“Every Child, Every Day.”
In my goal to become an endorsed Literacy Teacher, I took advantage of the free Read to Succeed classes offered by my district through VirtualSC. I gleaned very useful information from each class, but at some point it dawned on me that I was expending great effort on projects that no one other than my instructor would see. One of the main mantras of the classes was to expose students to exemplar work, but in these classes we never had a chance to view our fellow students’ assignments or creations. I was curious to see what others had done.
Below is my attempt to satisfy that same curiosity in you, should you have it. I did not receive a perfect score on all of these assignments, but I offer them to you as a starting place. My hope is that they will be helpful to you on your journey to becoming a South Carolina Literacy Teacher or gaining your R2S endorsement. Happy reading.
Tips for Taking R2S Courses
Three basic tips for successfully completing Read to Succeed Courses.
Content Area Reading and Writing for Secondary
While I have taught grades 5-12, I am certified in Secondary English. Because of this, I completed the Foundations of Reading and Writing for Secondary Teachers. This was my first Read to Succeed Course, and albeit probably not my best.
Instructional Practices
This was a great course, and the assignments were such that I could tailor them directly to my class. I actually used the parent letter in my own classroom, and found the fluency infographic helpful to create and refer back to.
Foundations of Reading
The readings from this class have probably stuck with me the most out of all the classes. Articles such as “Every Child, Every Day” by Richard Allington and Rachael Gabriel “Taming the Wild Text” by Pam Allyn, and even the excerpt from Read, Write, Lead have remained some of my go-to articles. This class changed the way I approach reading and fluency instruction in my classroom.
Assessment of Reading
This was my last Read to Succeed course, and perhaps the one with the best instructor. She gave excellent feedback, and as I took it during the COVID-19 crisis, we were exempted from all forum posts. It was delightful and allowed me to focus more on the readings and assignments.