Blog

Defining Least Restrictive Environment for students receiving special education services and how IEP Teams ensure FAPE.

Strategies for building background knowledge to make learning memorable and fun using multimodal learning experiences.

The research behind teaching alphabet letters and sounds including letter of the day vs letter of the week approaches.

Using news articles and class discussion as a strategy for how to develop critical thinking skills in students.

Connect your classroom to the world using eight strategies for teaching current events using local and world news stories.

Strategies on how to talk with students about a sensitive news topic and navigate tough classroom conversations.

Five strategies for how to build vocabulary using current events for ALL learners in grades 3-high school+ including teaching vocabulary in context.

Start the day with a positive classroom routine using morning message ideas that incorporate literacy learning.

Pitfalls of Using Symbolated Text for Literacy Instruction from the desk of Maureen Donnelly, M.Ed.

Explore the differences between shared reading and reading out loud, including best practices for both.

Announcement by Dr Karen Erickson: Tar Heel Reader will be renamed Monarch Reader under Building Wings and will continue as a source of online accessible books.

An early-childhood educator shares the moment she discovered the benefits of using puppets in early childhood classrooms

Five benefits of using a consistent literacy instruction framework within a school district, especially for students receiving special education services.

Bulletin board ideas for teachers including five ways bulletin boards can be used to showcase student work and literacy instruction.

Explore Readtopia: Shorts, mini-reading instruction units for students with complex learning needs designed to be taught in 1-2+ weeks.

How to build background knowledge with World News for students: Using Newstopia to connect your classroom to the world.

Defining what inclusive literacy instruction means and what it looks like. Excerpts from Dr. David Koppenhaver’s keynote at the Leading with Literacy Summit.

Strategies for supporting special educators with instructional coaching including external coaches with experience in research-based literacy instruction.

Six ways to add opportunities for student choice and student-led learning for ALL learners.

Introducing a new Readtopia unit anchored in stories of space exploration as part of comprehensive literacy instruction.

A list of books recommended by Dr. David Koppenhaver for shared reading.

Vocabulary strategies for students receiving special education services. Benefits of being exposed to rich vocabulary words and playful literacy environments.

A leveled adaptation of Judith Heumann’s memoir anchors a Readtopia writing curriculum unit centered on disability rights.

Dr. Lisa Irwin-Davidson shares the initial results of her ongoing study on the impact of comprehensive literacy instruction.

How and why to build a foundation of literacy learning for students with significant disabilities through repetition with variety.

Hear a recording and read a summary of Dr. Karen Erickson’s keynote address, “Be That Person” from a prior Virtual Summer Summit.

While the definition of the science of reading can be debated, there is a large body of research on effective literacy instruction.

Lessons from the beach that illustrate the need to presume competence and honor individual learning styles.

What distinguishes one special education curriculum from another? Readtopia – what makes it different and why it matters.

Readtopia Thematic Unit: Stronger Together, anchored by The Secret Gardener Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic novel inspires a special education curricular unit rich in nature and history. Building Wings is excited to announce that a new thematic unit for upper elementary anchored in an adapted version of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett is now […]

ReadtopiaGO Introduced to Special Educators Special Educators received an overview of the ReadtopiaGO early-literacy curriculum for learners with complex learning profiles at Closing The Gap 2022. For years, special educators have used Readtopia, a comprehensive literacy curriculum for learners with complex needs. While Readtopia provides an instructional foundation for learners in grades three through high […]

As part of a recent press release, Building Wings, Inc, announced the acquisition of Knowledge Unlimited, a provider of supplementary learning materials.

Step-by-step instructions for how to whitelist an email address or domain so emails you want to receive are not blocked.

Here are a few tips to help you manage your first time in the classroom as a new special education teacher.

We are thrilled to announce integrated math lessons for dozens of Readtopia’s thematic units!

Readtopia keeps getting better. The Readtopia development team is thrilled to announce a new curriculum component—thematic unit introduction videos. How do the introduction videos enhance Readtopia’s thematic units? What information do they cover? Continue reading to find out. Plus, take a sneak peek at the introduction video for the Westward Expansion thematic unit. What is […]

How do the introduction videos enhance Readtopia’s thematic units? What information do they cover? Continue reading to find out.

Anchored by “Diana Trujillo: A Space Scientist”, Building Wings has launched a new Readtopia thematic unit called Making Dreams Come True.

Don Johnston has formed a new company, Building Wings™ to expand its comprehensive literacy curriculum to focus on the needs of teachers working with students.

Two edtech giants are coming together to strengthen assistive technology for the world.

The addition of Don Johnston Inc.’s leading product suite, expertise, and skill set will expand Texthelp’s leadership in helping individuals better understand.

Special education thematic unit Fact or Fiction anchored by The Wizard of Oz teaches students the difference between truth and make-believe.

Negative Behaviors with Autism: Why it Happens and Eight Ways to Help Each school day, just before circle time, the kindergarten boy ran out into the hallway and pulled his classmate’s belongings out of their cubbies and onto the floor. His teacher tried everything she could think of to make it stop, but nothing worked. […]

Engaging Special Ed Classrooms with Video: Mike Byrne’s Quest to Bring the World to Students The classroom lights dim. Students fall quiet as a strange and desolate terrain fills the screen. We’re in Iceland, our video host Don Johnston tells us, as we enter what appears to be a cave. “There’s only one place in […]

Using Reflective and Tell Me Questions as a Part of Shared Reading Instruction This article was originally published by Beth Poss at Lessonpix.com 2021. Shared Reading is much more than just a read aloud. This evidence-based strategy focuses on the interactions between adults and learners as they read with the purpose of building language and […]

Building Communication through Literacy for Students with Intensive Disabilities—The inspiring story of Carter School “Meaningful, purposeful communication is at the heart of learning to read and write. Students who learn that they can use reading and writing to investigate areas of interest, share their ideas, thoughts, and feelings, or interact with new people, understand that […]

Readtopia Thematic Unit— Mysteries and Mummies anchored by King Tut Readtopia® is on a roll. Thousands of special educators now have access to the just-released thematic unit expanding Readtopia to 25 units—each containing 6-8 weeks worth of instructional content. This new unit is one of the growing selection of upper elementary units, which make Readtopia […]

Delivering Leveled Access to the Curriculum: Readtopia’s Laura Cuthbertson When Laura Cuthbertson was a little girl, she knew she wanted to be a teacher. But it wasn’t until she became close to a family member with complex needs that her path was made clear and she decided to pursue a job as a paraprofessional in […]

Allison followed in her mother’s footsteps to become a special education teacher. She shares how she meets the most diverse learning needs using Readtopia.

Bringing Stories to Life: Jerry Stemach, Readtopia’s Chief Storyteller In our Readtopia author series, we profile members of the Readtopia team and share how their unique experiences and skills shape Readtopia’s instructional resources for special education and autism classrooms.When I first met Jerry Stemach, I instantly recognized that there’s something special and disarming about him. […]

Readtopia Thematic Unit — Bodies that Work The Readtopia® Team is creating some very powerful content and resources for special needs classrooms. Thousands of special educators now have access to the just-released thematic unit for middle and high school classrooms. The theme, Bodies that Work will introduce students with complex needs to biology concepts (like […]

Readtopia Thematic Unit — A Story of Survival anchored by The Swiss Family Robinson for Upper Elementary Readtopia® is on a roll. Thousands of special educators now have access to the just-released thematic unit for upper elementary students. The theme, A Story of Survival teaches students that there are always challenges in life. It takes […]

Readtopia at Home: Supporting Students with Complex Needs Thinking back to February 2020—it seems like an entirely different world. In a mere matter of weeks, COVID-19 has flipped the fabric of your day upside down. Your teaching has long since been uprooted, and now you’re left wondering what to do for your special education class. […]

eLearning and Inequity—Why Districts are Turning to Accessible Technologies eLearning came like a stranger in the night. Many educators walked out the door one day to find that school was canceled the next. Plants and even classroom pets were left in classrooms—like the stories of ancient villages who left so suddenly, their pots were still […]

Comprehensive Literacy Instruction Without the DIY— How one special education teacher restored balance in her classroom and life When people ask me why I became a special education teacher, I tell them that I always knew I would be a teacher. I imagined teaching English in a general education setting. By the time I reached […]

How I (Finally!) Challenged My Special Education Students As special education teachers, we hear a lot about changing expectations in our classrooms. About how we’re going to move students from one place to another throughout the school year. I feel I can speak for many teachers by saying that is a very difficult thing to […]

Strong Special Education Resources Showed What was Possible for my Students Jeanmarie Jacoby was a special education classroom teacher for more than 30 years, and can attest that teaching reading to students with complex needs was one of the biggest struggles she faced. Feeling overwhelmed with trying to create materials for a wide range of […]

Re-Defining the Special Education Classroom at MacArthur Middle School Abbey Lynch walks over to a table and offers her hand to a smiling, eager student who takes it to point at her AAC device indicating the answer to a particular question. Lynch, a special education teacher at MacArthur Middle School in Prospect Heights, IL, just […]

Social Emotional Learning Comes to Readtopia Readtopia is on a roll filling a much-needed void in middle and high school special education classrooms. Our development team is pushing forward with new thematic units and features that give teachers the resources they need to do their best work ever! Summer brings new growth to Readtopia® with […]

Top 10 Questions to Ask When Choosing a Special Education Reading Curriculum Your curriculum and the accompanying resources shape everything that happens in your special education classroom(s) for years to come, so making the right decision on curriculum may be the most important decision you make this year. What criteria will you use to evaluate […]

The Teacher Who Chose to Stay: Laura Cuthbertson In the summer of 2017, Laura Cuthbertson had a chat with her husband. The subject was a familiar topic all couples cover from time to time: future work plans. As much as she loved her job and the kids in her self-contained classroom, Laura was a bit tired of […]

Making Reading Meaningful — A Teacher’s Journey Special Educator, Carrie Ponitz, didn’t choose Readtopia. Her administrators brought it into the district, but Mrs. Ponitz quickly embraced the materials when she saw how quickly her students connected to the content. Reading time used to be filled with groans, now her students are even excited to take […]

I’ll See it When I Believe It As a student growing up with dyslexia in the 1950s, most people had very little hope for me. Not much was known about dyslexia back then other than what people saw. What they saw was a troublemaker who couldn’t read. I heard that I was just lazy. I’m […]

Not without challenges, Special Education Teacher Erlind Laci connected the dots between Life Skills and Curriculum Content at Kirk School, and here’s how.