Pre-K Reading Foundations: Using “Letter-a-Day” Research to Raise Student Achievement

Presented by Dr. Ray Reutzel, Senior Research Fellow in the Center for the School of the Future at Utah State University, Award-winning Early Literacy Researcher, and Elected Member and Past President of the International Reading Hall of Fame; and Sara Rich, Former Award-Winning Principal, Current CEO, Just Right Reader
Moderated by Christy Lamb, Elementary School Principal and Co-Founder, The Modern Principal

Sponsored by Just Right Reader

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What does the Science of Reading tell us about laying the foundations for reading and writing in Pre-K students? How can we, as educators and school administrators, translate the research into instruction that unlocks reading foundations for young students and sets them up for reading and writing success throughout their school years?

In this edWebinar, we cover the latest research for foundational reading and explain how it translates to supporting and leading Pre-K classrooms. Dr. Ray Reutzel, an award-winning early literacy researcher, walks us through research-tested best practices for alphabet knowledge and transitioning students to CVC word reading. He details the letter-a-day plan for alphabet knowledge acquisition and explains the “why” behind the recommended lesson plan. The research covered in this edWebinar reflects best practices for all Pre-K classrooms, but is particularly important for districts and schools with high mobility brought on by high poverty or other factors.

We also go over what to look for in educational materials to support the research-backed lesson plans. How does the research translate to high-quality and skill-appropriate books to incorporate everything we know about how kids learn to read?

Whether you are an administrator supporting multiple Pre-K classrooms or an educator working directly with Pre-K students, you walk away with deeper knowledge of and tactical solutions for implementation of the latest research around increasing early literacy achievement to set students up for successful academic careers.

This recorded edWebinar is of interest to Pre-K teachers, librarians, and school and district leaders.

About the Presenters

Dr. Ray Reutzel is currently serving as Senior Research Fellow in the Center for the School of the Future at Utah State University. He has published more than 235 articles, chapters, and books on early literacy and early childhood education and received over $17 million in extramural funding. He is the former dean of the College of Education at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. He also held the Emma Eccles Jones Endowed Chair Distinguished Professorship at Utah State University for 14 years. His research on early literacy in Grades K–3 earned him the International Literacy Association’s highest recognition, the William S. Gray Citation of Merit in 2019. Dr. Reutzel is an elected member and former president (2011, 2017 – 2019) of the International Reading Hall of Fame.

Sara Rich is the founder and CEO of Just Right Reader. She is an award-winning former principal of 20+ years whose success in turning schools around came from focusing on early literacy and reading achievement. She has traveled to more than 35 states to train teachers and principals in reading and writing skill development. After her own daughter struggled with reading, Sara started Just Right Reader with the mission to make reading fun and for students to learn to read with engaging decodables that are representative of students in America’s schools.

About the Moderator

Christy Lamb is the co-founder of The Modern Principal, where they discuss practical strategies for doing the job while reforming the system as school leaders. She is an elementary principal in a PreK-5 building with the district’s gifted program. She knew she wanted to be in education after learning that for-profit prisons were using third-grade African American boys’ reading levels to determine the number of prisons to build in the future. Christy has since held many roles and leadership positions between elementary and middle school serving as an ELA teacher, instructional coach, reading specialist, admin intern, assistant principal, and principal. Up until the 11th year of her career, she had never had the same job/classroom/building/district two years in a row. She now craves collaboration with professionals both in and out of education to help make her dream of an equitable learning environment a reality.

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Just Right Reader’s mission is to make reading fun and for students to learn to read with engaging decodables that are representative of students in America’s schools. When students want to read and feel successful, their achievement rises!