May

SOEL and the Essential Instructional Practices of Early Literacy 

     Going into it's fourth year, the Study of Early Literacy of WISD and LESA (SOEL) will continue working on PreK-3 literacy instruction, and now has the Essential Instructional Practices in Early Literacy to grow our work around best practices. I've been fortunate to continue collaboration with literacy educators from around Michigan on the Early Literacy Task Force of the MAISA GELN. Members of the Task Force include Dr. Nell Duke of UM and Dr. Tanya Wright of MSU, along with representatives from a number of educational organizations in Michigan, including not only ISDs, but also MRA, MDE, MACUL, MEMPSA, and REMC,  among others.

We created two documents:

Essential Instructional Practices in Early Literacy: Prekindergarten

Essential Instructional Practices in Early Literacy: Grades K to 3

In developing the documents, we relied heavily on research and focused on high-utility instructional practices.  

Additional documents, such as Essential Practices in Literacy Coaching and Literacy Essentials School-Level Companion Document are also in the works. Task Force leaders Joanne Hopper (MAISA GELN Director), Naomi Norman (Interim Assistant Superintendent, Achievement & Student Services at the Washtenaw Intermediate School District and the Livingston Education Agency), and Susan Townsend (Director of Instruction & Learning Services at the Jackson Intermediate School District) continue to pull the group together for collaboration on this work. 

***If you are interested in professional learning around the Essential Instructional Practices in Early Literacy, please join us for the SOEL Summer Institute in August!  

***Please see Nell Duke's article on the Essential Practices in Early Literacy recently published in Literacy Daily of the International Literacy Association, from which this passage was adapted. 

*Soul of the Sun mosaic image courtesy of my friend Carol Lancour of Mid Century Mosaics

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Ed Tech News from REMC 

 (Regional Educational Media Centers)

Free Tools Available for Teachers and Administrators The REMC Association of Michigan offers a variety of free tools for teachers, including: Professional development courses: o   Blended Learning in the Classroom o   Connected Educator Series Online portals:  Michigan Learns Online  o    21 Things 4 Teachers Video libraries:  MI Streamnet  Streaming Video Project (RSVP) Administrator resources available to REMC members include  Adobe Connect License Pricing and the $AVE Bid Project.     Connect with the REMC Association of Michigan and its resources: visit http://www.remc.org/ "like" Regional Educational Media Center Association of  Michigan on Facebook follow @REMCAssociation on Twitter ___________________________________________________________________

Summer Literacy Professional Learning  Opportunities

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