Tier 1: Academic

Think about how you learned math… and the ways that you teach math to young learners. How can you help set up your students for future success in mathematics starting in the early grades? Children are interested in math well before they start school – they notice basic shapes, construct simple patterns, and learn to count. Early numeracy serves as the gatekeeper for higher level mathematics. Using evidence-based practices to capitalize on children’s natural interest in math can help build the foundation for future mathematics success. In this course, you will learn about developmental progression of math skills and concepts, evidence-based strategies for teaching math to young children (and how to implement them!), and how to support students with mathematics difficulties.

By the end of this course, learners will: 

• Understand developmental math progressions and how they impact the teaching of mathematics to young learners.
• Increase capacity for supporting young learners with math difficulties. 
• Design learning activities that implement evidence-based practices for early numeracy into daily classroom routines and lessons.

At some point in your career–whether you are new to teaching, a veteran, or switching roles–it’s likely that you will be asked (or told…) to co-teach. It’s also likely that you will receive little to no training on how to effectively collaborate with another educator to best meet your students’ needs. Well, that’s about to change! This course is the first in a series on BRIDGE-RI to support co-teaching implementation. This course provides the foundation for the full series and will present the legal, ethical, and research foundations for co-teaching, along with a high-level overview of the co-teaching models. 

Now more than ever our students are arriving with varied strengths and needs.  Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is the way to ensure we support ALL of our students. This course is designed to help you start your journey towards understanding what UDL is, why it is important, and how to approach planning with UDL to ensure every student, regardless of variability, can access the content and engage in meaningful learning. The content in this course is organized around 4 sections:

Math Peer Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS): Methods for Grades 2-6 was designed for use with students in the elementary grades 2-6 and supports students development and mastery of key calculation concepts and applications representing the curriculum from grades 2-6. In PALS Math students work together to learn key concepts and procedures.  Designed to supplement your regular classroom instruction, it will give your students a chance to practice what they are learning with a different look, different questions and novel problems. This course will cover the skills of computation for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division in addition to key concepts and applications across grades 2-6, including area and perimeter, fractions, money, and ratios and probability and many more.  Repeated scientific evaluations of  PALS Math indicate that high-achieving, average-achieving and low-achieving students, as well as students with disabilities, make progress in a PALS classroom more than non-PALS classrooms. NOTE: To implement, participants must have a PALS Math program materials, so the course will prompt that process.

Have you ever wondered why some students require more specific instruction than others in the language of mathematics? Or how educators can support student development of vocabulary around mathematical concepts? This course will provide easy to implement practices you can do tomorrow.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn about the language of mathematics and the importance of vocabulary
• Understand the challenges of word problems
• Discover instructional practices to support language and vocabulary development

In this course, you will learn about a research-based math strategy you can implement in your classroom to boost students’ mental math skills and develop their flexibility, accuracy and efficiency when solving math problems. This course will introduce you to the major components of a number talk and suggest ways of using number talks in your classroom, including as a formative assessment method so you start integrating this powerful strategy in your teaching practice today. 

Course Objectives:

• Describe how number talks promote student understanding of mathematics
• Identify the major components of a number talk
• Plan for supports needed for struggling students
• Identify ways you can use number talks for formative assessment
• Apply the number talks strategy in your classroom

How can you help all your students succeed in mathematics? Learn about how to integrate the content and practice standards in your instruction to support mathematical rigor and encourage all students to see themselves as math learners.

• Learn about the key shifts in the mathematics standards to emphasize coherence, focus and rigor in math instruction.
• Define what is meant by “rigor” in a mathematics classroom.
• Explore the importance of a growth mindset.
• Gain an understanding of the content and practice standards and how they interact across grade levels.

This course is Part 1 of a two-part series and is designed to establish foundational understanding before moving into Part 2, where participants will dive more deeply into strategies to utilize with learners. Upon completion of all Part 1 course requirements, participants will receive an enrollment key which will allow access to the second course-Core Instruction in the Mathematics Classroom (Part 2): Advanced-Facilitating Deep Mathematical Understanding.

Like what you learned in Core Instruction in the Mathematics Classroom (Part 1): Foundations, but still ask, “What strategies can I use in my classroom to facilitate deep mathematical understanding?” This three-hour course is the second course in a two-part series that builds on the elements learned by diving deeply into the topics introduced in the previous course. You will learn about specific strategies and reflect on specific actions you can take in your classroom to plan instruction for standards alignment and mathematical rigor. 

Who should take this course? This course expands on Core Instruction in the Mathematics Classroom (Part 1): Foundations. Take this course if you are interested in more in-depth learning on strategies for improving core mathematics instruction.  

• Build on your learning from the first course with strategies you can implement in your math classroom to achieve rigor
• Learn how you can use the domain progressions in planning your mathematics instruction
• Explore how the standards for mathematical practice translate to teacher and student actions in the classroom and the strategies you can use to implement the standards
• Practice using the domains and standards to plan mathematics instruction that considers how students progress across grade levels

Empty heading

Core Instruction in the Mathematics Classroom (Part 1): Foundations is a prerequisite to this course. Once you enroll in that course and complete all required activities, you will unlock the enrollment key which allows you to enroll in this course. Copy and paste the enrollment key when prompted to enroll in this course. If you have any challenges with this process, please contact Michele Walden-Doppke.

This self-paced course was updated in spring of 2023.  It is a prerequisite introduction for a pathway of courses on the Reading Foundational Skills. Through this pathway, participants will develop an understanding of the foundational reading skills in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), how these standards connect to the Science of Reading, and what instruction of each the following foundational skills should entail: print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, and fluency.  NOTE:  This course does not fulfill the Right to Read professional learning mandate.  Learning objectives include:

• Become familiar with reading research (the Science of Reading).

• Clarify common misconceptions around Foundational Skills within the Common Core State Standards.

• Analyze the Common Core State Standards Foundational Skill progression to illustrate its connection with the Science of Reading in order to move into a deeper exploration of each component (i.e., print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, and fluency) in future pathway courses.

• Illustrate how various staff roles can support students' reading development.

This self-paced course, updated in spring of 2023, is one of the courses in the Reading: Foundational Skills pathway. Through this pathway, participants will develop an understanding of the foundational reading skills in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), how these standards connect to the Science of Reading, and what instruction of each the following foundational skills should entail: print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, and fluency. This course will dive deeper into Print Concepts.  NOTE:  This course does not fulfill the Right to Read Awareness Training and professional learning mandate.  

Learning Objectives:

• Understanding how Print Concepts relates to a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) and the Science of Reading (SoR)
  
• Clarify what to teach to address print concepts and how to teach these skills 
  
• Clarify how to assess if students have the skills of Print Concepts

Please note that Introduction to Reading: Foundational Skills is a prerequisite for enrolling in this course.

This self-paced course is one of the courses in the Reading: Foundational Skills pathway. Through this pathway, the goal is to develop an understanding of the foundational reading skills in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), how these standards connect to the Science of Reading, and what instruction of each the following foundational skills should entail: print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, and fluency.  NOTE:  This course does not fulfill the Right to Read professional learning mandate.  
  

The goal of this course is for any educators, paraprofessionals, or anyone who supports students in reading to understand what phonological awareness is and how to support its development.   When we improve students phonological awareness skills, we improve their reading ability -- and the earlier, the better!

After completing this course, you will:

• Understand and be able to explain to others what phonological awareness is and why it is a critical foundational skill for all students to master
• Understand how phonological awareness relates to the Science of Reading and Structured Literacy
• Continue to build awareness of the progression of foundational skills in the CCSS (including phonological awareness) as Tier 1 instruction for all students in a Multi-Tiered System of Supports
• Clarify the what and how in teaching phonological awareness
  
• Clarify how to assess if students have the skills of phonological awareness mastered to inform instruction

Please note that Introduction to Reading: Foundational Skills is a prerequisite for enrolling in this course and Reading Foundational Skills: Print Concepts is a recommended prerequisite as these courses make a pathway.

Are you interested in learning more about an evidence-based way to improve your students' writing? This course on Self-Regulated Strategies Development (SRSD) for writing will introduce participants to this highly effective, evidence-based approach for teaching writing.  A brief overview of the SRSD process will be provided alongside first hand data and reports from local educators explaining both its effectiveness and ease of implementation.  While this is a stand-alone course, it also serves as a prerequisite to the facilitated course, Writing- Teaching Informational Writing with SRSD where educators learn how to implement SRSD.

This course explores best practices in supporting young children who are experiencing writing difficulties through an evidence-based approach called data-based instruction.  Participants will learn about the key elements of writing and how both curriculum-based measurement and explicit writing instruction are systematically used to support young writers.