Building Blocks of Early Literacy is learning the stages of literacy development through second grade. How to use assessments and case studies to determine where students are in the schema of literacy development. Finally, how to use curriculum resources to cover literacy that align with the new IL guidelines to literacy.

• Teacher’s will learn to utilize varied reading instruction to support struggling readers (2 years behind their grade level

Building Blocks of Early Literacy is learning the stages of literacy development through second grade. How to use assessments and case studies to determine where students are in the schema of literacy development. Finally, how to use curriculum resources to cover literacy that align with the new IL guidelines to literacy.

• Teacher’s will learn to utilize varied reading instruction to support struggling readers (2 years behind their grade level for 3-5; k-2 for kids not meeting developmental literacy milestones) to increase their decoding and encoding skills by 1 years growth as measured by the Phonics Inventory.
• They will learn how to do this through examining the stages of literacy development, phonemic awareness and phonics, as well as case studies to determine what stages of literacy students are at.
• Next they will determine what stage to start literacy instruction with a given curriculum resource.
Who Should Attend: Staff that work with students that are reading at the grade Birth-2nd Grade Reading level.
Satisfactory completion requirements:

• Attendance is based on your signature in and out of the session. Failure to provide a signature in and out will result in no credit. Virtual attendance is taken via the Zoom Chat.
• Participants are expected to attend the entire session to earn credit.
• Participants must complete an electronic course evaluation within two weeks of the session date to be sent a certificate.
• Accommodations, questions and complaints can be directed to: professionallearning@truenorth804.org
Cost Information: Participation fees are waived for TrueNorth employees, TrueNorth member district employees, and parents of students in our TrueNorth member districts. For individual participants who do not meet the above criteria, this course participation fee is $TBD.. Participation or material fees will be billed directly to the school district that employs the participant after the session is complete or the first session in a series is complete. Individuals are asked to not bring payment to the session.
Cancellation and Refund Information: There is no cancellation fee, though we ask for advance notice to open the spot for another person. TrueNorth reserves the right to cancel any session due to low enrollment. TrueNorth does not charge prior to the start of the offered session. If an individual attends the first day of a learning series but is unable to attend the remaining sessions, the school district that employs the participant is able to designate an alternate person. It is up to the individual no longer attending the program to give their replacement the information learned in the first session.
About the Presenters: Rachel Mutter-McKeon, Instructional Coach who has worked in special education in a range of settings for the past 23 years. I hold a BS in Inclusive education and MS Reading Teacher and Coach.
Financial Disclosure: Rachel Mutter-McKeon is an employee of TrueNorth Educational Cooperative 804 and receives a salary.
Non-Financial Disclosure: Rachel Mutter-McKeon has no relevant non-financial relationships.

*Member Districts include:
Northbrook 27, Northbrook 28, Sunset Ridge 29, Glenview/Northbrook 30, West Northfield 31, Glenview 34, Glencoe 35, Winnetka 36, Kenilworth 38, Lake Bluff 65, Lake Forest 67, Bannockburn 106, Deerfield 109, North Shore 112, Township HS 113, Lake Forest 115, New Trier 203, Glenbrook 225.

Have a question? Check out the Professional Learning FAQs or contact professionallearning@truenorth804.org.