Literacy Coaching PD Newsletter: Building Teacher Reading Instruction Skills Across the School

Literacy coaching produces results when teachers understand why specific approaches matter, not just how to implement them. A coaching newsletter that builds teacher knowledge alongside the coaching relationship is a more effective tool than one that only announces workshop dates and coaching availability.

This Month's Instructional Focus

Name the current coaching focus and explain why it was chosen. If the focus is phonics instruction for early readers, connect it to the assessment data showing where students are struggling. If the focus is academic vocabulary development, name the research base and the classroom observation pattern that made it the priority.

Teachers who understand the data-driven rationale for the coaching focus are more motivated to engage with it than those who feel the focus was assigned arbitrarily.

Try This Week

Include one specific, low-barrier instructional strategy teachers can try this week without waiting for a coaching session. A new routine for phoneme segmentation practice. A question stem for academic vocabulary review. A small-group protocol for fluency development. One specific, concrete action builds momentum even outside of formal coaching.

Keep this section tight. One strategy with a clear description and one implementation suggestion. Teachers who are overwhelmed with options try nothing.

Coaching Cycle Availability

Give teachers a transparent picture of coaching availability. How many teachers is the coach working with right now? What does the coaching cycle include: pre-conference, observation, debrief? How do teachers sign up for a cycle? When will the next available window be?

Reducing uncertainty about how coaching works and how to access it removes the barrier that keeps many teachers from requesting it.

Reading Science for Teachers

Include a brief, accessible section on a reading science concept that supports the current instructional focus. One paragraph that explains the research behind phonics instruction, or the role of orthographic mapping in word learning, gives teachers the theoretical foundation that makes instruction feel meaningful rather than mechanical.

Resources and Upcoming Learning

List any resources that support the current focus: a brief article, a video demonstration of a strategy, a downloadable assessment tool, or a mentor text that models the approach. Upcoming workshops, PLCs, or study groups should also be listed here with dates and registration instructions.