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Building Wings

Differentiated.
Engaging.
Purposeful.

Our evidence-based special education resources are designed to help ALL students reach new heights in their literacy learning.

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Cover of Readtopia Teacher Guide "Fact or Fiction Anchored by The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" on a tablet screen with other First Author materials to the right of the tablet.

How We Build Wings

Led by Don Johnston, Building Wings develops engaging instructional materials that meet the widest range of student needs.

We partner with an interdisciplinary team of specialists in literature, literacy, history, education, photography, film, alternate assessment, and exploration.

Our contributors include:

Don Johnston shows a group of children something on his laptop, while vistiing Kenya.

Don
Johnston

MS

Headshot of Karen Erickson wearing a red shirt, with a purple scarf

Karen
Erickson

PhD

Headshot of Janet Sturm wearing a green shirt.

Janet
Sturm

PhD, CCC-SLP, BCS-CL, F-ASHA

Headshot of Caroline Musselwhite wearing a purple shirt

Caroline
Ramsey Musselwhite

EdD • CCC-SLP

The Right Tools to Help ALL Students Soar

ALL students are capable of experiencing learning breakthroughs.
They just need opportunity—and the right tools.

Readtopia

Readtopia

Readtopia will help engage ALL of your students in phonics and early reading with themed units across multiple subject areas.

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First Author

First Author

First Author will guide you step-by-step through teaching writing so that you can help ALL students use writing as a form of expressive communication.

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Why Special Educators Love Building Wings

Thousands of teachers use our comprehensive special education
resources to ensure that students facing the biggest challenges in
their learning process can read, write, and communicate.

Four female educators pose with a smile for the camera with Don Johnston.
A teacher and student flip through Readtopia's "The Wizard of Oz" graphic novel, at a desk with an AAC device on in the background.
A young student, wearing a green shirt, watches a teacher work on an educational activity at a desk, in a classroom. An orange squish toy sits on the desk next to the student.
An educator in a classroom, wearing a black shirt, holds up three fingers on one hand and one finger on the other, while presenting a word lesson from a smart board.
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“There’s other opportunities that have been huge for these students that they may have not gotten in other curriculums.”

Cathy Kostecki, Assistant Superintendent

“There’s other opportunities that have been huge for these students that they may have not gotten in other curriculums.”

Cathy Kostecki, Assistant Superintendent

“There’s other opportunities that have been huge for these students that they may have not gotten in other curriculums.”

Cathy Kostecki, Assistant Superintendent

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Try Building Wings for Free

Explore educational materials from Readtopia and First Author and try them for free with your students—no credit card required.

Open laptop with Readtopia Thematic Units website open and a First Author graphic on each side of the laptop. The left graphic shows two teachers each working with a student and the right graphic shows 8 students smiling at the camera.
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Karen A. Erickson, Ph.D.​

Karen A. Erickson, Ph.D. is Director of the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies at University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill. Her focus is on understanding the best ways to assess and teach reading and writing to children with the most severe disabilities. As a special education teacher, Dr. Erickson has worked to support students with a range of disabilities in a variety of classroom settings, particularly students who do not use speech as their primary means of communication.

Website: https://www.med.unc.edu/ahs/clds

Author Profile: https://products.brookespublishing.com/cw_Contributorinfo.aspx?ContribID=110&Name=Karen+Erickson,Ph.D.​

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