What is S.M.I.L.A.?
Click link here: Smila Program - YouTube
For: Educators or others wishing to learn the concepts behind Structured Literacy/The Science of Reading and how to effectively instruct students in one-on-one, small group, or large classroom settings.
When: Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM-3:00PM.
June 2-24, 2022
Where: Inspiring Minds Learning Center
What: This is a 45 hour course designed to create highly skilled structured literacy teachers and tutors. On a daily basis, participants will attend lectures, observe instruction, practice what they have learned, receive immediate feedback, and learn how to write effective lesson plans. First year participants will complete the Introductory Course. Second year participants will complete the Continuum Course.The S.M.I.L.A. program has a successful history and was initially developed at Lester Demonstration School, a public school in Memphis, TN. In 1996, the S.M.I.L.A. training program moved to Shelby Oaks Elementary School, another Memphis City School, where they continue to work with educators and students to this day. Beginning in Summer, 2015, S.M.I.L.A. began offering the same training to the Nashville area..
This summer, dedicated classroom teachers, speech pathologists, school administrators, and other related professionals spend 3 weeks at the Institute developing and enhancing their knowledge of the following components:
· Identification of Individual Learning Needs, Strengths, and Weaknesses· Phonology and Phonological Awareness· Sound-Symbol Association· Syllable Instruction· Morphology· Syntax· Semantics· Oral Language· Written Language· Orthographic Mapping· Principles of Effective Instruction· Simultaneous, Multisensory (VAKT)· Systematic and Cumulative Instruction· Direct Instruction· Diagnostic Teaching· Synthetic and Analytic Methodologies
S.M.I.L.A. operates under the 501(c)(3) charter of the Binghampton Fellowship Foundation. Our mission is to equip and train teachers in the use of the highly effective and proven research-based methods for instructing students to read, write, spell, speak, and comprehend oral and written language. Accredited by the International Dyslexia Association and the International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council (IMSLEC),
S.M.I.L.A. strives to promote language development and literacy for students in the early elementary grades where research has shown it is most effective and, thereby, leads to a more successful educational experience throughout school. The multisensory method of language arts instruction allows for teaching to all of the learning styles – visual, auditory, and tactile/kinesthetic. Derived from the Slingerland® Approach, the program trains teachers to incorporate the students’ auditory, visual, and tactile/kinesthetic senses into instruction for learning language skills. Links are consistently being made between the visual (what we see), auditory (what we hear), and kinesthetic-tactile (what we feel) pathways in learning to read and write. This approach teaches children and adults to link sounds of the letters with the written symbol and to feel how the letter or letters are formed. For instance, as students learn a new letter, they carefully trace, copy, and write the letter while verbalizing the corresponding letter name. Students then read and spell words, phrases, and sentences using these patterns. Teachers and their students rely on all three pathways for learning rather than focusing on a single method.
Students who do not display symptoms of learning disabilities as they go through school often learn by using all of their senses to take in information, or they may learn well using whatever modality is used by the teacher in the classroom. However, for many students, their strongest learning modalities and specific learning needs have not been identified and are not being taught in the classroom; therefore, they are missing vital information needed to achieve. Since reading, writing, and listening are the forms in which most academic instruction are presented, students who fall behind in the early grades are likely not to catch up and perform well throughout the subsequent years of school unless they receive remediation at an appropriate time and with a specially trained tutor.
S.M.I.L.A. provides teachers with the knowledge of language development and the skills needed to help all students make satisfactory progress in oral and written language, reading, decoding and comprehension. S.M.I.L.A. hopes to reach more students by training a larger number of teachers and program instructors each year.
Why This Training: Our training will provide the time and the scaffolding educators need to successfully implement what they have learned. Technical information is presented, and it deserves both time and practice. We feel quick trainings without immediate feedback and assistance will not be as effective and will lead to errors; therefore, this training is for individuals who care to learn the why and the how of crafting instruction to meet individual needs of students. Also, this training will equip educators to teach entire classrooms in a cost-efficient way.
This course does include a practicum. A practicum is necessary for certification and may be arranged after completion of this course.
For: Educators or others wishing to learn the concepts behind Structured Literacy/The Science of Reading and how to effectively instruct students in one-on-one, small group, or large classroom settings.
When: Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM-3:00PM.
June 2-24, 2022
Where: Inspiring Minds Learning Center
What: This is a 45 hour course designed to create highly skilled structured literacy teachers and tutors. On a daily basis, participants will attend lectures, observe instruction, practice what they have learned, receive immediate feedback, and learn how to write effective lesson plans. First year participants will complete the Introductory Course. Second year participants will complete the Continuum Course.The S.M.I.L.A. program has a successful history and was initially developed at Lester Demonstration School, a public school in Memphis, TN. In 1996, the S.M.I.L.A. training program moved to Shelby Oaks Elementary School, another Memphis City School, where they continue to work with educators and students to this day. Beginning in Summer, 2015, S.M.I.L.A. began offering the same training to the Nashville area..
This summer, dedicated classroom teachers, speech pathologists, school administrators, and other related professionals spend 3 weeks at the Institute developing and enhancing their knowledge of the following components:
· Identification of Individual Learning Needs, Strengths, and Weaknesses· Phonology and Phonological Awareness· Sound-Symbol Association· Syllable Instruction· Morphology· Syntax· Semantics· Oral Language· Written Language· Orthographic Mapping· Principles of Effective Instruction· Simultaneous, Multisensory (VAKT)· Systematic and Cumulative Instruction· Direct Instruction· Diagnostic Teaching· Synthetic and Analytic Methodologies
S.M.I.L.A. operates under the 501(c)(3) charter of the Binghampton Fellowship Foundation. Our mission is to equip and train teachers in the use of the highly effective and proven research-based methods for instructing students to read, write, spell, speak, and comprehend oral and written language. Accredited by the International Dyslexia Association and the International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council (IMSLEC),
S.M.I.L.A. strives to promote language development and literacy for students in the early elementary grades where research has shown it is most effective and, thereby, leads to a more successful educational experience throughout school. The multisensory method of language arts instruction allows for teaching to all of the learning styles – visual, auditory, and tactile/kinesthetic. Derived from the Slingerland® Approach, the program trains teachers to incorporate the students’ auditory, visual, and tactile/kinesthetic senses into instruction for learning language skills. Links are consistently being made between the visual (what we see), auditory (what we hear), and kinesthetic-tactile (what we feel) pathways in learning to read and write. This approach teaches children and adults to link sounds of the letters with the written symbol and to feel how the letter or letters are formed. For instance, as students learn a new letter, they carefully trace, copy, and write the letter while verbalizing the corresponding letter name. Students then read and spell words, phrases, and sentences using these patterns. Teachers and their students rely on all three pathways for learning rather than focusing on a single method.
Students who do not display symptoms of learning disabilities as they go through school often learn by using all of their senses to take in information, or they may learn well using whatever modality is used by the teacher in the classroom. However, for many students, their strongest learning modalities and specific learning needs have not been identified and are not being taught in the classroom; therefore, they are missing vital information needed to achieve. Since reading, writing, and listening are the forms in which most academic instruction are presented, students who fall behind in the early grades are likely not to catch up and perform well throughout the subsequent years of school unless they receive remediation at an appropriate time and with a specially trained tutor.
S.M.I.L.A. provides teachers with the knowledge of language development and the skills needed to help all students make satisfactory progress in oral and written language, reading, decoding and comprehension. S.M.I.L.A. hopes to reach more students by training a larger number of teachers and program instructors each year.
Why This Training: Our training will provide the time and the scaffolding educators need to successfully implement what they have learned. Technical information is presented, and it deserves both time and practice. We feel quick trainings without immediate feedback and assistance will not be as effective and will lead to errors; therefore, this training is for individuals who care to learn the why and the how of crafting instruction to meet individual needs of students. Also, this training will equip educators to teach entire classrooms in a cost-efficient way.
This course does include a practicum. A practicum is necessary for certification and may be arranged after completion of this course.
