Category Archives for Workshops

Led by Whitney LaRocca, this workshop is designed for those who teach or support emergent writers in PreK, kindergarten, or 1st grade, this workshop will provide a developmentally appropriate process for engaging students in the exploration of what writers do when they make marks on a page. Let's move the conventions of language from being viewed as right and wrong to seeing them as providing meaning and effect in both oral and written language. Let's engage in brain-based, practical ways to use the reading-writing connection to teach grammar and conventions for meaning making that grows even our youngest writers and readers. 

Patterns of Power: Transfer and Application, Grades 1-5

This workshop, led by Whitney LaRocca, is designed for teachers already implementing the Patterns of Power process in their classrooms, this session provides multiple strategies for inviting students to transfer what they have learned during the process to all writing opportunities throughout their day. Whitney La Rocca will invite participants to use the strategies in their own writing, so come with a notebook and pen in hand!

Drawing from the newly-released The Reading Strategies Book 2.0, a revised and reimagined update to the NYT bestselling resource, this workshop, presented by Jennifer Serravallo, will help you use strategies effectively in your instruction—no matter what approach to literacy you use, or the grade level, developmental levels, or ages of the students you teach.

You’ll first learn about the broad research base for strategy instruction in reading and what makes an effective reading strategy. Then, you’ll learn about reading goals and skill progressions for each goal which will equip you to target the just-right strategies for each reader. You’ll learn streamlined ways to evaluate student work to save planning and prep time.

The final portion of the workshop will lean on Jen’s book A Teacher’s Guide to Reading Conferences, exploring strategies coming to live in the classroom through conferences and small group instruction. You’ll learn purposes aligned to each conference and small group type, and about the most impactful teacher moves you can use within them to maximize student learning. Through video, engaging activities, and clear presentation, this workshop is designed to be highly practical and immediately applicable. 

Learning Objectives

Participants will:

• Develop an understanding of research base for reading strategies, goal-directed instruction, and for each reading goal.
• Learn to study student work to determine goals
• Use skill progressions to identify strategies and track progress
• Craft strategies and feedback prompts and learn to match them to student goals
• Learn practical ways to guide student practice through conferences and small groups, and how to match methods to purposes
• Explore practical ways to manage differentiation, including notetaking and scheduling