Teachers end RSN summer reading institute

Public school teachers ended the 10-day Reading Success Network Summer Reading Institute training last Friday at the Kagman Elementary School.

More than 27 public school teachers from Rota, Guam, and Saipan participated in the training that highlighted best practices in literacy instruction.

Pacific Resources for Education and Learning program specialist Susan L. Hanson led the training, flying in from Hawaii to conduct the workshop, which was conducted from June 14 to 24. She said the training was in cooperation with Kagman Elementary School’s Reading Resource teacher Jasmin Niedo.

The five instructors who facilitated the training also enlisted the help of more than 35 schoolchildren for the practical application of what the teachers learned during the workshop.

Hanson said the workshop was intended to assist teachers on the most effective approaches in assessing and monitoring the progress of lower elementary students. It was also intended to emphasize the three-way type of the learning process: Learning that is achieved through teachers to students, students to teachers, and students to students. She said the institute addressed the components of the Reading First Initiative such as phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension.

At the same time, Hanson said, the training wanted to assess the children and analyze the results of the training to further determine the learning needs of the students. “The participants learned to assess, analyze results, plan and implement guided learning lessons based on students’ needs,” she said.

The participants learned how to use effective reading and writing strategies, especially with struggling readers, added Niedo.

Hanson said this training is the first for the entire Pacific islands and that she was glad that the CNMI took the lead.

Hanson said the institute was designed to incorporate what research says are the components of the most effective staff development, which are theory, demonstrations of effective teaching practices, time for teachers to practice what they have learned and coaching from other teachers and reading specialist.

Niedo said the training was in cooperation with the Public School System. Education commissioner Rita H. Inos joined the participants on their final training day. She said PREL, KagES, Sinapalo Elementary School, and the International Business Professional College also sponsored the event.