Dear Central Families and Community Members,
Welcome to LETRS – Learning the art and science behind reading and writing.
Did we spell that right? Yes. LETRS stands for Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling. It is a comprehensive professional learning program that is designed to provide elementary teachers and administrators with the knowledge they need to be literacy and language experts.
“When I saw this training was being offered, I leapt at the chance to share the opportunity with Central Teachers!” said Andrea Kolstad, District Curriculum Leader. When the LETRS training was first made available for Central’s K-3 teachers and intervention teachers – ALL of our K-3 classrooms as well as all of the intervention teachers along with one 5th-grade teacher opted to participate. “It really is a big deal that so many of our teachers took the course.” Ron Erpenbach, Central Elementary principal, and Andrea Kolstad, curriculum leader are also completing LETRS training.
LETRS was developed by Dr. Louisa Moats and leaders in the field of literacy. The program teaches the science of reading – skills need to master the fundamentals of teaching reading and writing to elementary students. Skills like phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension and writing. Teachers gain the skills they need to teach every student, even those with reading challenges like dyslexia.
There has been a shift in identifying the best reading instruction and Central is further ahead than many other districts in making changes toward structured literacy and utilizing the Science of Reading. LETRS focuses on how the brain learns to read and all of the intricacies in teaching phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and language comprehension, which includes vocabulary and background knowledge.
LETRS is in-depth professional development on fundamentals of literacy instruction following the Science of Reading. School districts that have implemented this training and followed it up with the best resources and teaching methods have seen amazing growth in reading. Growth in our literacy data is showing that our students are starting to reap the benefits from LETRS and the positive changes that have been made.
https://www.lexialearning.com/user_area/uploads/LETRS_Suite_Brochure_Option1.pdf