Opening Doors Through Literacy

For Kristi Cooper, a love of teaching started long before she entered a classroom as an educator. With both parents as teachers, she grew up surrounded by the rhythms of lesson plans and marking. But while teaching was always on her horizon, literacy was not.

“I was a late reader,” she says. “In elementary school, I was in learning assistance, scored in the sixth percentile on reading and writing tests, and fully reversed my letters. But I think that’s my superpower now. I really understand reluctant readers and writers.”

Her career began like many others, teaching across grades and subjects, until her principal recognized her passion for literacy invited her to try being a literacy support teacher.

“I had no business doing that job at the time,” she says with a laugh. “But I said yes, and the job was a really cool experience and gave me the opportunity to try new things.”

One of those opportunities was reimaging how the school supported students who were struggling with reading and writing.

“At the time, the way we supported struggling readers was by pulling them out of class, doing some intensive work, and then sending them back,” she explains. “I’d been that kid — the one pulled from PE so I could get extra help in literacy. It felt like the walk of shame to the learning assistance room, like you weren’t smart enough to be with the rest of the kids. And I knew it wasn’t working.”

With too many students in need, Kristi and her colleagues began envisioning a new form of literacy instruction. Inspired by emerging approaches like the Daily 5 and her own love of station-based learning, they asked: What if we could support everyone together?

The result was the “Lit Pit,” a dedicated space where entire classes rotated through literacy stations.

“It completely transformed our school,” she says. “We focused on skills like phonological awareness, comprehension, and writing, but we also had stations called ‘Love to Read’ and ‘Love to Write.’ We knew joy had to be at the centre.”

Even with her growing expertise, Kristi hesitated to see herself as a graduate student.

“I was told I should be doing my master’s so many times. People would say, ‘I can’t believe you haven’t done it yet,’” she recalls. “But I never thought of myself as an academic person. I felt like master’s degrees were for really smart people.”

For years she put aside the idea, but then came 2020.

“I finally thought, well, I’m not doing anything else, let’s just see,” she says.

She enrolled in the Master of Education program where her capstone project focused on teacher well-being, and reimagining professional development to better support educators. The experience, and with the encouragement she received from her professors, gave her the confidence to write Making Time for It All, a practical guide to help teachers integrate literacy practices into their classrooms.

“I wanted to give teachers permission to be reflective and gracious with themselves,” she says. “Small tweaks can make a big difference.”

Through both her book and her work with schools, Kristi hopes to support teachers in bringing not only the science of reading, but also the joy of reading into their classrooms.

“I believe every child is capable,” she says. “Sometimes it just takes the right book, the right approach, or the right encouragement. My hope is to help more kids discover that moment when reading feels like it opens the world to them. Literacy allows us to take in information, and share our own ideas. It creates empathy and opportunity. It allows us to be better humans because we can understand things through a different perspective.”

When asked what advice she has for new teachers who may feel overwhelmed by teaching literacy, she emphasized the importance of beginning with purpose.

“First, be kind to yourself,” she says. “You can’t do everything well right away. Start small—this is going to be a learning process. There are so many activities and ideas out there, it can feel overwhelming. So always know your why. What’s your purpose in doing this lesson or using this strategy? That’s huge in literacy instruction.”

But for Kristi, the real turning point for new teachers comes before lesson planning even begins.

“The most crucial work you will do all year is getting to know your students in the fall,” she explains. “When I know your heritage, your culture, your family, your interests, when I know what works for you and what doesn’t, then I can start to weave those into my literacy instruction. That’s enormous. It means every child in the class is seen.”

She often reframes reluctance by helping students connect with content that matter to them.

“If a student says, ‘I don’t like reading,’ my response is always, ‘You just haven’t met the right book yet.’ If I know you love motorcycles, then I can put the right book in your hands and suddenly you’re motivated to read.”

Kristi also encourages teachers to design literacy tasks that are both accessible and open-ended. Borrowing from math education, she uses a “low floor, high ceiling” approach.

“Instead of asking every student to define the same five vocabulary words, I’ll have them find five words from their own text that they don’t know,” she says. “It’s still teaching vocabulary, but it meets each learner where they are.”

Reflecting on her own education journey, Kristi says she feels grateful for the mentors and colleagues who encouraged her along the way.

“I’ve had incredible women in education who just kept telling me to try new things,” she says. “That’s what I want to be for other people now.”

For those who want to explore more of Kristi’s literacy strategies and resources, she shares additional tools and insights on her website, www.lovetolearnto.com.