JCSD Teachers Dive into LETRS Training

A group JCSD teachers are taking LETRS training. It is one of the best trainings in phonics, and is being offered to many educators now. Janesville teachers jumped on board with it before it was being offered, and are learning so much from it.

LETRS - Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling 

It is an empowering professional development course of study for instructors of reading, spelling, and related language skills. LETRS is not a literacy curriculum. Instead, it provides knowledge and tools that teachers can use with any good reading program. It provides educators with:

-in-depth knowledge based on the most current research regarding what, when, and how language skills need to be taught.

-ways to assess student language development for prevention and intervention. 

-guidance on how to plan and balance word recognition and comprehension instruction.

-information on how to differentiate instruction to meet the needs of all students. 

This year the K-1 teams, Amy Anderson (Title), and Heather Howland (instructional) will take part in 4 full day training through the AEA, and at least 12 hours of online course work in between the full days training. They also have the benefit of having a LETRS coach work with them once a month at PLC. This is a two year training that the team asked to take. These teachers were all on board after learning about the training. Although they knew it was going to be a lot of work, but they also knew it is one of the best training out there. The team decided to dive right in, and Mrs. Pugh was more than happy to support this work. It is now being offered to many other school districts.

“I wish I could have had this training 20 years ago when I began teaching. Understanding the way children learn to read, and the way their brains work has been so valuable. I have learned the correct way and order to teach these skills. I have also found assessment pieces that actually help me understand how my students are reading and writing, and what I need to do next to support them. It has been important to implement the things we are learning right into our daily teaching! We have had lots of rich conversations within our team. I feel very lucky to work with a group of educators that wanted to put so much time and effort into helping our students grow as readers! Learning to read can be so fun when the right teaching is offered to students! I am so excited about teaching these skills to students! It has been amazing to see the growth students are making. The work we are doing in this training is showing in our classrooms and our assessments!” - Megan Cheeseman

“LETRS has provided me with valuable knowledge on effectively identifying and addressing the individual needs of students in their learning journey through the use of explicit instruction to facilitate growth and progress.” - Heather Howland

“I think with my move from upper elementary to kindergarten, LETRS training came at such a perfect time for me. I knew coming into teaching some of our youngest students, these foundational skills would be so crucial to their learning, but I had never really been taught how to teach these things until now. LETRS takes the science and research behind how to read, and teaches it to us so that we have all the knowledge to go and help our students. I find myself recognizing different spelling patterns, common mistakes, etc., and I have such a great grasp of how to help my students move from one skill to the next because LETRS has shown me the typical progression in a child's brain. I wish every elementary education major was required to take this training, and every current elementary teacher!” - Molly Ludwig