FAQ category: Implementation
How can parents implement Heggerty PA lessons at home?
If my students did not finish the curriculum during the previous school year, where should I begin?
We recommend that teachers use the curriculum that matches the grade level. Even if a student did not complete all 35-weeks of lessons the previous year, the teacher can begin instruction at Week 1 of their grade level when the new school year begins.
What is the cost of professional development?
The price varies depending on the topic, the length of the presentation and the number of participants. Please complete the Consulting Inquiry Form and we will contact you to discuss your needs.
Is training necessary to successfully implement the curriculum?
It is not necessary, but the professional development offerings provide support for successful implementation of the lessons. The curricula were all written to be very user friendly, and our YouTube channel includes hand motion videos and lesson demonstration videos. We offer an online PD option with our On Demand PD option for individual teachers or small groups, and our PD Team can be contacted about scheduling a PD for groups of teachers at pd@heggerty.org.
What Professional Development is offered?
We currently offer several professional development options and they can be found on the Training page on our website, and PD is an additional cost to a curriculum purchase. Our most popular PD is the live webinar that is provided by one of our literacy specialists on a date and time that you choose. A PD can be scheduled by contacting our literacy specialists at pd@heggerty.org.
Is there any help available for what the hand motions should look like?
YES! In this helpful Hand Motion Video Playlist, Alisa Van Hekken explains and demonstrates how the hand motions are intended to be used with the daily phonemic awareness lessons. You may also find a Hand Motions Guide PDF on our Downloads page under the Resources section.
How should a 2nd grade classroom implement the curriculum (yellow book or green book)?
There is not a separate manual for 2nd grade, and most states do not have Phonological Awareness Standards for 2nd grade. We recommend that teachers begin the 2nd grade school year around weeks 12-15, and use the curriculum with the whole class for the first 20-23 weeks of school. After completing lesson 35, the teacher can then use the curriculum as a Tier 2 intervention with students who still need the additional support.
In the Spanish curriculum we suggest beginning between weeks 7-9. At this point in the curriculum, students will be working not only with syllables, but at the phoneme level as well. Just like in English, most states do not have standards for 2nd grade, so we want to close any gaps as quickly as possible. As you are teaching through the curriculum, you may have students who need additional support. You can then use the first few weeks to support those students at strictly the syllable level.
If you teach 2nd grade and your students have never had explicit and systematic phonemic awareness instruction before, refer to the 2nd Grade Guide for how to best implement the curriculum with your students.
Where should I start the lessons if implementing during a school year?
If you are implementing the Heggerty Phonemic Awareness curriculum after the start of the school year, including after the first quarter or trimester of instruction has been completed, we recommend the sequence of lessons included in these guides:
Late Start Implementation Guide (English)
Late Start Implementation Guide (Spanish)
How does the curriculum fit into your reading instruction?
We suggest that phonemic awareness is 10-12 minutes (no more than 15 minutes) of your literacy instruction within the school day. It can be used to complement any reading series or phonics curriculum. In each Heggerty PA lesson students work with phoneme isolation with initial, final, and medial sounds, blending, segmenting, adding, deleting, and substituting phonemes, along with 2 Early Literacy Skills: Alphabet Knowledge and Language Awareness. Â Â 7-8 phonological and phonemic awareness skills are taught in every lesson, everyday.
The lessons are engaging and fast-paced, and provide students with the phonemic awareness skills they need to succeed as readers. Phonemic awareness is a great way to warm up our brains to prepare us for phonics instruction, therefore if possible, we suggest doing phonemic awareness before your phonics lessons.
What materials are needed to teach the lessons?
Each classroom teacher needs a copy of the curriculum manual for their grade level. The lessons are oral and auditory, so there are no student materials needed to teach the lessons. The curriculum manual can be purchased once and then used each school year.