The Science of Reading (K-5)

Are you one of the many educational professionals who seek to understand the science of reading and how to put its principles into practice in your classroom? The science of reading simply means reading instruction that is based on what has been scientifically proven to work. This online course provides K-5 teachers with the perfect tools to approach reading instruction using best practices, with readers specifically putting five areas of focus together (phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension) in order to become successful readers. Teachers will be provided with thorough background information and research-based support for each component of reading, as backed by reading science. As they progress through this course, teachers will be introduced to a variety of best practices as they relate to the teaching and learning of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and reading comprehension. Teachers will add many tools to their already-existing schemas to help students who struggle in any of these five areas of reading. Additionally, effective research-based strategies for working with students who are learning English as an additional language and students with dyslexia are also shared. By the end of this course, teachers will feel more confident and successful in their quest to embed the science of reading practices into their own reading instruction so that all K-5 students can become better, more literate readers. 

ADDITIONAL NOTES: 

PDI courses receive letter grades. You can register and begin the course at any time and have until the end of Ashland University’s academic year to complete it. This course is web-based so you can access it from any computer with internet access. It is also self-paced, so you can work entirely at your own pace, when it is convenient for you. There are no specific times you must be online and no individual deadline dates for assignments. They can be submitted any time, so long as everything has been submitted by the end of the academic term.

HOW TO ACCESS YOUR COURSE MATERIALS: 

Within 1-2 business days of your Ashland registration, you will receive an email from your course content provider, Professional Development Institute, containing instructions on how to access your course materials. A note, their emails are sometimes forwarded to junk or spam folders. 

You'll work with PDI, using their LMS, to complete the course, at which time, your instructor will post your final grade here to your AU transcript. You'll receive an email notification from Ashland PDS when the grade posts, with instructions on how to view and order transcripts. 

Ashland Professional Development: pds@ashland.edu