New editions of REWARDS Intermediate and Secondary - programs designed to teach students strategies for decoding multisyllabic words, learning academic vocabulary, and building fluency - are now available through Sopris Learning.

Exciting updates to these programs include:

• Common Core State Standards alignment
• Added instruction on the meanings of prefixes and suffixes
• Expanded instruction on academic and content-area vocabulary, enhanced with visual displays
• Text-dependent comprehension questions
• An updated lesson format that supports ease of instruction
• Notations on explicit instruction procedures throughout the lessons
• Progress monitoring assessments at the end of each unit
• Digital tools and resources including online lesson displays, illustrated vocabulary displays, student review sheets, assessments, and more

And, now you can get REWARDS Intermediate on your digital device!

Sopris Learning recently announced that the newest edition of REWARDS Intermediate is now available as an eBook as part of their new Learning eLibrary! The electronic version of this popular program is available for a variety of devices, including smartphones and tablets, such as Apple's iPad. By using the digital version of the book, educators can:

• Navigate content with features that include an interactive table of contents, intrabook links, a slider bar, and page jump
• Highlight, bookmark, add notes, and see annotations all in one place-all of which automatically sync to the cloud when moving between online and offline reading
• Toggle between two distinct reading options- a fully interactive, resource-laden view and a page-fidelity view, which shows pages exactly as they appear in the printed book
• Utilize embedded links to videos, printable tools, and educator resources
• Search across all book content and user annotations

For more information about the REWARDS Intermediate eBook, visit Sopris Learning online. An eBook version of REWARDS Secondary will also soon be available through Sopris Learning.

During a recent visit to Aurukun's Cape York Aboriginal Australian Academy - a Direct Instruction school that receives implementation support from the National Institute from Direct Instruction - Northern Territory Education Minister Peter Chandler observed Direct Instruction classrooms. He noted that DI is a program that works and "doesn't allow them [students] to fall through the cracks." He continued, saying, "...teachers are making sure kids understand what they're taught before the lesson's over." The government in the Northern Territory of Australia is considering Direct Instruction for its own remote schools.

Read the full text article on Herald Sun News Online.

Join Patrice Riggin and Kia Ellis July 13th at the National Direct Instruction Conference and Institutes for a pre-conference session discussing the impact of the Common Core State Standards on curriculum design, program evaluations and state testing. The session will feature an analysis of the standards, and participants will learn how Connecting Math Concepts: Comprehensive Edition and Reading Mastery Signature Edition address these standards.

See the full conference offerings and register online today!

Did you know you can access resources and information from the National Institute for Direct Instruction through Pinterest? If you're not familiar with Pinterest, it is a website where users can create and follow virtual bulletin boards of information, ideas and resources. When you "pin" something to one of your self-named Pinterest boards, you store a link to the item for future reference--much like a traditional bulletin board you may keep near your workspace. Only this one is kept online--and you can access it from anywhere you have an internet connection!

NIFDI currently hosts 17 different boards with pins from videos and research information to announcements and recommended reading. We invite you to check out our boards at pinterest.com/nifdi and start creating your own quick links to critical resources today!