Pearl Faculty PD - A Focus on Reading       

Every year the Pearl Faculty engages in a book study together for professional development and we always invite parents to read along with us.  Several faculty will attend the April Pearl Parent Tea on April 12th in hopes of engaging with any of our parents who have read some or all of the books and want to chat about their learning, ideas, questions and related resources.  We look forward to collegial conversation and growth with you!

After two years looking closely at Growth Mindset and Mathematical Mindset, we are focusing on literacy this year and next.  The first book title we’re reading is called, Teaching the Brain to READ;  Strategies for Improving Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension, by Judy Willis, M.D., who is both a neurologist and a middle grades teacher.  Willis’s unique perspective that includes a deep understanding of current brain research walks us through strategies to teach the various stages of a developing reader, from pre reading and decoding to patterning, fluency building, vocabulary building and successful reading comprehension.  Willis focuses on both the mechanics of reading as well as strategies for fostering a love of reading in all students.  Her style is equally useful for classroom teachers and homeschooling parents.

Another book that Pearl faculty is finding to be both practical and passionate, blending theory and practice, is called Catching Readers Before They Fall;  Supporting Readers Who Struggle, K-4, co-written by long time reading teachers Pat Johnson and Katie Keier. In their book, Johnson and Keier address the important difference between the much beloved Balanced Literacy - a practice of surrounding children with quality literature to promote a love of learning, hoping they’ll learn how to read with enough exposure, and Structured Literacy -  explicit, systematic, and sequential instruction, which is often actually necessary before struggling readers (typically about 20% of any population) are able to read fluently.

And the third book on our list, a nice balance to the other two, is called The Book Whisperer; Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child, by Donalyn Miller.  Miller offers simple and practical advice for inspiring reluctant readers and she explains the inherent need that all children have to engage  intellectually and emotionally with books.

We invite you to join us in this deep dive into literacy instruction! No matter how much we think we know about teaching reading, we find that there is always more to learn and practice in this profession.  

If you are new to Pearl this year, we also recommend one of our very favorite Math Mindset books, What’s Math Got to Do with It? By Jo Boaler.