ReadtopiaGO Introduced to Special Educators
Special Educators received a preview of a new early-literacy curriculum for learners with complex needs at Closing The Gap 2022.
For years, special educators have used Readtopia, a comprehensive literacy curriculum for learners with complex needs. While Readtopia provides an instructional foundation for learners in grades three through high school, Building Wings wanted to offer a comprehensive curriculum that would serve every student in every classroom. A soon-to-be-released curriculum, ReadtopiaGO addresses the literacy development of children ages 4-8 who face learning barriers.
Introducing ReadtopiaGO:
An Early-Literacy Curriculum for Learners Ages 4-8
During the 2022 Closing the Gap (CTG) conference, Building Wings founder and CEO Don Johnston provided a preview of ReadtopiaGO, a new comprehensive core literacy curriculum for ages 4-8 that will be launched in early 2023.
Literacy Development for Young Children
with Learning Barriers
Each unit within ReadtopiaGO contains four unique domains that deepen world knowledge and build foundational skills while delivering the quality engaging curriculum for which Building Wings is known. The four lesson topics are:
- Learning about Me
- Learning about Science
- Learning about Life
- Learning about Social Studies
ReadtopiaGO will provide four years of instruction with 16 core topics and 32 books per year, and instruction is anchored in shared reading with high-interest picture storybooks that are included in the curriculum. On a daily basis, students have opportunities to write, learn about the alphabet, and explore books independently. These key instructional experiences are enhanced by activity centers that support social skill development and language learning.
Built for students in Pre-K to Grade 2, ReadtopiaGO is organized around integrated thematic units that provide literacy skill-building through science, social studies, social and emotional (SEL) development, and life skills contexts.
Maureen Donnelly, co-author of ReadtopiaGO, spoke at CTG about the questions the curriculum is designed to address:
- How do we make sure these particular young children have access to all the instructional experiences they need to help them one day grow into conventional readers?
- How do we support their language learning and literacy development at the same time?
- How do we help teachers quickly and easily deliver evidence-based instruction?
Using what she calls the “three E’s” of introducing new vocabulary–engagement, enjoyment, and exposure–Donnelly and the Research and Development Team at Building Wings set out to design a curriculum that layered in what researchers have discovered about play and the relationship between language and literacy.
The curriculum can be used in a variety of educational settings, from Head Start programs to Pre-K and Kindergarten classrooms, as well as speech clinics and general education early elementary classrooms with students at all stages of emergent literacy.
Evidence-Based Literacy Instruction
The curriculum reflects the latest literacy research and was built in consultation with Dr. Karen Erickson. Donnelly describes the curriculum as dual-purposed, where “the text builds literacy and the subtext builds knowledge.”
ReadtopiaGO invites students to see themselves as the main character in their learning journey, encouraging them to imagine themselves as heroes, investigators, and dreamers. The content is leveled and scaffolded, helping educators personalize instruction for each student or group without losing critical facetime or adding to workload.
ReadtopiaGO: A Companion to Readtopia
Teachers who are familiar with Readtopia know that Building Wing’s curriculum incorporates the emergent instructional routines prescribed in Comprehensive Literacy for All by Erickson and Koppenhaver. It is intended to be used before students transition to Readtopia in grade three and can be used on its own.
In early 2023, two complete units of ReadtopiaGO (equivalent to half of one school year) will be ready for educator access. The complete first year of instruction will be released in the fall of 2023 with the remaining units in the four-year curriculum released consistently thereafter.
For more information about ReadtopiaGO and to sign up for publication updates, please visit the ReadtopiaGo landing page. To view samples of all instructional materials offered by Building Wings including ReadtopiaGO, please visit My Learning Liftoff.
