Foundational skills for every learner, with Alestra Flores Menéndez
From Beyond My Years · 50:11
Show by Amplify Education
On this episode of Beyond My Years, host Ana Torres is joined by Amplify Director of Multilingual Initiatives Alestra Flores Menéndez. A literacy educator whose career has taken her from teaching unaccompanied minors in San Francisco to teaching college English at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center (formerly San Quentin State Prison), Alestra has experience building foundational literacy skills with learners of all ages. Throughout the episode, she explains why foundational skills instruction doesn't end at second grade, how to teach foundational skills to older students in a way that respects their dignity, and why oracy is the foundation everything else is built on. Our Classroom Insider Eric Cross (a middle school science teacher ) then joins Ana to reflect on student self-efficacy, what it means to build teacher knowledge of reading, and why foundational literacy is the responsibility of every teacher—not just those who teach English language arts.Show notes: Learn more about Amplify Caminos, a K–5 Spanish language arts curriculum grounded in the Science of Reading.Register for our Science of Reading and MTSS in Action webinar series.Join our Amplify learning community.Subscribe to Beyond My Years.Subscribe to Alestra's Substack, Sábado School. Listen to our Beyond My Years episode with Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan, Ed.D.Quotes:"A child who is not feeling great about themselves as a reader is going to feel challenged throughout the entire school day." —Alestra Flores Menéndez"When we honor a child's dignity, we're recognizing, ‘You're here, you have some skills, and we're gonna build from those skills.’" —Alestra Flores Menéndez"Multilingual learners are not a monolith. We have to think about where each child is with their English literacy and their home language, and how we help them develop both." —Alestra Flores Menéndez"When you have words, you have power." —Eric Cross"Every day is a new day. Every day we learn." —Ana Torres
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- Beyond My Years podcast trailer
- About Beyond My Years, with Ana Torres and Eric Cross
- Teaching with heart, starring Joyce Abbott
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- Teaching with determination, starring Khamphet Pease
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