Winding Way Literacy

After wrapping up a month of providing virtual literacy professional development sessions to 350+ Indiana educators today, we are switching gears with some good ol’ Henry & Mudge to prepare for tomorrow’s camping trip. 🏕️📖☀️

So very excited to join this team!

Happy Read Across America Day! Here are a few of my crew with their books over the years. 💙💚💙

My kindergarten small groups loved playing SPLAT! to practice reading phrases with ALL of the irregular words they learned in UFLI Foundations Lessons 1-34! Let me know if you want the link to this free game. 🙂

I have been waiting for this!! This morphology resource is exactly what my 4th grade small group needs right now - and the individual phrase RAN charts ?!!👌😍 Can’t wait to try it out!

Ever since taught me about RAN charts, I have been incorporating them into my small groups.

My students receive UFLI Foundations as their core phonics instruction, so I use the new concept and irregular words to write phrases. My students love these because they incorporate some fun movement, and then we follow it up with a decodable text for continued practice with the concept- the MoonDogs vowel spelling series from ties in perfectly! Loved using this trifecta for ai and ay this week.

Let me know if you want me to share my phrases that I made to go along with the long vowel UFLI lessons!

February vacation means tutoring requests for summer have already started coming in!

I'm gauging interest in small groups for students currently in first and second grade. Tentative details are below but might change based on feedback - please fill out the form below or share if you or someone you know might be interested!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSexgiSPux_uuiV69XwMgSS8W8v28g0xhe_FYZRw_n3_Wzc9cA/viewform?usp=sf_link

I’m excited to begin a new position as a Reading Specialist in a school district that is beginning their journey with the Science of Reading. I’ll be posting here with some of the things we’re learning and doing! I’m very happy to work in a district that values literacy so much that opening day PD is focused on SoR!

I’m also super excited about these little book character prints I got from and A Good Class on Etsy to brighten on up my space. 😊 (totally off-center, but hey, I tried.)

If you are an adult with dyslexia who grew up or lives in the South Shore, MA, I would love to share your story to help educate and empower others this October for Dyslexia Awareness Month! Here are the questions! :)

Google Forms - create and analyze surveys, for free. Create a new survey on your own or with others at the same time. Choose from a variety of survey types and analyze results in Google Forms. Free from Google.

👀I’m looking for adults local to the South Shore of Massachusetts who have dyslexia and are willing to share how it has impacted their lives.

Even if you do not have a formal diagnosis, if you suspect you have dyslexia I want to hear from you too. (Here’s a little informal self-assessment you’re curious. . . https://dyslexiaida.org/dyslexia-test/)

October is Dyslexia Awareness month, and as someone who has taught in public schools for 10 years and now works privately with dyslexic students, I can tell you that there is a considerable lack of understanding about what dyslexia is and the impacts it has on those affected by it.

My hope is that by sharing stories of successful adults with dyslexia, members of our community will begin to understand just how common it is, that it’s not “reading backwards”, and that it is unrelated to intelligence.

It’s estimated that 1 in 5 people are affected by dyslexia, yet I know there are teachers who think they haven’t taught a dyslexic child. And I know so many parents whose children have shown signs of dyslexia for years but parents couldn’t put their finger on what was going on. . . And it’s not their fault but needs to change. So many kids could be in a much better position if their teachers and parents knew more about dyslexia, and I’m hoping by sharing some of your stories, we can bring some awareness to those in this area.

I realize that this may be a sensitive topic to share, and that you may have kept quiet about it for many years, but you sharing about it could have a big impact for someone else!

If you’re interested in sharing about your experience with dyslexia (positive or negative aspects), please send me a PM.

Please share, because even if you think you don’t know anyone with dyslexia, you do!!❤️

Something to think about as we begin the new school year. . .

Teachers, no matter what grade, you most likely have at least one or more students in your class with dyslexia, whether they have been diagnosed or not. Think about providing opportunities for students to shine in ways that don't involve reading and writing this week. And avoid calling on kids to read aloud if they haven't volunteered.

Parents, the start of the new school year is a great time to remind your children to be patient and kind and recognize that everyone learns differently.

Here's to a great 2021-2022 school year!