Literacy services provide professional learning and coaching of instructional approaches in reading, writing, speaking, and listening for K-12 students. These efforts are designed to build a school learning community engaged in studying and promoting growth and student achievement in literacy.
Literacy Contacts
| Consultant | Districts Served |
| Melanie Andersen | Boyer Valley, Griswold, ISD, Lewis Central, Tri-Center, Underwood, Woodbine |
| Lori Helgevold | Diagonal, East Union, Mormon Trail, Mt. Ayr, Murray, St. Malachy |
| Karen Hesse | Bedford, Central Decatur, Clarinda, Clarinda Lutheran, South Page, Stanton |
| Jenna Hucka | Griswold, Harlan, IKM-Manning, Shelby County Catholic, Treynor, Riverside |
| Jennifer Johnson | East Mills, Essex, Fremont Mills, Glenwood, Hamburg, Red Oak, Shenandoah |
| Sally Johnston | Atlantic, Bedford, CAM, Clarinda, Clarke, Corning, Creston, Nodaway Valley, South Page, Villisca |
| Lynn Killpack | AHSTW, Harlan, Logan-Magnolia, Missouri Valley, Riverside, West Harrison |
| Kelsie Kralik | Atlantic, CAM, Creston, Lenox, Nodaway Valley, Orient-Macksburg |
| Emily Lampe | Central Decatur, Lamoni, Lenox, Mormon Trail, St. Malachy |
| Kari Olson | Council Bluffs, East Mills, Fremont Mills, Glenwood, Hamburg, Heartland Christian, Lewis Central, One School Global, St. Albert, Shenandoah, Sidney |
Department of Education Information
Data-Driven Decision Making
FASTBridge
I’ve Screened, Now What?
Classwide Guidance (contact your consultant for most recent guidance)
aReading Score Interpretation Guide
Literacy Status Chart for Iowa
How Do I Match Students to Interventions?
Phonological Awareness Diagnostic Assessments
- Phonological Awareness Screening Test (PAST) Kilpatrick
- Phoneme Substitution Screener (95% Group) Form X Form Y
- Heggerty
- Two Peas in a Pod
Phonics Diagnostic Assessments
- Really Great Reading Diagnostic Tools
- LETRS Phonics and Word Reading Survey (contact your consultant)
- Quick Phonics Screener
Spelling Diagnostic Assessments
Learning Opportunities
GHAEA Literacy Courses
- Green Hills AEA literacy consultants offer a variety of literacy courses each year. Please see this link for current opportunities.
Websites
- Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling- LETRS (contact your consultant)
- Louisa Moats, Literacy Expert and Author of LETRS
- Dr. Carol Tolman, International Literacy Expert & Co-Author of LETRS
- Tools 4 Reading, Dr. Mary Dahlgren & Dr. Antonia Fierro
- Top 10 Tools for Reading Teachers
- The Reading League Online Academy
- Iowa Reading Research E-Learning Modules , Website
- Keys to Literacy
- International Dyslexia Association Video Library
Webinars
- 95% Group David Kilpatrick Webinars
- Really Great Reading Webinars
- Simple View of Writing
- Anita Archer Literacy Summit Webinars #1-6
Podcasts
- Emily Hanford: Hard to Read, Hard Words, At a Loss for Words, Sold a Story
Books
An asterisk (*) indicates the book is available for check-out from GHAEA Media Center
- Language at the Speed of Sight by Mark Seidenberg
- The Writing Revolution by Natalie Wexler
- Equipped for Reading Success by David Kilpatrick *
- Essentials of Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties by David Kilpatrick with Book Study Guide *
- A Fresh Look at Phonics by Wiley Blevins
- Reader Come Home by Maryann Wolf
- Essentials of Dyslexia Assessment and Intervention by Nancy Mather and Barbara Wendling *
- Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching by Anita Archer and Charles Hughes *
- Conquering Dyslexia: A Guide to Early Detection and Intervention for Teachers and Parents by Jan Hasbrouck *
Blogs
Phonological Awareness Instruction
The ability to recognize and manipulate the sound properties of spoken words, such as syllables, initial sounds, rhyming parts, and phonemes – David Kilpatrick (Equipped for Reading Success)
Phonological Awareness Resources:
Phonics Instruction
Phonics instruction is a way of teaching reading that stresses the acquisition of letter-sound correspondences and their use in reading and spelling. – Reading Rockets
Phonics Resources:
- Really Great Reading – Countdown Resources focus on Phonological Awareness and Letter Sound knowledge
- Phonics/Decoding
- Link to West Virginia Phonics Tools4Reading
- Can be used for Small Group and Class-wide Interventions.
- Scope and Sequence of Lessons
- Anita Archer Instructional Routines- Phonics
- The Reading League Decodable Text Sources
- Readsters Decodable Text
- Letter Sounds
- Vowel Letter Sounds
- Elkonin Boxes Routine
- Grapheme Tiles Large
- Interactive Alphabet Arc
Fluency Instruction
“Fluency is defined as the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and proper expression. In order to understand what they read, children must be able to read fluently whether they are reading aloud or silently. When reading aloud, fluent readers read in phrases and add intonation appropriately. Their reading is smooth and has expression.” — Reading Rockets
Fluency Resources:
Vocabulary Instruction
Vocabulary is the knowledge of words and word meanings. As Steven Stahl (2005) puts it, “Vocabulary knowledge is knowledge; the knowledge of a word not only implies a definition, but also implies how that word fits into the world.” — Reading Rockets
Vocabulary Resources:
Comprehension Instruction
“Reading comprehension is the act of understanding what you are reading. While the definition can be simply stated the act is not simple to teach, learn or practice. Reading comprehension is an intentional, active, interactive process that occurs before, during and after a person reads a particular piece of writing.” — K12 Reader
Comprehension Resources:
Writing Instruction
“Writing today is not a frill for the privileged few, but an essential skill for the many.” – Handbook of Language and Literacy
Writing Resources:
Additional Resources for Instruction
- Iowa Reading Research Center– Web Resources for Parents and Educators
- Florida Center for Reading- Learning Center Activities for K-5. Great to teach and reinforce skills.
- Free Reading (Beginning Reading Kindergarten) Lessons and Materials
- Effective Instruction for Middle School Students with Reading Difficulties
- Florida Center Empowering Teachers Instructional Routines
- Reading Rockets
Text Resources
- AEA Digital Resources-free digital resources such as BookFlix, PebbleGo, and MackenVIA
- For assistance with implementation please contact your digital learning consultant
- Storyline Online
- Printable booklets for Beginning Readers
- OverDrive – free ebooks or audiobooks through public libraries
- Flyleaf Online books
- Readworks
- Newsela
