Welcome to Literacy Lines!

Welcome to the first post of Literacy Lines!  On this site, we will share information related to best practices for teaching reading and writing.

Since Keys to Literacy was started in 2007, part of our mission has been to share what we learn about literacy instruction with educators so they can improve the reading and writing skills of students. This mission has its roots in my personal mission that began in the late 1970’s when I first had the opportunity to teach students who struggled to read and write at the Landmark School.

This was a setting that enabled dedicated educators to develop best practices for teaching literacy through breakthroughs in research and trial and error.  The 500 students who attended Landmark School each year were fortunate to have access to this cutting-edge instruction. However, I realized that thousands of other students needed quality literacy instruction, but very few of their teachers had access to training and information to learn how to provide this instruction.  That was the start of my mission to “get the word out”.

From that point forward, I have been fortunate to have had opportunities and forums for sharing with other educators. Writing chapters, books, and journal articles about how to teach literacy, writing newsletters, presenting at hundreds of conferences, training teachers at districts across the country, delivering guest webinars, and writing guest blogs have enabled me to “get the word out” for many years.

We have started Literacy Lines because the internet and other social media platforms provide opportunities to share with a much larger audience of educators than ever before. My colleagues at Keys to Literacy and I hope you will follow our blog posts and share the site with your fellow educators. Our posts will focus on best instructional practices for teaching reading and writing to students of all ages.

My very best,

JOAN