Structure Your Literacy: Support for Structured Literacy

This evening I had an opportunity to respond to an educator who has adopted the difficult task this summer of tutoring remotely. This teacher reached out for help on KDP Global; KDP's interactive forum where educators from around the world can reach out and seek advice, ask questions, share stories, and celebrate together. 

Her story was one that I see far too often, and I just shake my head with a sigh asking "how does this happen?" Or more importantly, "how do we let this happen?" This student comes from a difficult upbringing, but has still managed to continue through his grade level studies. He is 11 years old, and his tutor suspects he might be dyslexic. His adopted family has asked for an IEP and evaluations, however nothing has been done as of yet. They are considering alternate placement/schools in response. He is struggling with reading comprehension, and his tutor is not a highly trained reading specialist. 

Why? How? What do we do? And no, it's not her fault! If anything, she will be the solution!

Now, I do not claim to be an expert in dyslexia by any stretch of the imagination. I am constantly reading and learning about it, since reading and special education are my top areas of interest. Since I also enjoy learning about brain-based teaching and learning, these fit right in together in my puzzle. I also attribute my weak spots to a lack of practice, since I was only able to serve my district as a Tier III teacher for about two years along with my classroom teaching. I keep my fingers crossed that one day I'll be able to step into that role again and help my kiddos to read. 

My first suggestion to this teacher and the student's family was to reach out to his prior classroom teachers for more information such as his guided reading level and other data that could be useful in making a case for evaluations. I also encouraged them to call the school/district office to express their concerns again and ask what their next steps should be. Families have the right to advocate for their children, and teachers should advocate for their students! 

Knowing this educator was seeking resources, I feel I bombarded her with more than what she bargained for when submitting the post. (My friends that know me can laugh and shake their heads now as I take a bow... thank you, thank you... that's me!) 

As teachers, it's our role to be leaders for our students, however, we must also be students for ourselves and learn as much as we can. I offered to her websites such as IDA since it's the place to go for information on what dyslexia is, signs to look for, resources and more. 

I also shared a few of my favorite podcasts that I listen to almost daily (on a rotation carousel of course!) that offers information on structured literacy. In particular I like: The Reading Teacher's Lounge, Amplify The Science of Reading, and Teaching Today. The more background knowledge we have, the more we can understand our work upfront (sounds like what we tell our students huh?) 

In prior blogs, I've mentioned how I advocate for structured literacy in early education. This case study today proves exactly why I do. Just as much some advocate for students to read authentic literature in the classroom and be exposed to it at early ages, (and I am totally in support of that!) one could also argue that unless students learn the alphabetic principle, phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, phonics (decoding and encoding) syntax, semantics, morphology, and orthography, how can comprehension develop at all? Students need to be paired with "just right texts" at all ages and grade levels, even if this means that a kindergarten or first grade student isn't reading a "heavy" text with complex plots and characters. Other methods suggest that elements such as decoding come with reading in volume, and while they do, structure is the password to unlocking the way learners/readers brains understand language. Without the ability to decode and encode, read fluently, and understand word meanings, comprehension just doesn't stand a fighting chance... 

I suggested to this teacher to research my favorite multi-sensory method of instruction for struggling readers and students with dyslexia- Orton Gillingham. There are many videos that show teachers implementing strategies in their classroom, and IMSE is a great website that has some information/tools/resources. Warning however, IMSE is a training organization so most of the information will be on the different trainings available. 

Now for the heart and soul. Teachers, please, please, please advocate for your students! We should not have 11 year olds slipping by with reading difficulties or learning disabilities (or my newfound favorite term: learning diversities!) without support! Although it's common for students with dyslexia to easily slip by due to the fact they are often very strong at compensating and they are otherwise very intelligent, we have to become more aware of how to spot discrepancies in their learning and run, not walk, to get assistance. If you have the slightest feeling something isn't right- trust yourself! You know your students, and they need you to know them so they can succeed. It's a shame we exist with a vacuous system that is flawed to the point of question and, at times... shame. 

It is my goal to continue to work with early educators on sharing my knowledge and experiences (for whatever their worth) to help them know what to look for early on in their careers so we can stop the slippery slope students often stumble down by third or fourth grade, or beyond...

Perhaps it's time to dust off my shelf and come up with a plan to continue to share this essential consciousness. After all, it begins with us as teachers! 

Final thought: Be advocates for your students, be students for yourselves, never stop learning, let's do this together! Teaching is lifelong learning!