To increase reading preparedness in early learners, Learning Ally, a national education nonprofit known to double the rate of reading growth for struggling readers, is announcing its new Excite Reading™ PreK-2 Literacy Grant Program for eligible U.S. schools at no cost. Applications are now open until December 15, 2022. Excite Reading™ is an award-winning early literacy supplement to support PreK-2 teachers who want to share engaging children's literature, while developing emergent readers' comprehension skills. Research tells us that PreK-2 is a critical time for reading development.
"Children entering schools today have such diverse backgrounds and needs. Many come unprepared for learning with much less exposure to words and books at home. Putting Excite Reading™ in their hands will play a pivotal role in helping more children learn to read successfully; especially, those struggling in schools located in disadvantaged communities."
Lee Peters, Learning Ally's Chief Operating Officer
Districts may apply for the Excite Reading™ PreK-2 Literacy Grant Program from now until December 15, 2022. The program runs from January, 2022 to June, 2023. Educators in awarded schools will work with Learning Ally to implement the solution with fidelity and provide benchmark data and feedback. Implementation training, check-ins, and ongoing support are part of the Grant to ensure educator and student success. Early reading success requires evidence-based instruction in both decoding and language comprehension, which includes exposure to text-based vocabulary and background knowledge. Excite Reading™ complements any core literacy instructional curriculum delivered in any MTSS or RTI program framework. The visually stunning audiobook-eBook format includes access to more than two-hundred authentic human-narrated children's audiobooks and resources. Children can listen as they follow along visually, exploring themes including gardens, insects, music and more, with intentional cross-discipline focus on art, social studies, and science connections. Carefully designed language development lessons build vocabulary and background knowledge, with social-emotional components. Activities and discussion prompts create context to deepen comprehension. Corresponding teacher guides support a higher level of discourse, using relevant vocabulary to express questions, answers, and ideas to stimulate critical thinking. A school-to-home connection encourages family literacy. More than 450,000 U.S. educators work with Learning Ally to improve reading outcomes. The organization's PreK-12 Solutions are grounded in Whole Child Literacy™ – the best practices of the science of reading (brain-based learning), cognitive variables, and environmental and social emotional factors that influence each student's learning ability. Peters adds, "For a child who is not reading at proficiency by the end of third grade, the immediate and long term impact can be dire. Getting ahead of each student's potential struggle through early screening, evidence-based instruction, and an approach that considers the child through a holistic lens, is necessary to ensure all children are prepared to 'learn to read' and to 'read to learn' for their future success. In 2022, Excite Reading™ won the American Consortium for Equity in Education Excellence Award for Best Early Childhood Education Solution, Tech & Learning "Back to School" Award of Excellence in Primary Education, and the Readers' Choice Award in Early Literacy by SmartBrief on EdTech.
About Learning Ally
Learning Ally is a leading education nonprofit dedicated to equipping educators with proven solutions that help new and struggling learners reach their potential. Our range of literacy-focused offerings for students in Pre-K to 12th grade and catalog of professional learning allows us to support more than two million students across the United States.