MACTE and ServeMinnesota
Early Literacy Teacher Development Initiative
MACTE has collaborated with ServeMinnesota to create a suite of materials to support instruction for teaching methods courses that focus on preparing teacher candidates for early literacy instruction. These materials focus on the development of foundational reading skills, including: phonemic awareness, phonics, and fluency. Concepts about the assessment of foundational skills are also included in these materials.
Classroom videos demonstrating ServeMinnesota's Bridge2Read curriculum are a centerpiece of this project. A password is needed to view these videos. Please click here for information about how to obtain the password. In addition to the Bridge2Read curriculum and videos, informational videos by MACTE teacher educators, suggested readings, and activities to support teacher development in reading methods are included.
Reading is a complex process whereby a reader draws upon multiple types of knowledge and skills, interacting with a text to construct meaning. This project is not intended to support all areas of reading instruction. However, the elements covered here are important for the development of foundational skills, and they are areas targeted for improvement in Minnesota's Bold Literacy Plan and by PELSB. MACTE welcomes the contributions of other members who would like to add to these materials.
MACTE thanks Eva Boehm, Erin Gillett, Cari Maguire, Anika Paaren-Sdano, Carrie Pfeifer, Lisa Silmser, and Susan Thomson for their work on this project.
Introduction to this Initiative and Structured Literacy
Structured Literacy is an approach to reading instruction that emphasizes the explicit and systematic teaching of the language skills that support literacy. Structured Literacy stresses the phonemes (sounds) of language and systematically introduces the letters or graphemes that correspond to each phoneme. This approach to reading instruction is most associated with early literacy instruction and helping students learn to decode and encode.
Please watch this video by Dr. Erin Gillett and Dr. Carrie Pfeifer, which introduces this project and reviews some fundamental components of structured literacy.
Suggested readings for teacher candidates:
- Spear-Swerling, L. (2018). Structured literacy and typical literacy practices: Understanding differences to create instructional opportunities. Teaching Exceptional Children, 51(3), 201-211.
- Foorman et al. (2016). Foundational skills to support reading for understanding in kindergarten through 3rd grade (NCEE 20164008). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE), Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
Phonemic Awareness and Word Study
Introduction to the Bridge2Read Curriculum
Bridge2Read was developed by ServeMinnesota, the creator of Reading Corps. These materials provide teachers with instructional tools to deliver explicit, systematic daily instruction in phonological awareness and word study. Bridge2Read is designed to be part of the core curriculum for all students (Tier 1). Bridge2Read lessons last 30 minutes and are designed to give students additional practice on carefully sequenced literacy skills. After a thorough review based on the requirements of the Minnesota READ Act, MDE and CAREI designate Bridge2Read as Highly Aligned to Evidence-based Structure Literacy Practices for Foundational Reading Curricula.
The Bridge2Read lessons include multiple, carefully selected components that are supported by research. Teacher candidates exploring structured literacy using these instructional materials are encouraged to review the following webpage to understand the elements that make up these lessons and the research that supports each element's inclusion.
The Bridge2Read lessons also serve as an excellent example of an articulated scope and sequence. In Minnesota, all teacher candidates learn that phonics instruction should be sequenced according to the increasing complexity of linguistic units. Examining the scope and sequence of materials like Bridge2Read can help teachers understand what this looks like and how to evaluate curricular materials.
Phonological awareness refers to the ability to recognize and manipulate the sounds of language. This includes skills such as segmenting a sentence into individual words, identifying words that rhyme, dividing words into syllables, and ultimately recognizing and manipulating the individual speech sounds (phonemes) that make up each word. This final skill is called phonemic awareness and is one subcategory of phonological awareness.
Many studies have shown that phonological awareness is important for early literacy development. Assessments of phonological awareness in kindergarten predict reading achievement in second grade. In addition, difficulty with phonological awareness has been linked to early reading difficulties (see, for example, Ehri, et al., 2001, Lyon, Shaywitz, & Shaywitz, 2003).
There is also substantial evidence that demonstrates that early reading instruction focused on phonological and phonemic awareness can improve students' early reading achievement (Cardoso-Martins, Mesquita & Ehri, 2011; Ehri et al., 2001; Kilpatrick, 2015; Rice et al., 2022; Vassen & Blomert, 2010.).
Click here for Materials and Activities focused on Phonemic Awareness.
Word Study: Phonics and Fluency
In order to decode text, the brain must learn how letters connect to the sounds of language. The idea that letters represent the sounds of spoken language is called the alphabetic principle. The purpose of phonics instruction is to help children learn and be able to use the alphabetic principle by teaching the relationships between the letters of written language and the sounds of spoken language. While some children will master the alphabetic principle quickly, most children will need explicit instruction to do so.
Although English does not always have a clear, one-to-one correspondence between sounds and letters, there are usually predictable relationships between sounds and letters in English orthography. Learning these sound-letter correspondences allows children to decode text. Phonics instruction that systematically and explicitly introduces and practices the relationship between letters and sounds has been shown to be an effective method for teaching early literacy and should be included as part of reading instruction in the early grades. (National Reading Panel, 2000; Stuebing et al., 2008; )
It is important to note that phonics is not an entire reading program for early readers. Children should also be listening to and reading stories and informational texts, developing oral language, practicing comprehension strategies, and working on the many literacy skills included in Scarborough's rope. But phonics is one important instructional component that teachers should understand and be able to use.
Fluency is another important component of skilled reading. Fluent reading is generally defined as the ability to read texts with accuracy, at the appropriate rate, and with expression (Hudson et al., 2020). There is a strong correlation between reading fluency and reading comprehension (Hudson et al., 2005). Automaticity is the ability to read words accurately and quickly, and it is a foundational skill required for fluency.
The word study portion of the Bridge2Read lessons focuses on phonics and fluency. Letter-sound correspondences are explicitly introduced and purposefully practiced. Word reading automaticity is also developed in each word study session, with additional lessons added to help develop fluency by working with passages of connected text. The materials and classroom videos on the following page provide opportunities for teacher candidates to learn about and practice their skill in teaching phonics and developing fluency.
Click here for materials and activities focused on Word Study.
Bridge2Read Teacher Manual - Assessment Section
Click here for Materials and Activities Focused on Assessment (Coming Soon!)
Additional Recommended Resources
Oral Language Development
Biemiller, A. (2015).Which words are worth teaching? Perspectives on Language and Literacy pp. 9-13.
