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Here are the things that have made Kate’s favourites list:

Kate Winn

Kate Winn is an Ontario teacher with 26 years of classroom experience, and a teacher educator who specializes in evidence-based literacy. As an author (Reading Assessment Done Right, Scholastic 2026), consultant, presenter, and host of IDA Ontario's Reading Road Trip podcast, she shares her passion for literacy practices that help all students reach reading and writing success.

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katethismomloves

👩🏻‍🏫 Teacher 🎤 Speaker 🎧 Host of IDA ON’s Reading Road Trip podcast 💻 Author: Reading Assessment Done Right from Scholastic, available now!

Our parent/grandparent letter formation volunteer

➡️ A no-stress template for phonics work that you

➡️ A no-stress template for phonics work that you can quickly and easily leave for a supply/substitute teacher! I designed it to use with UFLI Foundations, but you can adapt for any program which incorporates word chains with manipulative letters. 🔡

You can find it at the link 🔗 in my bio, called “Supply Plan Template - UFLI Word Work”. Make a copy and edit to suit your context. 💻

#phonics #phonicsprogram #uflifoundations #earlyliteracy #literacyinstruction

What a great weekend in Calgary for the NetWORDing

What a great weekend in Calgary for the NetWORDing conference! It was an honour to give the opening keynote - to almost 400 educators who gave up their Saturday to learn more about literacy - and it’s always fun to sign books and meet people I’ve only ever communicated with online (shoutout to Ariana for the lovely encounter that had us both tearing up! 🥹)

Only one glitch: when the high school’s rotating monitor display overrode my keynote slides, and instead of the ORF data I was talking about, everyone was looking at an ad for an event involving Super Mario?! 😂 (It was fixed quickly!)

A lovely happy hour at a (gorgeous) local home with other presenters, and then a delicious dinner at The Nash wrapped up the day! 🍔 (Somehow they just knew that I was the perfect patron to seat in front of the roaring 🔥!)

It’s always such a privilege to travel ✈️ yet I’m always thankful to be heading home to my family, my own bed (😴} and my classroom. (I was considering adding 30 child emojis but decided to spare you!)

Thanks to my travel buddy @unamalcolm for being my photographer too!

#scienceofreading #structuredliteracy #earlyliteracy #readingassessment readingscreening

After many requests, it’s finally here - link in b

After many requests, it’s finally here - link in bio! 🎉

A free, editable resource to make report card writing just a little easier this season, with sample comments and home tips connected to the Acadience Reading K-6 screener skills. 💻

Even if you use a different screener, many measures are the same or similar, so it may still be of use to you. 👀

Make a copy, use what’s helpful, and please send me your questions, suggestions, and ideas for future updates, as this is a first draft and work in progress. 💬

🔗 Link in bio!

#TeacherShortcuts
#ReportCardComments #ScienceOfReading
#AcadienceReading
#TeacherTimeSavers

Our Birthday Book tradition! 🎉🎈📚 Thanks to the mo

Our Birthday Book tradition! 🎉🎈📚

Thanks to the mom and grandma who did some thrifting to help us grow our collection! My Scholastic points have helped too!

#readaloud #readalouds #birthdaytradition #birthdaybook #kindergarten

Sharing tips and ideas to support the skill of Fir

Sharing tips and ideas to support the skill of First Sound Fluency! See link in bio for a doc full of further resources. 🗣️

In terms of sources for the activities I mention in the video, the roll and read was from TPT and I can’t find the exact same one anymore, but if you search “First Sound Roll and Say” there are some inexpensive options. The picture cards with clothespins were from The Measured Mom (now called Reach All Readers). The mats with objects were from a Lakeshore Learning Match-A-Sound kit I inherited when I came into kindergarten and I believe you can still purchase it through Wintergreen as well, and Hand2Mind also sent me a “Sort that Sound” activity set which I use - BUT you can work on this skill without purchasing anything - use any pictures or objects that you have around the classroom. 🧸

P.S. I know my data isn’t “research”, but I have never had to go back to the phonological sensitivity level (e.g., isolating/segmenting syllables) to help a student understand phoneme isolation/segmentation. I highly recommend working at the phoneme level. ✅

#firstsoundfluency #readingassessment #readingscreener #phonemicawareness #earlyliteracy

“I’m not Mrs. Young” comes out just ahead of “Fing

“I’m not Mrs. Young” comes out just ahead of “Fingers out of noses” for my most frequent utterance at school… 😆

#teacherlife #kindergartenteacher #kindergartenclass #kindergartenclassroom

FREE! I’m excited to be co-presenting with Dr. Ste

FREE! I’m excited to be co-presenting with Dr. Stephanie Stollar at @amplify.education Literacy Data and MTSS Webinar Week!

Join us on Monday, October 5 at 4 p.m. ET for our presentation, “From Screening to Systems: Building a Sustainable, School-Wide MTSS.” We’ll explore how to move from screening data to instruction and results, creating a clear, sustainable pathway for every student.
Save your spot today!

Register here: https://go.info.amplify.com/fy26_elemlitsolutions_sorliteracydataandmtssweek_national_webinars_webinar-series_getintouchoption_optin

#MTSS #ScienceOfReading #ReadingAssessment #ReadingInstruction

Show and share started this week! Each student has

Show and share started this week! Each student has a day of the week, and their parent/guardian emails a photo for them to talk about. 🗣️ (A remnant of COVID protocols; photos allow a much bigger range of topics than small items brought to school.)

Students follow the TIDE (topic, important details, end) paragraph-writing format from Releasing Writers/ @thinksrsd. 🧠

You can see my ECE partner moving the coloured rocket ship pieces on the magnetic board as the student checks off each step (watch to the end of the video to see a closeup of the board). 🚀

🟢 “This is my velociraptor.”
🟡 “It has some golden on it the way up the head.”
🟡 “He has red eyes.”
🟡 “And he has sharp claws up here and sharp fingernails.”
🟡 “And there are spikes.”
🟡 “And he’s all black.”
🔴 “And it was so cool to get…my velociraptor is so cool.”

Just learning to form letters and spell words, yet these 3, 4, and 5 year-olds can orally compose a paragraph in front of their peers once a week. Building these skills in tandem is setting these students up for future writing success (on top of the great public speaking practice). ✍🏼

Always here for questions! ❓

(And as always, video is shared with permission!)

#thinksrsd #showandshare #showandtell #orallanguage #earlywriting

It’s Code Pack day! 🎉 #phonicsinstruction #struct

It’s Code Pack day! 🎉

#phonicsinstruction #structuredliteracy #scienceofreading #ontariokindergarten #earlyliteracy

As a classroom teacher, it can be hard to figure o

As a classroom teacher, it can be hard to figure out where to begin when it comes to oral language supports. 🤔

This free tool has been helpful for me - and it was neat to see the progress this particular student made over time. 🗣️

Link to the assessment form is in my bio.

#OralLanguage #OralLanguageAssessment #OralLanguageInstruction

Free play vs explicit instruction: another false d

Free play vs explicit instruction: another false dichotomy!

#Kindergarten #OntarioKindergarten #KindergartenTeacher

Writing! One of the most common topics I’m asked a

Writing! One of the most common topics I’m asked about is writing instruction, and in particular the Releasing Writers (formerly called @thinksrsd) approach that we use in our kindergarten class (and all the way through Grade 8 at our school). ✍🏼

I’ve saved all my posts on this topic to my “Highlights” - be sure to check them out if you’re wondering about this approach too! 👀

P.S. The Learning Through Literacy units on the @onlit.social website (currently available for Grades 2-6 & 9 with more to come) incorporate this approach, and connect to content areas too!

#writinginstruction #releasingwriters #thinksrsd #writinginkindergarten

It’s IEP time - let’s get this right so ALL studen

It’s IEP time - let’s get this right so ALL students can read! 📖

#dyslexia #ieps

🌟 While we are thrilled with our results (especial

🌟 While we are thrilled with our results (especially the growth from last year; swipe for details) there’s still lots of work to be done! We will definitely administer Middle of Year screening to everyone, even though here in Ontario it is only mandated for students who didn’t meet the Beginning of Year composite benchmark. 📚

Always here for questions! 🙋🏻‍♀️

On one hand I’m jealous of teachers who had their

On one hand I’m jealous of teachers who had their one and only “first day of school” a week ago, and are already settled into routine, as opposed to our staggered entry and three (intense) “first days”. 💪

But on the other hand, it’s a pretty incredible honour to be part of welcoming these little ones on their first ever day of school. ❤️ Plus, there are many benefits to doing staggered entry.

Tomorrow we have all 30 kindergarten students together for the first time! 🎉 (And the seating plan has been completed! 😉) Does your school do staggered entry?

We have a great parent community and I’ve received

We have a great parent community and I’ve received quite a few of these messages over the years. What’s that saying? “We won’t believe everything your child tells us about home if you don’t believe everything your child tells you about school!” 😆

When the ring bearer becomes a groom, 25 years lat

When the ring bearer becomes a groom, 25 years later! 💒 (And he even stayed awake this time!)

Wishing @camheffernan and @em.donaldson1 all the best in their married life! Thanks for including us in your special day! 💕

Is it “and me” or “and I”? Here’s an easy trick to

Is it “and me” or “and I”? Here’s an easy trick to use! ✂️

What do you think about the final question - “and me” or “and I”? (And who else loves Lioness?)

#GrammarTip #GrammarTips #Grammar

Teachers: Save time - stop giving a diagnostic to

Teachers: Save time - stop giving a diagnostic to every student! 🛑

An exception I’m often asked about is a letter/sound assessment to narrow down exactly which letters/sounds aren’t yet known. My response is go for it, ONLY IF the results are actually going to impact instruction. Are you going to take separate groups based on which letters/sounds are known? Or, as I sometimes do, send home index cards with a handful of unknown letters so families can help support practice? If so, then great. If having those specifics won’t change anything, then don’t bother. Our time is too precious! ⏰

#ReadingAssessment #ReadingScreener

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