30 Jan Meet the author
Meet Alanda Posey, the owner of the Soulful Beginning Academy and author of two published series that feature a black protagonist and black culture. Using music and engagement to strengthen the academic abilities of students across the upstate and beyond through tutoring sessions, courses and workshops; Alanda Posey is affectionately known as the “Engageucator”. Moreover, Mrs. Posey is in the relentless pursuit to ensure students are engaged in educational experiences that are reflections of who they are and representations of their rich cultures and heritages.
Becoming an author originated through encounters with literature in her second-grade classroom. Each book she read to her students demonstrated a need for more books that included African American characters. While studying about the different types of communities, the students she taught struggled with visualizing an urban community. As a result, the book Naomi Visits Letter City was birthed and published in 2018. The desire to expose children to a broad vocabulary and initiate the conversation about traveling through the city is the premise of this text. As a personal mission to help African American parents equip their children for kindergarten readiness, Posey believes this series will provide the thought-provoking conversation needed for an interactive experience with social studies and literary elements. Naomi Visits Letter City has reached hundreds of homes and classrooms across the United States.
http://soulfulbeginningsacademy.com/product/naomi-visits-letter-city/
As an advocate for early literacy, Alanda Posey created “The Soulful Alphabet” in 2017. The Soulful Alphabet engages and interacts with young children in their learning experiences with letters and sounds. Each letter is represented by a symbol of black culture and heritage which presents the opportunity for powerful conversation while learning the alphabet. Each card is represented by an alphabet book in her Soulful Alphabet book series. Early learners can begin to read, A is for Afro, C is for Comedian, D is for Dashiki, F is for Fade, and G is for Gospel. This series is designed to provide historical knowledge in a simple way for any young reader to indulge.
http://soulfulbeginningsacademy.com/product/soulful-alphabet-book-bundle/
Beginning in 2016, Alanda Posey became a presenter and speaker at multiple conferences in South Carolina and North Carolina. She conducted research at Converse College, while obtaining an EdS in Literacy to determine how to increase reading fluency for elementary students that were struggling readers. This research led to the creation of the Move to the Fluency Beat! program. Using simple rhythms, hip hop beats, familiar stories, nursery rhymes, and poems; Alanda Posey was able to transform a first-grade cohort into fluent readers who all showed impressive academic success throughout the remainder of their elementary career.
As you engage with Mrs. Posey in various encounters, you can guarantee that students, teachers, and families will be engaged and empowered to move forward and capitalize in their academic journey.
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