The Titans Foundation’s vision is to improve the instruction of Reading and Language Arts for all children in the Washington, DC area. Through our Orton-Gillingham based multisensory structured literacy training and workshops our teachers are better able to meet the needs of every child.
A Word
From our Teachers
“This has been the best training I have had in the 24 years of teaching!”
-Barbara R, Classroom Teacher
The Missing Piece
“Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to participate in the Navigating Kindergarten training. I am a kindergarten teacher and I am thrilled to bring all that I’ve learned into my classroom. Your support has given me the missing piece to my reading language arts program.”
Best, Theresa S. – Holy Cross Catholic School
Multisensory Structured Literacy Training
- Energize Readiness (Pre –Kindergarten)
- Navigate Kindergarten
- First Grade Foundations
- Language Foundations
Energize Readiness (ER) is a one day training appropriate for pre-kindergarten and 4-year-old program teachers, as well as early childhood program leaders, childhood special education teachers, and speech language pathologists. This structured, multisensory curriculum that focuses on the pre-reading skills of oral language, phonological awareness, letter recognition, and letter sounds. Each of the 26 letters (and their corresponding alphabetic principle) and the numbers zero through nine are reinforced through multisensory teaching techniques. Trainees learn how to teach phonological awareness activities including oddity, segmenting, and splitting. Additionally, trainees learn several multisensory language techniques that encourage the development of symbol relationships with their students. Trainees will leave with a guided curriculum, supporting documents and teaching manipulatives.
A structured, multisensory curriculum that introduces, strengthens, and extends the three predictors of reading success: Letter Recognition, Phonological Awareness, and Oral Language. This course covers the Big 5 of Literacy as noted in research such as the documents of The National Reading Panel Letter Recognition (Alphabetic Principle), Phonological Awareness, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension. This curriculum can be used for a whole class lesson, as well as small group intervention, and individual student support in one-on-one sessions. All the lesson guides are ready to go. The format of the lesson is teacher friendly. The structure of each plan helps establish routines, provides for discovery, supports the organization of early childhood philosophy, and ensures security for children. Lessons are designed in a format that will allow a teacher many options to choose from so individual needs of students can be met.
A structured, multisensory scripted curriculum for first grade students. Through an interactive delivery system, FGF meets the needs of a variety of students, from reading-disabled to gifted. FGF allows teachers to be prepared for any student reading level with pre-literacy techniques and a comprehensive, balanced approach to the basics of language arts instruction. FGF features instruction in phonological awareness, phonics, oral reading fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, grammar, and spelling (includes spelling lists). Each lesson contains a decodable story for fluency development and assessment. FGF can easily be supplemented with standard literature or literature from any basal reading program. Periodic student assessments occur every 15-20 lessons. Trainees will leave with a guided curriculum, supporting documents and teaching manipulatives.
*Approved for CEU Credits and Maryland Recertification Credits – MSDE # 18-66-36.
Language Foundations is a compilation of structured techniques for multisensory teaching of language skills. Language Foundations is substantially based on Orton-Gillingham-Childs concepts and Alphabetic Phonics, developed by Aylett Royall Cox.
Orton-Gillingham concepts of multisensory teaching and remediation of dyslexia as an educational approach to a medical problem have had phenomenal success as a therapeutic application to both individual and small group situations. However the length of time required for remediation (usually three years) and the small number of individuals served by one therapist led this author to devise a program which could be used by teachers in the regular classroom, in a 45 minute time span, and could be combined with any basal reading program. This program is equally successful with elementary, secondary, and adult students for whom reading and spelling present significant problems. More importantly, the use of Language Foundations in the primary grades can act as a preventative measure for difficulty with reading and spelling in the later grades. It is designed for the regular classroom and is scripted, which enables the classroom teacher to access the extensive knowledge of the Academic Language Therapist and deliver the curriculum to students in 125 lessons.
Language Foundations delivers the complete range of phonemic awareness activities and the forty-four sounds and ninety-eight spellings of the English language in a sequential, multisensory, repetitive, spiraling approach. To facilitate fluency and prosody in reading, each lesson includes a decodable story based on the graphemes presented in the lesson. The morphological sources and grammatical structures of the English language, as well as written composition directives, are included in the curriculum. The program also includes assessment at approximately each fifteen lessons which enables the teacher to track student success.
Assessment and Testing Update
Our literacy assessment for Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten is the Early Learning Quick Assessment, a web-based assessment tool designed to measure children’s knowledge of early literacy fundamentals developed by the University of Oklahoma. This assessment measures the Big 5 of Literacy as noted by the National Reading Panel.
-Letter Recognition
-Phonological Awareness
-Fluency
-Vocabulary
-Comprehension
Teachers are able to use ELQA throughout the year to guide instruction in order to increase the acquisition of early literacy skills, ultimately closing the achievement gap for all students. Through our school partnerships we have helped assess over 1,000 students since 2018, and results show that students continue to surpass growth targets.
Our Primary Grades and Intervention programs incorporate multiple assessments throughout the year. Standardized testing results will be assessed at the end of the school year.
“It is evident in classwork and assessments that our students are making better gains in Reading and Language Arts. The Language Foundations programs provide strategic targeted lessons allowing students to better meet and exceed classroom standards.”
Barbara B – Resource Teacher
Screening for Success
Through collaboration with Bethesda Chevy Chase Counseling and Assessment (BCC-CAA), we have expanded our testing and assessments to cover the 3 most common learning challenges: Dyslexia, Dyscalculia & Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder. Using a short 3-pronged screening protocol called Screening for Success, we are able to help parents and educators better tailor instruction and possible interventions to a student’s educational needs. BCC-CAA also provides Psychoeducational, Neuro-Psychological, and Social-Emotional Assessments.
“The Titans Foundation is spreading the word that learning differences don’t need to limit a student's success. I am proud to be part of that mission.”
Dr. Teresa Giral – BCC-CAA
3 most common learning challenges
01.
Dyslexia
02.
Dyscalculia
03.
Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder
Resources
- Understood – for learning and attention issues
- Bethesda Chevy Chase Counseling & Assessment Associates
- National Center for Learning Disabilities
- International Dyslexia Association
Spotlight on Success
Support from our donors and volunteers over the last two years has made it possible for the Titans Foundation to
Multi-sensory Literacy Training
Host 4 multi-sensory literacy training classes, training over 160 teachers.
Host Simulations
A Classroom Simulation of the Struggling Learner for teachers, administrators and parents (over 400 participants).
Create New Partnerships
Create new partnerships with BCC-CAA, Columbia University, George Mason University, and the University of Oklahoma.
Add A New Titans School
Add a new Titans School in Q1 2019 – St. Mary School (Rockville).
Surpass Our Targets
Surpass student year end academic growth targets in our 10 Titans Schools.
Deliver Over 400 hours
Deliver over 400 hours of mentoring, assessment administration, and support for teachers and parents.
Obtain Certification Approval
Obtain certification approval for Maryland State Recertification Credits and Teacher Continuing Education Credits for our multi-sensory training programs.
Approval for MD Textbook Grant
Become an approved vendor for the Maryland Textbook Grant. This grant is used by schools to purchase curricula and materials for their students.