New Webinars
Sound Walls in Your Classroom: The Pathway to Reading Fluency
Released: June 6, 2023
How do sound walls support the science of reading? Do you know how to best use a sound wall to get your students reading successfully? How can you improve the sound wall you’re already using?
Find the answers to these questions and more when you join us for this useful presentation. Literacy and sound wall expert Dr. Mary Dahlgren will help you build a thorough understanding of how to use a sound wall, implementation tips, and more—everything you need to know and why. This is one more step in understanding the speech-to-print connection to improve outcomes for increased reading skills.
Dr. Dahlgren, founder of Tools 4 Reading, (the original authority on sound wall resources), will share the research that validates reading is a process that requires knowing the sounds and print, and she will illustrate how a sound wall is a pathway to make sense of how print represents those sounds.
She will also share:
- The need and purpose of having a sound wall in the classroom
- How to introduce and teach all 44 phonemes
- How to integrate a sound wall into your daily phonological awareness and phonics instruction
- How and when to add print to a sound wall
Upcoming!
Natalie Wexler is an education writer and the author of The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of America’s Broken Education System—And How to Fix It (Avery 2019). She is also the co-author, with Judith C. Hochman, of The Writing Revolution: A Guide to Advancing Thinking Through Writing in All Subjects and Grades (Jossey-Bass, 2017), and a senior contributor to the education channel on Forbes.com. Her newsletter, Minding the Gap, on Substack, is available for free. Click here to view past posts and subscribe.
Her articles and essays about education and other topics have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, the MIT Technology Review, The American Scholar, and other publications. She has spoken about education before a variety of groups and appeared on a number of TV and radio shows, including Morning Joe and NPR’s On Point and 1A.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University, a Master of Arts degree in history from the University of Sussex (UK), and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She has worked as a reporter, a Supreme Court law clerk, a lawyer, and a legal historian. The author of three novels, she lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and has two adult children.
Top 5 Things You Can Do to Improve Your Literacy Instruction
Wednesday, August 9, 2023 | 2 p.m. (CT)
How can you help students improve their ability to understand complex text and their writing skills? Probably not in the ways you’ve been led to believe work best. The standard approach to reading comprehension has students practice skills and strategies like “making inferences” about texts on a random variety of topics. And writing is generally relegated to a separate block, with students writing about topics unrelated to the core curriculum. But evidence indicates what really boosts students’ literacy is to connect reading and writing. Plus, comprehension and writing instruction should be grounded in rich content. And all aspects of literacy need to connect—not just reading and writing, but also listening and speaking.
In this webinar, participants will learn:
- Why it’s important to read aloud to the whole class from a series of complex texts, staying on the same topic for at least two to three weeks—and how to find resources for those “text sets”
- How to ask questions that put content in the foreground rather than skills and strategies
- Why it’s crucial to organize classroom libraries by topic as well as reading level
- Why spending a lot of time on meaty social studies and science topics is the best way to boost reading comprehension
- How students’ comprehension improves when they write about what they’re learning and get explicit instruction in constructing sentences, paragraphs, and essays
We hope you will join us!
Previous Webinars
Trevor Muir is a teacher, author, international speaker, and project- based learning expert. He is the author of The Epic Classroom: How to Boost Engagement, Make Learning Memorable, and Transform Lives, a book about using the power of story to make learning engaging and unforgettable. Trevor is a professor at Grand Valley State University, a former faculty member for the Buck Institute for Education and is one of the Andrew Gomez Dream Foundation educators. His writing has been featured in the Huffington Post, EdWeek, and regularly on WeAreTeachers. He gave a TEDx Talk titled, "School Should Take Place in the Real World," at TEDxSanAntonio. Trevor's Facebook page, The Epic Classroom, has inspiring videos that have been viewed over 25 million times. At the heart of Trevor's work is the conviction that every student has the potential for greatness, and every teacher can be equipped to unlock that potential.
Planning Authentic Literacy: Become a Pro at Classroom Engagement
Released: May 3, 2023
For teachers and administrators who contemplate how to make literacy learning more engaging—where the entire classroom is participating and learning with joy—look no further than this inspiring and instructive webinar.
Hosted by Trevor Muir, a teacher and international speaker, this presentation will show you how to tie literacy and a love of reading into authentic and engaging learning experiences. Muir, author of The Epic Classroom and a guest speaker and consultant to schools across the country, will explore strategies and practices to help students grow as readers and critical thinkers while completing purposeful tasks. Muir will share how to plan literacy activities during projects, ways to weave literacy learning into everything you do in the classroom, and strategies for teaching reading and writing in engaging and authentic ways.
Attendees will:
- Discover new strategies to increase a love of reading in their students
- Get new ideas to boost student engagement
- Learn how to choose authentic supportive texts for learning units
We hope you’ll join us!
Pam Kastner, Ed.D., is an educational consultant at the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) Harrisburg, where she serves as the state lead for literacy in Pennsylvania.
Dr. Kastner along with the PaTTAN Literacy team has led Pennsylvania’s Dyslexia Screening and Early Literacy Intervention Pilot Program, extension and expansion.
Dr. Kastner serves on the Pennsylvania Taskforce for Higher Education. The taskforce's goal is to embed the science of reading and Structured Literacy in higher education institutions. She presented at the National Summit on the Science of Reading in Higher Education in 2022, and is on the steering committee developing a Summit on the Science of Reading in Higher Education in Pennsylvania planned for May 2023.
Dr. Kastner is an adjunct professor at Mount Saint Joseph University in the reading science program, where she teachers in the Masters’ and Doctoral program.
She serves as president of The Reading League Pennsylvania, The Reading League Journal’s Practitioner Editorial Board, and is a member of The Science of Reading: A Defining Movement coalition.
Phonemic Awareness and Letter/Sound Associations: Practices for Teachers
Phonemic awareness is an essential early literacy skill that underpins a child’s ability to read and spell and yet research demonstrates that without direct, explicit instruction in phonemic awareness, this skill eludes many students (Adams, 1990).
Join us for this instructional presentation exploring the research supporting phonological and phonemic awareness and the theoretical frameworks that underpin it.
With an emphasis on how to teach phonemic awareness and letter/sound associations with effective Structured Literacy practices, this webinar will share strategies, resources, tips, and encouragement to literacy educators. Our expert will also share assessments to inform instruction and intervention, as well as comprehensive literacy resources to transfer knowledge to practice.
Participants will be able to:
- Define phonological and phonemic awareness
- Define decoding and encoding
- Transfer knowledge to practice using instructional routines
Register now!
and creator of The Reading Science Academy
Bringing the Science of Reading to Light Using MTSS: One School's Story
Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) offers the framework for implementing the science of reading. Improving reading outcomes for all students requires building leaders who create the right conditions for learning, including designing systems for data-based decision-making, assessment, scheduling, and grouping.
We hope you’ll join this interesting presentation when our experts share how and why reading outcomes improved in a high-needs elementary school through the alignment of instructional systems and student data. There is so much to be learned from this school’s success, and these presenters will walk you through the details.
Attendees will learn:
- About the MTSS framework and implementing the science of reading
- How to use assessment data for systems change and student improvement
- The role of building leaders in creating the systems, structures, and processes for designing MTSS to improve reading outcomes for all students
- The challenges and successes of the school’s principal as she helped transform reading for elementary students
Dr. Anita Archer serves as an educational consultant to state departments and school districts on explicit instruction and literacy. She has presented in all 50 states and many countries including Australia. She is the recipient of 10 awards honoring her contributions to education. Dr. Archer has served on the faculties of three universities including the University of Washington, University of Oregon, and San Diego State University. She has co-authored numerous curriculum materials including Phonics for Reading (Curriculum Associates), a three-level intervention program REWARDS® (Voyager Sopris Learning®), a five-component literacy intervention program; and a best-selling textbook, Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching (Guilford Publications).
The Human Heart Characteristics of Teachers
When we look at the profession of teaching, three bodies of knowledge are necessary:
- Knowledge of the content to be taught
- Knowledge of effective instructional practices
- Knowledge of how students learn
But underlying these essential bodies of knowledge are the characteristics of teachers we must celebrate on this Valentine’s Day. What makes a great teacher? What sets some apart from others? Who lives
on in the memories of their students?
In this webinar, Dr. Anita Archer will explore the characteristics as she reflects on the teachers she has known during the past 56 years of her career. Dr. Archer will share stories of the “greats” and their heart characteristics: passion,
intention, order, tenacity, compassion, and JOY. We’ll also discuss the recent teacher exodus and what teachers need to stay committed to the classroom.
Please join us to celebrate the human hearts of teachers.
Transforming Reader Identity: Positive Approaches to Literacy for Older Readers
Older readers often have a fixed sense of what reading means (as seen in the work of researcher and author Dr. Peter Johnston), how often reading occurs in their daily lives, and if they like reading at all. As educators, we sometimes have a lot to work against in terms of family dynamics, negative feelings of self as reader, and the sense that “it’s too late.” Even adults who share their stories of striving in reading sometimes carry a sense of negativity about these emotions and experiences. Our goal is to curb that.
This insightful presentation will help teachers and administrators understand it’s never too late, and there are applicable strategies that can address reframing, motivation, and helping all readers see themselves as more than their challenges. Research proves that early intervention is key, and there are concrete ways to help middle and high school students make gains and improve literacy and confidence.
In this presentation, our expert will share:
- How to develop a framework for success
- Ways to take what is known and tackle what is unknown
- New ways to frame literacy
- Why educators must consider both assets and needs students bring with spoken language, social and cultural awareness, writing and composing, and real-life uses for the content we teach
- Why specific, systematic instruction is needed, going from part to whole
- How instructors can refresh skills for older readers as needed and pay attention to the areas of most significant and critical need by taking what students are already familiar with and adding to it (especially important for working with English Learners)
Dr. John Woodward is a nationally recognized mathematics author, writer, and speaker. He is the past dean of the school of education and professor emeritus at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA.
As a researcher, he focused on mathematics interventions for academically low-achieving students, particularly in elementary and middle grades. Dr. Woodward has published more than 80 articles and presented on mathematics education issues throughout the U.S., as well as in Canada, Asia, and Europe. He is the senior author of TransMath, a math intervention program for middle school students. He also is the co-developer of NUMBERS, a math professional development program for K–8 teachers.
Math Standards, Research, and the Making of a Curriculum: Evidence-Based Practices from the IES Guide
It has always been a game of catch up. New math standards often appear before there’s enough research to support them. Fortunately, we are a decade out from the last major changes to standards at the state and national levels. Research is catching up, particularly at the elementary and middle school levels.
This presentation will describe findings from a recent federal research synthesis that gives specific guidance for students who struggle in the elementary grades. These findings also have implications for middle school students. Finally, the presentation will provide examples of how standards and research have been embedded in a middle school intervention curriculum.
Participants will learn:
- Why there is an understandable gap between standards and supporting research
- Key recommendations supported by high-quality research for math interventions and elementary and middle school
- What these recommendations look like in an intervention curriculum
We hope you’ll join us!
Jan Hasbrouck, Ph.D., is a leading researcher, educational consultant, and author who works with schools in the U.S. and internationally. Dr. Hasbrouck worked as a reading specialist and coach for 15 years and later became a professor. She is the author and coauthor of several books, and her research in reading fluency, academic assessment and interventions, and instructional coaching has been widely published. She continues to collaborate with researchers on projects related to assessment and intervention. When schools are open, she enjoys volunteering at her grandson’s K–8 school in Seattle.
Reading Fluency: The Key for Comprehension
We all know that fluent reading is an important goal for our students to achieve but how do we develop fluency and how do we help those who struggle?
Join us for this informative session with respected author and researcher Dr. Jan Hasbrouck, who will share an updated and functional definition of reading fluency. The presentation will also include research-supported fluency instruction strategies that you can apply to your own classroom teaching, the updated compiled ORF norms (Hasbrouck & Tindal, 1992; 2006; 2017) will be shared.
You’ll enjoy Hasbrouck’s motivating style as she provides an opportunity for attendees to reflect on how fluency supports reading comprehension and how it should fit into a comprehensive and effective reading program for all students.
Attendees will:
- Learn the most accurate definition of the complex skill of reading fluency
- Gain an understanding of the current research
- Receive practical guidance for assessing and developing students’ fluency
- Learn new, specific skill-development activities
Hannah Irion-Frake is a third-grade public school teacher with more than 14 years of teaching experience in second and third grades. She is a graduate of Bucknell University, Bloomsburg University, and the University of Massachusetts Lowell with Masters degrees in reading and curriculum & instruction. She is a local LETRS facilitator and is committed to spreading awareness of the science of reading. She shares actively about how she brings Structured Literacy practices into her own third-grade classroom on her Instagram account @readingwithmrsif and on Twitter @readingwithmsif. Irion-Frake is also an Epic! Master Teacher and Seesaw Certified Educator, bringing her love of reading and educational technology into her classroom. She lives in central Pennsylvania with her husband, also a teacher, and their three sons.
Building a Reading-Writing Connection in the Classroom
Interested in improving your literacy teaching and discovering creative new ways to get students excited about writing? Join teacher and science of reading advocate Hannah Irion-Frake for this applicable webinar! Our presenter will explore the reading-writing
connection and will share ways you can appropriately increase the amount of writing students do in your classroom. The presentation will span the strands of Scarborough’s Reading Rope and will include strategies for writing related to both word
recognition and language comprehension.
We hope you’ll join us as Irion-Frake illustrates how writing can strengthen reading instruction. You’ll learn:
- How opportunities for writing can strengthen students’ reading development
- Classroom-friendly strategies to increase opportunities for students to write
- Science of reading best practices for classroom implementation
Accurate Math Assessment: Informing Systemwide Support
As schools across the country implement a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) framework, an integration of data and instruction is necessary to support all students and ensure success. Specific to math, a schoolwide or districtwide system should include
various components, such as different types of assessment for different purposes, multiple levels or tiers of support, and available resources. Accurate assessment data is necessary to examine the effectiveness of instruction at each tier of support.
This informative presentation will describe how to utilize math assessment data within a data-based, decision-making framework to evaluate instruction from a systems-level perspective.
Attendees will learn:
- Why it’s important to conduct systems-level problem solving
- How assessment fits into the MTSS framework
- Ways to use math screening data to evaluate their system of support in math
We hope you’ll join us!
Dr. Ruth Kaminski, is co-author of Acadience® Reading (previously published as DIBELS Next®) and the co-founder of Acadience Learning. Dr. Kaminski is also the lead author of the early childhood literacy assessment, Acadience®Reading Pre-K: PELI®. Dr. Kaminski’s academic background includes degrees in speech pathology, early childhood special education, and school psychology. She has conducted research on assessment and preventative interventions for preschool and early elementary age children for the past 30 years. Dr. Kaminski has extensive experience consulting with Head Start agencies and public schools throughout the United States and abroad. In addition, Dr. Kaminski brings more than a decade of experience as a classroom teacher and speech/language clinician with preschool-age children.
The Power of Prevention: The Critical Need for Assessment
Reading failure can be prevented in almost every learner.
In this webinar, Dr. Ruth Kaminski, co-author of Acadience Reading K-6 (formerly known as DIBELS) will discuss what we know about the prevention of reading failure. She will share practical advice about methods to prevent reading failure, all of which
are grounded in the science of reading, with an emphasis on the role of assessment.
As a result of participation in this webinar, attendees will:
- Become familiar with a prevention-oriented model of reading disability
- Learn practical strategies for preventing reading disabilities
- Understand the critical role of assessment in the prevention of reading disabilities.
Marilyn Sprick is the lead author of Voyager Sopris Learning’s Read Well®K–2 reading series, Read Well® Spelling 1–2, and Read Well® Composition 1. She has also coauthored SMART Kids with Susan Fister, a social skills program for young children. Sprick is also the lead author of The Third Quest Reading Intervention (grades 5–12) and the Parallel Universe (grades 4–8). As a nationally known reading specialist and literacy consultant, she provides inspiring and pragmatic presentations and training.
This June and August, you can join Sprick for virtual trainings in Read Well K–2 Small Group Instruction or The Third Quest. (Go to readwellteachwell.com for more information.)
Integrate Literacy, Behavior, and Social Emotional Learning: Strategies for Educators
When working with fragile readers, we are working with fragile young people. Learn what you can do to combine scientifically based literacy strategies, research-based behavioral strategies, and social emotional learning to lift a child’s spirit,
give them an environment in which they feel safe to learn, and enhance learning, achievement, and future opportunities. Plan now for the 2022-2023 school year, your reading-intervention strategy, and what you can do to help students "catch up," feel
confident, and hold their heads high.
During this webinar, you’ll learn how to:
- Support self-awareness and build relationship skills
- Teach behavioral skills for literacy building and employability
- Improve reading skills and enjoy the ensuing confidence
Reading Intervention in Middle School: Critical Steps for Success
The evidence is compelling – early identification and intervention is key to providing the greatest opportunity to “close the gap” among struggling and successful readers. However, the stark reality is that many older students are reading below levels which enable them to comprehend grade level, and content-area texts.
Although an approach to intervention for older students may require some modifications, the components of explicit instruction, structured literacy, and ample opportunities to practice to fluency remain the cornerstone of good instruction. Join Dr. Julie Klingerman as she explores these facets of intervention unique to older students:
- How do the components of a structured literacy approach apply to older, struggling students?
- How can intervention be accelerated in both word recognition and language comprehension to prepare students for the rigors of content-area reading?
- Which kinds of practice are most motivating to students in grades 4 and up?
Dr. Anita Archer serves as an educational consultant to state departments and school districts on explicit instruction and literacy. She has presented in all 50 states and many countries including Australia. She is the recipient of 10 awards honoring her contributions to education. Dr. Archer has served on the faculties of three universities including the University of Washington, University of Oregon, and San Diego State University. She has co-authored numerous curriculum materials including Phonics for Reading (Curriculum Associates), a three-level intervention program REWARDS® (Voyager Sopris Learning®), a five-component literacy intervention program; and a best-selling textbook, Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching (Guilford Publications).
Learning is NOT a Spectator Sport:
Increasing Student Engagement
Would you like your students to be more motivated, more engaged, more on-task, and learn more in your lessons? If so, the answer lies in increasing the opportunities to respond.
In this webinar, Dr. Archer, a respected authority on literacy teaching and learning, will share the research on opportunities to respond and practical procedures for implementing verbal, written, and action responses in all lessons. You’ll learn useful strategies and inspiring tips to help you better engage your students, and therefore they’ll learn more from your teaching.
Join us for this useful webinar with the always motivating Dr. Archer, and you’ll leave with practices you can immediately apply in your classroom.
Dr. Leslie Laud has taught students how to write for nearly 20 years as a classroom teacher. She has researched and developed writing instruction methodology, and now serves as a nationally recognized writing-staff instructor and consultant to hundreds of schools.
Dr. Laud holds a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from Columbia University, where she also taught teacher education courses. She conducts empirical research studies on the most effective ways to teach writing, publishes her findings in peer-reviewed journals, and presents at prestigious conferences such as Learning & the Brain, Society for Scientific Studies of Reading, International Literacy Association (ILA), National Council for Teachers of English (NCTE), and locally at Massachusetts Reading Association (MRA). In addition to authoring Releasing Writers: Evidence-Based Strategies for Developing Self-Regulated Writers (2017), she also published Using Formative Assessment to Differentiate Middle School Literacy Instruction (2012). She is currently conducting an empirical research study about structured ways to teach sentence writing. She is the author of multiple journal articles.
The Science of Writing: Accelerate Overall Literacy Development via Writing
Join this fascinating, useful presentation as Dr. Leslie Laud shares the most powerful evidence-based practices for raising literacy outcomes—while emphasizing the role writing can play. As Dr. Laud calls on an abundance of current research, much of it just out in 2020-2021, she will help you understand its impact and how the research sheds new light on what works in explicit, Structured Literacy instruction. This webinar will present the latest evidence-based practices so you can best help your students get caught up following the gaps in instruction they may have experienced during the past year.
Kelly A. Powell-Smith, Ph.D., NCSP, is Chief Science Officer at Acadience Learning. She is the lead author on Acadience® RAN, Acadience® Reading Survey, and Acadience® Reading Diagnostic assessments. Dr. Powell-Smith, a nationally certified school psychologist, obtained her doctorate in school psychology from the University of Oregon. She has served as an Associate Professor of School Psychology at the University of South Florida, a faculty associate of the Florida Center for Reading Research, and consultant with the Eastern Regional Reading First Technical Assistance Center. In addition, she has served on several editorial boards. Dr. Powell-Smith has provided training in formative assessment and academic interventions in 22 states and Canada and conducted more than 260 national, state, and regional workshops and presentations.
Your Literacy Assessment Toolbox: Effectively and Efficiently Informing Schoolwide Multi-Tiered Systems of Support
Join education and assessment expert Dr. Kelly Powell-Smith of Acadience Learning as she examines the critical issues educators face when making assessment decisions. Which assessments are necessary to support schoolwide Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) in the area of literacy, and when should they be used?
During his respected career, Dr. Antonio Fierro has been able to apply his many years in the classroom and as a literacy expert to help schools and districts teach reading to every student, regardless of previous experience or native language. His vast experience contributes invaluable insight into their products and services. Dr. Fierro is a former Texas State Teacher of the Year and was a member of the LETRS cohort of literacy consultants led by Dr. Louisa Moats for almost 20 years.
Dr. Fierro has contributed to several literacy curricula for English learners along with Tools 4 Reading President Dr. Mary Dahlgren. He is the co-author of Kid Lips, their curriculum that teaches the articulatory features of English phonemes to young children with additional support for English learners. His areas of interest include early literacy instruction, improving the learning experience of pre-service teaching candidates, and the research and practice that impacts English learners. Dr. Fierro is also dedicated to advancing the knowledge base and understanding of dyslexia and other reading disabilities as his son, Antonio Jr., has dyslexia. Dr. Fierro currently sits on the board of The Reading League.
Reading Intervention for Middle School English Learners: Changing the Trajectory
For our middle school English Learners, special considerations must be made based on the stages of language acquisition, literacy levels in their native language, and support needed to learn to read and write in English. As an educator, are you doing everything possible to change the trajectory of literacy challenges into success?