Back row: Raghad Daoud, Navpreet Padda, Harleen Sidhu, Prianka Sohal
Front row: Jessica Cuillerier, Jodi Nickel, Kate Sorge, Annie Huynh

Thanks to support from the Norreen Baker Fund at Calgary Foundation and Ross T. & Sheila K. O'Shea Family Fund at Calgary Foundation, a group of six Mount Royal University teacher candidates had the opportunity to support ten students in a free after-school literacy program twice weekly for five months. 

With the mentorship senior tutors Jessica Cuillerier and Jenna Jansen and their Professor Jodi Nickel, the teacher candidates planned and reflected upon ways to accelerate the literacy growth of these students using structured literacy practices. 

By the end of the program, all students improved in their ability to read and write words with spelling patterns that became increasingly challenging. 

This initiative delivers a dual impact: It accelerates children’s literacy development while simultaneously cultivating instructional capacity in teacher candidates as they prepare for their teaching careers. As the following quotes illustrate, the program fostered remarkable growth for both young learners and teacher candidates. Driven by this success, we are hopeful we might sustain and expand this impactful program in the coming years. 

Some quotes from the children included:

• “This was my favourite and I like being with my favourite people.”
• “I think I got a lot better at reading. I like Reading Club.”
• “I’m proud of how much I improved and the nice people that I met and worked with in Reading Club.”
• “I got better at writing and at letter formation. I loved the candy games that we would do.”
• “I feel most proud of my writing.”
• “I liked playing ‘word hide and seek’. And I liked the snacks.”
• “My writing got a lot neater. Reading Club is fun. I like the snacks and games.”
• “I think I got better at reading. I like reading now.”
• “I liked how I improved. I feel like I’m a stronger reader in class now. It was fun.”
• “I’m most proud about doing hard work. And now I love reading.”

The teacher candidates were proud of the relationships they established, the growth in the children, and in their own learning. Some key quotes from the teacher candidates included:

• Prianka: I also learned that literacy instruction needs to be engaging and flexible. Activities like hide and seek, sorting games, and having students “teach” concepts back helped reinforce learning while keeping students motivated.
• Harleen: The tutors are the friends, teachers, mentors and cheerleaders for these students and so having the most interested people to be the ones interacting with those students is a major success factor. 
• Raghad: Jessica helped me understand how to deliver a fun, engaging lesson while covering all the necessary concepts. “As fast as you can, but as slow as they need” was what I stuck with when planning my lessons.
• Annie: In January, I noticed that students approached reading with hesitation and lacked confidence in their abilities. They would frequently pause while reading, ask for guidance when decoding unfamiliar words, or become discouraged and avoidant when encountering challenges. As the weeks progressed, students became more comfortable reading aloud and were able to read with fewer pauses and greater expression. They also demonstrated stronger abilities in decoding multisyllabic words and independently overcame challenges.
• Navpreet: I learned how important it is to pivot and tailor learning to student needs. I also noticed how words of affirmation allowed for my students to build confidence and improve their learning. 
• Kate: I learned that evidence-based literacy practice is just the base, and from there you can make a ton of personalized decisions that work for your particular student. I had this idea that teaching reading was a very one-size fits all process, but I now know that it can really be a process that is tweaked and modified for every individual student. 

The school posted this kind story on Instagram:

We are so grateful to our incredible Mount Royal University pre-service teachers for their dedication to supporting our Literacy Enhancement Program over the past several months. 💙

Today marked their final day, and while we’re sad to see them go, we are beyond appreciative of the time, care, and commitment they’ve shown to our students. The impact you’ve made will last far beyond the classroom walls, thank you for inspiring a love of learning and helping our students grow with confidence. 📚✨

  
Sorting digraph words                                 Hide and seek with target words                Reading a novel together 

  
Practice reading words with 'ed' ending     Giant dice were a big hit                             Magic e spelling patterns 

  
Manipluatives and gems                            Segmenting each sound and letter             Snacks