All K-4 teachers are being LETRS trained. We have not talked about resources for implementation into the classroom.....yet.

Our state passed legislation requiring science of reading, therefore our department of education oversaw training across the state.
Most training came through our educational co-ops, but in the case of our district, our literacy coaches were trained as trainers and delivered all of our PD.
As far as implementation, science of reading has been separate from our “vetted” curriculum. Our department of education developed a rubric to asses the skills teachers must possess and we are “certified” once our principals have observed all of the skills in the rubric.
Our literacy coaches do a lot of modeling and coaching with teachers as they are going through certification. We also do a lot of observing in master teacher’s classes.
I guess to answer your question, our literacy coaches have been our implementation experts.

Our district purchased a boxed phonics program called Fundations. Even at a young age, I referred to certain sounds by what they are really called. Call a digraph a digraph and a blend a blend, so that students recognize them when they see them. I also allow (on consumables) for students to circle or highlight those complex sounds to give them agency in decoding. I would also not ignore the use of context clues because reading is not just decoding but comprehending.

My district offered LETRS training for a stipend or rank change. We also did a book study on Shifting the Balance and adopted Into Reading by HMH. It has been so many changes, but also seeing so many successes!

Could you share a little more on how the book matched with LETRS? What grade levels?

There are two versions of Shifting the Balance one for K-2 and one for 3-5. Both books explore Shifting the Balance: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom. The website is amazing and has made its way into our classrooms as well. You can find it here https://thesixshifts.com/. My team has used the 109 Power Words and seen lots of growth in fluency. We formally used Fry Words. Everything is embedded in research and worth exploring. I loved doing this study as a group. There are resources on the site for that as well. LETRS has been a second step for me because I knew I personally needed to relearn some strategies embedded in my daily routines for the last 20 years. I’ve seen success and it was hard to
change, but I am seeing even more success now. I am even seeing growth in the bottoms 10% that has grown to the 33% and higher. I do think it’s a journey seasoned teachers must take to figure out what stays and what has to go. Ask me anything else I have left off.

My district is also using the book Shifting the Balance. We have done a book study this year. I have used the online resources that include sight words and word chains. My school district is also looking at sound walls to purchase to help students with facial expressions when pronouncing different sounds.