The Science of Reading for Adolescents: What to do when big kids can’t decode

This presentation was born out of the presenter’s experience with the reading achievement gap at the secondary level. When students don’t master the strands of Word Recognition Skills in Scarborough’s Reading Rope by third grade, they typically end up being middle school or high school students who still can’t decode. Secondary teachers know how to support reading comprehension, but they are not trained to teach decoding or fluency. Furthermore, there are limited resources for secondary students who need decoding and fluency work. In this presentation, attendees will discover how to engage adolescent readers using age-appropriate strategies grounded in the science of reading. Participants will explore the science of reading and its application to older students, delving into evidence-based practices that promote literacy development. Whether you’re a classroom teacher, reading specialist, or literacy coach, this workshop offers valuable insights and tools to enhance your teaching practice and empower your middle and high school students to become proficient readers. Attendees are suggested to bring a phone or laptop to access QR codes for resources referenced in the presentation.

Implementing Writing Across the Disciplines

This workshop introduces instructional techniques and activities for implementing writing across the disciplines. It is appropriate for all grades K-12 and is based on The Writing Revolution, training educators to incorporate short and simple activities into pre-planned lessons for any content. The objective is to boost students’ writing abilities and knowledge of the similarities and differences of content writing. Think about a science report and an ELA literary essay—a hypothesis vs. thesis statement, results of an experiment vs. proving an argument, etc. Participants will leave with several content-specific activities and the know-how to incorporate them into the units they’re already teaching. Attendees are suggested to bring a lesson plan.

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