support for Teachers Who Are New to Writing can help. We’ll meet three times across the school year, with time in between sessions to try things out in your own classroom. Spaces still available. Register here:

K-3: https://advancingliteracy.tc.columbia.edu/events/support-for-teachers-who-are-new-to-writing-instruction-develop-an-understanding-of-writing-development-and-assessment-writing-standards-and-genre-knowledge-and-instructional-practices-to-support-all-students-grades-k-3

4- 8: https://advancingliteracy.tc.columbia.edu/events/support-for-teachers-who-are-new-to-writing-instruction-develop-an-understanding-of-writing-development-and-assessment-writing-standards-and-genre-knowledge-and-instructional-practices-to-support-all-students-grades-4-8

Want stronger readers, writers, and thinkers? Start with words. 📚Vocabulary instruction is most powerful when students d...
09/18/2026

Want stronger readers, writers, and thinkers? Start with words. 📚

Vocabulary instruction is most powerful when students do more than memorize definitions. They explore how words work, connect new vocabulary to what they already know, and have repeated opportunities to use words in meaningful contexts.

Our Making Vocabulary Stick chart highlights a few simple ways to strengthen vocabulary instruction:

🎯 Select words with care
🧩 Explore word parts
🔗 Connect new words to prior knowledge
🔄 Use words again and again

Want to take this work further with secondary students?

Our Focused Topic Course, Advanced Vocabulary for Critical Thinkers: Accelerating Literary and Academic Vocabulary Acquisition, Grades 6–12, explores research-based approaches to academic and literary vocabulary, morphology and etymology, knowledge-rich text sets, and independent word learning.

More words. Deeper thinking.

📅 Three sessions: 10/6/26, 11/17/26 & 1/5/27 👥 Perfect for grades 6–12 teachers 💻 Online via Zoom

Comment “VOCABULARY” below and we’ll DM you a free vocabulary tool to start using today! 🎁

Learn more here: https://advancingliteracy.tc.columbia.edu/events/advanced-vocabulary-for-critical-thinkers-accelerating-literary-and-academic-vocabulary-acquisition

📚 New blog alert! Looking for fresh titles to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month?Our latest New & Notable features recent...
09/16/2026

📚 New blog alert! Looking for fresh titles to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month?

Our latest New & Notable features recently published books that celebrate the histories, cultures, and experiences of Hispanic and Latino communities. With fiction and nonfiction selections spanning preschool through high school, there’s something for readers across grade levels.

Explore the list and discover a few new books to bring into your classroom or library this Hispanic Heritage Month.

🔗 Link to the Blog: https://advancingliteracy.tc.columbia.edu/blog/new-and-notable-great-books-for-hispanic-heritage-month

Alphabet learning comes with a lot of assumptions that do not always hold up.We pulled four common myths about how kids ...
09/10/2026

Alphabet learning comes with a lot of assumptions that do not always hold up.

We pulled four common myths about how kids learn letters and sounds and checked them against what the research actually shows. Letter names do not confuse kids, they help them learn sounds faster (Cardoso-Martins et al., 2011).

Letter-sound knowledge is not a skill that sorts itself out, it is one of the strongest predictors of reading development (Clayton et al., 2020). Alphabetical order is not the most effective sequence, high-utility letters like m, a, t, s, p, and h get kids reading real words sooner (Armbruster et al., 2001). And kids do not need to master all 26 letter sounds before they start reading, waiting that long can actually slow them down (Armbruster et al., 2001).

If you want practical strategies for building these skills in your classroom, our Joyful Practice in Learning Letters and Sounds course is live now.

Here is the Link for more information: https://advancingliteracy.tc.columbia.edu/events/joyful-practice-in-learning-letters-and-sounds-grades

📚 New blog alert! Retrieval practice isn’t just for math.Low-stakes recall can be a powerful tool for building reading c...
09/09/2026

📚 New blog alert! Retrieval practice isn’t just for math.
Low-stakes recall can be a powerful tool for building reading comprehension. By giving students opportunities to retrieve key ideas from memory, we can help them strengthen understanding, make connections, and build the mental models they need to tackle increasingly complex texts.

Our latest blog explores how bringing simple retrieval practices into reading instruction can support deeper, more durable comprehension.

🔗 Link to the Blog: https://advancingliteracy.tc.columbia.edu/blog/retrieval-practice-isnt-just-for-math-using-low-stakes-recall-to-build-reading-comprehension

🍂 Fall into learning with Advancing Literacy!Our October and November Focused Topic Courses are designed to bring practi...
09/08/2026

🍂 Fall into learning with Advancing Literacy!

Our October and November Focused Topic Courses are designed to bring practical, research-informed learning directly into your practice.

Explore courses designed to strengthen literacy instruction, from foundational skills and writing to comprehension, small groups, and instructional leadership.

Whether you’re looking to strengthen your classroom practice or grow your leadership, there’s something for you this fall.

🔗 Link to our Fall Focused Topic Courses: https://advancingliteracy.tc.columbia.edu/events?grades=&location=all&audience=all&institute=true&oneDayConference=true&courses=true

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