In this episode, Dr. Rick Gilson with ARPDC visits with Christina Giddings, Stefanie McLeod, and Dr. Colleen Pollett of the University of Florida Literacy Institute – UFLI about their work to provide teachers (and parents) with materials, resources, lessons, and support to build foundational work in the classroom (and home) in developing confident and capable readers and writers of the English language. “Building Strong Readers” is the motto that motivates all that they do. Our guests share how they got into the work, what motivates them, what they have learned and how they hope the work can make a difference in the lives of students, teachers, and families. Along the way they share a couple of books they are reading and ideas you might apply at work, home or in your life.
“Literacy is a social justice issue tied to equity.”
“It’s harmful to no one to sit through a systematic phonics lesson.” (note they are short a few minutes a day in the UFLI model)
“Harmful to none, beneficial to all, essential for many.”
The UFLI website has a wealth of resources, all provided as open education resources(free of charge); the UFLI foundation manual complete with lessons, is the only component of the work that must be purchased directly from UFLI. In addition the UFLI team is active in their support of the UFLI Facebook Group. The links to the UFLI – decodable text samples are all linked to the lessons in the manual. Refer as well to the Diverse Book Finder website below.
Resources shared during the podcast:
Books each guest shared:
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
A Whole New World: A Twisted Tale 1 of many in the series by Liz Braswell
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Beginning to Read by Marilyn Adams
Recommended Website: https://diversebookfinder.org/
