Celebrations & Bright Spots
Students Engage in Foundational Skills Through Multi-Sensory Learning
At South Marshall Elementary in Marshall County, students are diving into foundational literacy through fun and interactive instruction. During a recent foundational skills lesson, students engaged in a variety of multi-sensory activities designed to reinforce their understanding of letters and sounds. They practiced stretching and tapping out sounds in words and worked on writing both letters and words, creating an engaging environment that supports early literacy development.
 Students reinforced their phonics skills by tracing letters in the sand while saying the corresponding sounds aloud.
 Students used slinkies to stretch out words, allowing them to hear and isolate each sound.
 Students tapped out individual sounds, wrote the letters to match the sounds and used toy cars to blend the sounds together.
To learn more about the components of literacy known as phonemic awareness and phonics, read these one-pagers: Phonemic Awareness At a Glance and Phonics At a Glance. For a more comprehensive understanding of six of the most important components of literacy, take a look at the Literacy At a Glance Collection.
Integrating HQIRs and Deeper Learning to Strengthen Tier 1 Instruction
To build an understanding of the interaction between deeper learning and a local curriculum through the lens of learning science to help promote access to vibrant learning experiences for all students, the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) Office of Teaching and Learning is developing a series of modules that support the first big idea of United We Learn’s vision for the future of public education in Kentucky, “creating a more vibrant experience for every student.” This series is designed to answer questions like, “How do educators provide vibrant student learning experiences?” and “What is needed to establish a system that equitably supports these types of learning opportunities within Tier 1 instruction?” The first resource in the series introduces educators to Integrating HQIRs and Deeper Learning to Strengthen Tier 1 Instruction. The resources within the series aim to:
- Examine deeper learning and the role of a local curriculum anchored in high-quality instructional resources (HQIRs) in enabling deeper learning experiences in Tier 1 instruction;
- Explore how understanding of education research and learning science can inform effective integration of deeper learning and HQIR within a local curriculum; and
- Provide modules to support curriculum integration according to learning science.
The modules to follow will be released for each of four stages–Priming for Learning, Surface Learning, Deep Learning and Transfer Learning–to support district curriculum teams in applying educational research and learning science in order to strengthen their local curriculum for Tier I instruction. Each module will build understanding of learning science principles for its phase, establishing connections to deeper learning and then providing indicators for analyzing the local curriculum and making smart adjustments.
ICYMI: Structured Literacy Beyond Early Literacy Instruction: Developing Skilled Middle and High School Readers Webinar Series, Session 1 Materials and Recording Now Available
 Do you know middle and high school teachers supporting students who are not yet skilled readers? If the answer is yes, the Developing Skilled Middle and High School Readers Webinar Series for grade 6-12 teachers and instructional coaches may be of interest. This series shows how the structured literacy practices that are transforming early literacy instruction in Kentucky - as a result of the Read to Succeed Act (SB 9, 2022) and the Kentucky Reading Academies’ LETRS professional learning - can positively impact middle and high school reading and writing instruction.
Throughout the 2024-2025 school year, learning materials will be posted on the adolescent structured literacy webpage to provide evidence-based strategies and practices for developing skilled middle and high school readers and writers. These include:
- Monthly recordings of webinar sessions;
- Corresponding participant guides.
To help us support literacy development at every grade level, share this information with grade 6-12 teachers and instructional coaches.
Please contact the ELAteam@education.ky.gov with questions.
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