No school tomorrow for Bishop Heelan Catholic Schools because of our frigid winter weather. #crusadersstayingsafe

Implicit learning does not work for everyone. That's why explicit instruction of key reading skills is the best way to teach all students, say Nina Lorimor-Easley and IRRC Director Dr. Deborah Reed in our previous blog post iowareadingresearch.org/blog/structure…

Teachers can support the learning of all students using the components of systematic and explicit instruction in our eLearning Effective Literacy Instruction module. The module is free to Iowa educators and a minimal fee to everyone else iowareadingresearch.org/elearning-effe…

Families can practice young readers' literacy skills with activities such as alphabet knowledge and writing explained in these practice guides from the Center for Early Literacy Learning. Find activities based on age and skill for families to use at home bit.ly/3dCQVuy

Do you have questions about the new dyslexia specialist endorsement for experienced K-12 teachers? We have answers! Join our Director Dr. Deborah Reed tomorrow at 4 p.m. for a live Q&A with Decoding Dyslexia Iowa! It will stream on DDIA's Facebook page bit.ly/3bPCH8i

ANNOUNCEMENT: For teachers with at least 3 years' K-12 teaching experience, applications for the IRRC-coordinated dyslexia specialist endorsement are open! Applications for this hybrid program through College of Education are due May 15 iowareadingresearch.org/dyslexia-speci…

Introducing the first of our new Literacy Explainer series: Sight Words. These videos explain literacy terms and how they relate to the classroom. Learn about sight words and their role in learning to read effortlessly and with understanding.

Learn how to support students’ narrative development by using PEER questioning and graphic organizers during a teacher read aloud. Our eLearning Interactive Reading module is free to Iowa educators and a small fee to everyone else iowareadingresearch.org/elearning-inte…

How do non-repetitive reading fluency interventions affect the oral reading fluency and comprehension skills of students with reading difficulties? Our previous blog post explains the IRRC study that sought to answer that question iowareadingresearch.org/blog/research-…

Families receive demonstrations of devices and applications that students with dyslexia can use to complete educational and daily tasks at our free assistive technology consultation appointments. We offer virtual and in-person appointments iowareadingresearch.org/assistive-tech…

Students with a disability may have reading difficulties, but they have very different instructional needs depending on the type of disability. Our previous blog post explains the importance of understanding the 13 IDEA categories for literacy instruction iowareadingresearch.org/blog/disabilit…

Congrats girls!

Learn how to support the learning of all students in our eLearning Effective Literacy Instruction module. Participants learn about the five components of systematic and explicit instruction. The module is free to Iowa educators and a small fee to others iowareadingresearch.org/elearning-effe…

Our eLearning Teaching Students to Map Phonemes to Graphemes module explains this instructional method, how to support English learners with grapheme-phoneme mapping, and more. It’s free to Iowa educators a minimal fee to others iowareadingresearch.org/elearning-teac…

NEW: Our eLearning Using Text Structures to Understand and Summarize Text module launches today! It reviews text structures, how students can recognize them, & how to use graphic organizers. It’s free to Iowa educators & a small fee to others iowareadingresearch.org/elearning-usin…

Sight words are those that children can recognize instantly, without having to decode them. Caregivers and children can practice identifying sight words such as “time” or “have” this summer. Learn more about the two kinds of sight words in our Literacy Explainer video.

Children can practice identifying and using consonant digraphs at home this summer. With the IRRC Spell the Word Activity, children fill in the blank with the "ch" or "sh" digraphs using the help of pictures. Find the activity and instructions here bit.ly/2TKwNyC

It’s back to school time. Children entering kindergarten, 7th grade, and after age 16 need boosters for school. SDHD will be holding 4 vaccine clinics per week from August 9-20 for VFC eligible children. Please call 279-6119 to make an appointment. youtu.be/hLbr5pXK0fQ

Two Hour LATE START Tuesday due to icy winter conditions.

School has now been CANCELLED today Tuesday due to the road conditions.