"First Steps": A Powerful Resource for All Teachers!

At the Education Centre, expert Literacy Resource Teachers, Robin, Christine, and Ingrid, navigate fellow Literacy Coaches through the "First Steps" resource. The resource is a powerful tool to help teachers plan their units and scaffold students' learning processes. The main gist of this resource is to use diagnostic data to identify students' current literacy skills, using a map of development (called phases), in order to move students forward; thus improving their literacy skills.

Generally, this tool is used in the Primary and Intermediate/Junior areas, but it could, and should, be used at the Secondary level too. The "First Steps" resource is worth investigating as it improves student achievment and teachers' practices. Moreover, the resource assists teachers in engaging students in a variety of differentiated activities, while improving their literacy skills and their confidence.

The only drawback of this resource is that it is overwhelming at first; as with anything new. As a result, it helps to be trained or guided through it the first time. Check out the SCDSB website to see when there are available workshops. However, if you want to dig into this resource now, scan through the "Writing: Map of Development" continuum (on the first page of the text) and then take a look through the "Writing: Resource Book", to see some innovative activities that could move your students forward.

It would be time well spent to take a "First Steps" workshop or guide yourself through these resources.