Welcome to
MRU Reads
What is MRU Reads?
MRU Reads is a tutoring framework designed for Mount Royal University Bachelor of Education teacher candidates to guide them in teaching foundational literacy skills to elementary students.
Tutoring is a requirement during MRU’s year 2 weekly field experience in schools. Teacher candidates submit their weekly tutoring lessons for formative feedback. They write a culminating case study about the student’s growth that integrates theory and practice.
Who is MRU Reads for?
MRU Reads was designed for Mount Royal University Bachelor of Education teacher candidates but others may also benefit from this website including teachers, parents, volunteers, and community members who are committed to helping students learn to read.
Teacher candidates
Teachers
Volunteers
Community members
Parents
Reading is fundamental for success in school and in life; sadly many students have difficulty learning the foundational skills that help them to “crack the code” of the English language.
How MRU Reads helps
MRU Reads uses a structured literacy approach to word-level reading instruction that is informed by the Science of Reading – a body of evidence about effective reading instruction. Structured literacy requires systematic and explicit instruction based upon assessment of student needs.
The tutoring framework is intended to help tutors explicitly teach word reading following a well-established scope and sequence, a sort of road map for learning to read words. Your mentor teacher will choose a student who will benefit from your support.
UFLI Foundations: An Explicit and Systematic Phonics Program is a core resource for MRU Reads.
The Simple View of Reading
(Hoover & Gough, 1990, learn more)
Most of the steps in MRU Reads are intended to help students learn to decode and recognize words – those foundational literacy skills. But student reading and adult reading and all your conversations will also build language comprehension. The ultimate goal is to help students become efficient readers and spellers who can understand and enjoy all the books they want to read!
As a tutor, you have a tremendous opportunity to build the confidence of a young reader through the skills you teach and the relationship you cultivate. Supporting joyful reading is your ultimate goal!
For more information on how word recognition and language comprehension come together to build reading comprehension, check out this video about Scarborough’s Reading Rope.
What you’ll learn
Developmental phases of word recognition
Linnea Ehri described how word recognition develops in five phases: pre-alphabetic, partial alphabetic, full alphabetic, consolidated alphabetic, and automatic.
Scope & sequence
The scope and sequence is like a road map for determining the order you will teach new concepts.
Assessments
Assessments can help you determine what your students need and where to begin on the scope and sequence.
Lesson Steps
The lesson steps detail exactly what you should do in a typical tutoring lesson.
We acknowledge the work of the University of Florida Literacy Institute and the significant ways they have informed the development of this website. The materials on this web site are for educational purposes only. You may use, adapt, and share the materials but please reference the source and do not use them commercially.
