By: Amanda Hlibichuk, Michelle Kovash & Chelsee Skogen, Literacy Coach at Berg & Prairie Rose, Literacy Coach at Jefferson & Heart River, Special Education Coordinator - Elementary
A cohort of teachers in the Dickinson Public School District started LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) training in the fall of 2022 with 19 participants. LETRS is a professional learning course that equips teachers with the knowledge to understand the what, why, and how of scientifically based reading instruction. A little over six months later, these teachers are applying the information they have acquired in their LETRS training and are engaging in blended learning experiences that include professional reading, an online learning platform, and face-to-face learning sessions.
Throughout LETRS training, teachers gain research-based strategies and instructional routines for teaching reading across the curriculum. They also obtain knowledge that helps them determine which strategies work best for certain students and why. After a few sessions of LETRS, teachers were seeing how impactful the training would be. Some commented on their appreciation of rediscovering the role of “brain development” in reading and “ how complex reading really is.” When teachers apply the LETRS principles and practices in their classrooms, both teachers and students will see new levels of learning come alive. One teacher commented, “I feel that I have learned so much about the rules of our language. I wish I would have had this in college.”
At the conclusion of the LETRS course, teachers will have scientifically-based best practices for instructional routines, access to reliable assessments, and know how to deliver instruction more effectively to the students they work with. Most of all, teachers will have a deeper understanding of comprehensive language and literacy instruction for any age, grade, and ability level.