HEB ISD School & Family Magazine Fall 2017 | Seite 9

HEB ISD Collaborates with United Way and Area
Districts to Create the Lone Star Literacy Institute
Submitted by K-5 Coordinator of Language Arts LaDonna Schwobel
“GREAT WORKSHOP! It helped put all the pieces together. We have a plethora of information to utilize and
I loved learning the structure of mini lesson and workshop model as a student and teacher,” enthused a
participant of the Lone Star Literacy Institute.
Independent reading is the single biggest predictor of student
literacy success (Krashen, 2004). HEB ISD, in collaboration
with seven area school districts, the Educational Service
Center Region 11, and the United Way have partnered to
provide training to our educators. The purpose of the institute
is to increase the number of students reading on grade level
and maximize teacher knowledge about the foundational
components of literacy. In addition to onsite professional
development, the institute provides for ongoing support in
the form of on-line webinars and instructional coaching.
On August 16 th and 18 th , approximately 100 kindergarten
through third grade teachers from the HEB independent
school district received intensive instruction on the five
pillars of literacy instruction:
• Comprehension
• Fluency
• Listening/speaking/responding
• Phonics/phonemic awareness/vocabulary/word study
Teachers participated in an immersion exercise in which
they focused on a literacy block based on the researched
fundamentals of literacy. They learned to create classroom
structures that support student independence and maximize
time-in-text.
HEB ISD board member and United Way staff Dr. Faye
Beaulieu commented on how engaged and responsive
the teachers were during the training. “One kinder teacher
came up to thank me, and I could see how plans were
coming together for her as to how to implement what she was hearing. It was clear to see that participants
found the instruction useful!”
By role-playing as students, teachers learned in-depth literacy content and mastered the structure and pacing
of reading and writing workshop blocks. One participant shared, “I loved how much we got to interact with
both each other and the information.”
To learn more about the Lone Star Literacy Institute, visit: https://unitedwaytarrant.org/literacy-institute-helps-
teachers-and-students-shine/
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