{"id":24262,"date":"2024-10-15T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-15T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nwea.org\/blog\/?p=24262"},"modified":"2026-03-24T10:47:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T17:47:25","slug":"maximizing-an-early-literacy-block","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nwea.org\/blog\/2024\/maximizing-an-early-literacy-block\/","title":{"rendered":"Maximizing an early literacy block"},"content":{"rendered":"
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One of my friends, a science and drama teacher, was recently surprised by the news that she would also be teaching coding this school year. Sound familiar? It\u2019s one of our collective educator nightmares. But, as I was watching the webinar “Maximize the early literacy block: Help your teachers with evidence-based strategies,” <\/a>I realized that if I were given a new literacy block on Friday, I honestly wouldn\u2019t be lost on Monday. That\u2019s because the webinar was genuine professional development, chock-full of resources and explanations of the science of reading<\/a>. It had tangible teacher tips from Heather Cella<\/a>, director of Early Learning Solutions Strategy at NWEA, and Tiffany Peltier<\/a>, who (among other things) serves on the scientific editorial board of The Reading League Journal<\/em>. Okay, credentials, we see you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listen up, literacy coaches, reading teachers, and any education leaders ready to level-up the early literacy block: you need to watch this webinar<\/a>.<\/a> In less than an hour, you will walk away with real strategies for core, small-group, and independent instruction. Need an overview first? Let\u2019s hit the highlights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction: Let\u2019s be clear and simple<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Tiffany opens the webinar by reminding participants that our goal at NWEA is to translate our robust, ongoing research<\/a> into effective classroom practices. What good is it if we have all the data but don\u2019t do the work of helping teachers use it to improve their teaching? Teachers know that early readers are still lagging behind pre-COVID levels, but instead of looking to the past, their question is \u201cWhat do I do tomorrow?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To answer that question, our team starts with a science-aligned approach, backed by evidence of what works when it comes to learning to read. NWEA believes that successful literacy teaching cascades from the simple view of reading, and Heather and Tiffany don\u2019t skip over this. The simple view of reading<\/a> is a model used to concisely explain how reading comprehension is acquired. It states that two components, when multiplied together, lead to what we typically consider \u201csuccessful\u201d reading, or reading comprehension (RC). Those two factors are decoding (D) and language comprehension (LC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Decoding (D) is the act of seeing symbols and recognizing their associated sound, and it comprises what we typically teach as phonics. We scaffold this process individually with students, as this unfolds at a unique pace for each kid. Language comprehension (LC) is where vocabulary, semantics, content knowledge, and language usage come together, and it underscores the need for all students\u2014regardless of decoding readiness\u2014to be exposed to rigorous, on-grade-level texts full of rich ideas and construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I was a teacher, I didn\u2019t recognize how essential learning morphemes can be for students,\u201d Tiffany admits. So many of us didn\u2019t benefit from the science of reading in our own teacher training! We now understand that strong literacy curriculum must be supported by this science-aligned understanding. NWEA hosted another webinar last year, “The science of reading for leaders: Helping your teachers shift instructional practice,” <\/a>that covers this topic more deeply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teacher resources, strategies, and new things to try <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Tiffany offers true professional development in this section of the webinar on the early literacy block, frequently inviting participants to try alongside her as she demonstrates new literacy strategies to use during whole-group instruction and showcasing several NWEA lesson plan templates that are ready to download.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To maximize core group instruction, try implementing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n