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Ask Martha
Literacy Tips that Make Learning Stick

Have questions about Structured Literacy, but not sure who to ask?

  • Learned the 'what', but have questions about the 'how'?

  • Overwhelmed by training & certification options?

  • Need solutions for hard-to-reach students?

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Join Martha Kovack - live on Zoom - for Summer Drop-In Sessions

  • All are welcome!

  • Reading interventionists

  • Classroom teachers

  • Special education teachers

  • Tutors using a Structured Literacy approach

  • Parents/Teachers working with students with Dyslexia, DLD (listening & speaking challenges), PDA (extreme demand avoidance), or other learning challenges 

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What You’ll Learn

These drop-in sessions are your space to ask questions and connect with a seasoned and friendly structured literacy specialist (and others who attend) to learn how to improve the way we (for example):

  • Correct reading & spelling errors without crushing confidence

  • Turn important, but dry repetitive practice into games that hold their attention

  • Integrate learning of sounds, spellings, meanings, vocabulary, morphology, syntax, & syllables

  • Use simple cue cards as anchors that students can use regularly and rely on

  • Build word and sentence fluency

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📅 Summer Drop-Ins

Tuesdays & Thursdays | 9:30–11:30 AM (EST)

  • July 15 & 17

  • July 22 & 24

  • July 29 & 31

  • August 5 & 7

  • August 21

  • August 26 & 28​​

Come to one or come to all!

Come for 1 or 2 hours - it's your choice. Drop in any time.

$15/hour (pay for one hour or more at the SoundReaders.ca Shop)

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Topic Discussions

  • The Science of Reading

  • The Simple View of Reading, Scarborough's Reading Rope, and other frameworks

  • Language Comprehension (vs Reading Comprehension)

  • The critical role of Knowledge Building

  • Overview of Language Comprehension, Phonology, Orthography, and Morphology

  • Word Recognition and Orthographic mapping - what works? what doesn't?

  • Overview of Dyslexia & DLD, and differences in brain structure and function

  • Phonology

  • Culturally responsive challenges with phonology

  • Phonemic Awareness Assessments

  • The alphabet as a whole

  • Mastering sound-letter connections through visual/auditory/kinesthetic/tactile tracing & printing​

  • Orthography

  • Short vowel confusion and how to differentiate short vowels

  • Blending cvc words automatically & effortlessly

  • 6 types of syllables and syllable division

  • Wild Words (words that do not follow the rules)

  • 3 Main Spelling Rules

  • Scopes and sequences & decodable text to match

  • Parts of a Foundational Word Reading Lesson Plan

  • Activities/games for Introducing new spelling patterns

  • Simultaneous Oral Spelling (SOS) (printing words)

  • Writing at the sentence level

  • Decodable/Controlled text

  • Reading Comprehension (moving from skills to building knowledge)

  • Routines, scripts, & timing for small and large group lessons

  • Teaching all of this online

  • Morphology

  • Multi-linguistic strategies for integrating phonology, orthography, morphology, and language comprehension

  • Fluency - the bridge to reading comprehension

  • Oral Reading Fluency Assessments

  • Vocabulary building

  • Knowledge-Based approach to Writing

  • Special concerns for students with dyslexia and DLD

  • Integrating Speech to Print approaches

  • Resources, blogs, books, researchers, training, programs, and organizations to support the rest of your learning journey!

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