Bridging Young Readers to Forever Readers

SoMLA 2024 Conference Program

Take time to visit our Conference 2024 Exhibitors!

Wednesday April 3, 2024 Concurrent Session 1:20-2:10 Grason

Wednesday April 3, 2024 Exhibitor Session 1:20-2:10 Lindsey A, B, C

Moving Forward with Social-emotional Learning: Practical Strategies and Reflections

Social-emotional learning (SEL) has been linked to more effective classroom cultures in recent years to help students learn in a trusting environment (McNair &amp; Pentón Herrera, 2022). The inclusion of SEL practices and activities in classrooms for English language teachers (ELT) is beginning to emerge as a topic of study as educators have seen how integral SEL is to language acquisition and student well-being (Kovats Sánchez et al., 2022). This interactive presentation provides current research then explains examples of how practical SEL strategies can be used in classrooms with multilingual learners. Some examples include ways used to know your students better, use positive psychology practices, select texts that help explore students’ emotions, incorporate nature to ground students in their new environments, and work toward creating transformative SEL classrooms, which were implemented thanks to the OELA ELEVATE grant. (Thanks to the OELA ELEVATE Grant)

Striking the Right Balance: The Power of Multi-criteria Decodable Texts in Early Literacy

How do we strike the right balance of research and best practices in literacy instruction? Join us to explore the Jump Rope Readers, which combine all the best qualities of children’s literature with accessible decodable text. Sponsored by Heinemann

Wednesday April 3, 2024 Concurrent Session 8:00-8:50 Lindsey A, B, C

Wednesday April 3, 2024 Concurrent Session 8:00-8:50 McIntosh

Elizabeth English Shannon Fuller Mandy Ubele

Evidence-based Reading Practices that Open Doors for Older Students: Accelerating Foundational Skills Acquisition

Motivating Students to Improve Reading Fluency - The Bridge to Better Comprehension

There is an urgent need to provide support for older students who struggle to read. It is crucial to provide research-based instruction to this vulnerable group of students. Let’s explore!  

Participants learn how to combine three proven strategies into one powerful technique to accelerate the reading achievement of struggling readers by improving reading fluency. Participants will view and experience the strategy.

Friday April 5, 2024 Closing Remarks 2:50-3:15 Fitzgerald Ballroom A B

Thank you, Sandy Keaton, 2024 Conference Chair!

SoMLA Conference Committee

Sandy's theme was inspired by her grandchildren and other young readers.  Her hope is for all to continue the practice of reading past their early years and to experience the love of reading for a lifetime.

Wednesday April 3, 2024 Lunch Break! 12:00-1:15 Warfields

Enjoy a Buffet Lunch in the Warfields room. Ticket required.

Take a chance at the SoMLA Literacy Lotto. Gifts and baskets are donated by State of Maryland chapters, and Exhibitor/Vendor partners. All monies raised directly fund the scholarships. CASH only *You must be present to win. Drawing Thursday 3:45-4:30 Fitzgerald Ballroom 1 ticket $2.00 6 tickets $10.00 13 tickets $20.00

Friday April 5, 2024 Concurrent Session 11:00-11:50 McIntosh

Friday April 5, 2024 Exhibitor Session 11:00-11:50 Duncan

Your Brain on Journaling for Mindfulness

Glendaliz Almonte

Enjoy 5 mindfulness practices that can calm, focus, and relax brain and body. Discover how the power of journaling can affect the brain as it reacts to anxiety and stress.

This session will explore the factors that contribute to reluctant learning and what the science says about creating optimal educational environments for these students. We will discuss the importance of building relationships with reluctant readers, providing them with opportunities for success, and creating a supportive and inclusive learning environment. We will also explore some specific strategies that can be used to engage reluctant readers, helping them develop positive reading identities. Sponsored by Curriculum Associates

Fostering Optimal Educational Environments for Reluctant Readers

Thursday April 4, 2024 Featured Speaker Session 11:00-11:50 Burke

Thursday April 4, 2024 Featured Speaker Session 11:00-11:50 Fitzgerald Ballroom A, B

Read aloud for Instruction

Science-Based and Artful Approaches to Phonics and Vocabulary Instruction

In this session we will discuss the importance and the benefits of read alouds by delving into the components of an effective, interactive read aloud; with a focus on Instruction.

Word Study that Works! Word decoding, vocabulary, and spelling are essential skills in learning to read at every grade level. Students who struggle in reading and other content areas do so because of difficulty in word decoding and understanding the meaning of key vocabulary. In this session Dr. Rasinski will share effective and engaging methods for helping students learn words and take delight in words. Sponsored by Teacher Created Materials

Thursday April 4, 2024 Concurrent Session 11:00-11:50 Owens Amphitheater

Thursday April 4, 2024 Featured Speaker Session 11:00-11:50 Duncan

Leslie Robb

Promoting Students' Literacy Learning by Implementing Active Literacy Tools and Techniques

Bridging the Gap between Teacher &amp; Student

How do we best use instructional minutes to actively involve and engage students in hands-on learning that motivates and ensures deeper understanding of literacy skills/strategies?

Bridging the Gap between Teacher &amp; Student&nbsp;is a&nbsp;comedic, yet informative professional development session for better classroom management &amp; connecting with students. Her workshop focuses on helping teachers think differently, so they can teach differently. Today’s students need a different approach and Leslie’s workshop is designed to help you learn how to do just that. She provides takeaways that can enhance any secondary classroom.

Friday April 5, 2024 Concurrent Session 8:00-8:50 Duncan

Friday April 5, 2024 Concurrent Session 8:00-8:50 Grason

Developmentally Appropriate Pre-Reading for Early Childhood Education

Chelsea Taylor, Aimee Piedmonte Silvoy

To discuss developmentally appropriate pre-reading for early childhood (birth - 5): what is appropriate and how do we teach these imperative skills through play?

For the Love of Drama: A Literacy Coach’s Collaboration and Implementation of Drama-Based Pedagogies in the High School ELA Classroom

This presentation will share how a literacy coach collaborated with an ELA teacher to implement drama-based pedagogies in two 11th grade classrooms.

Thursday April 4, 2024 Featured Author Session 1:15-2:05 Lindsey A, B

Thursday April 4, 2024 Featured Author Session 1:15-2:05 Grason

THE (SUPER) POWER OF GRAPHIC NOVELS

Jamar Nicholas

So, you want to be a writer? What should you write about? Developing story ideas can be one of the hardest parts of writing fiction. In this session Author Tonya Duncan Ellis shares her writing journey and includes tips on how she develops concepts for her published books.

So You Want to be a Writer? An Author's Journey Using Personal Experiences to Generate Story Idea

An overview of author-illustrator Jamar Nicholas' creation of LEON the EXTRAORDINARY (Scholastic) and creating empathy, empowerment and understanding via sequential narrative.

Thursday April 4, 2024 Featured Author Session 1:15-2:05 Duncan

Thursday April 4, 2024 Featured Author Session 1:15-2:05 Owens Amphitheater

Black Barbies and the Patriarchy

Monster Poems: A Multi-Modal Social Emotional Learning Workshop

Laura Shovan

"Black Barbies and the Patriarchy" In memory of Dr. King's assassination on April 4, 1968, Introduce participants will be introduced to the warrior spirit that was Coretta Scott King. Her contribution to the American liberation movement has been mis-taught. Thus, this interactive session will help classroom teachers assist the history and social studies teachers in their buildings with new insight about America’s 1st Lady of the Civil Rights Movement.  Alice Faye will read from her new picture book biography--CORETTA'S JOURNEY.

Join author, educator, and longtime poet-in-the-schools Laura Shovan for a hands-on SEL activity. This easily replicable multi-model poetry workshop was designed for K-5 students, based on Laura's book, Welcome to Monsterville.

Wednesday April 3, 2024 Concurrent Session 11:00-11:50 Duncan

Wednesday April 3, 2024 Concurrent Session 11:00-11:50 Fitzgerald Ballroom A and B

An Overview of the Seven Essential Literacy Skills

Comprehension is What Reading is All About!

All learning is based on the mastery of essential literary skills, and in this interactive presentation, educators will discover tools they need to embed literacy into all subjects. Comprehension is based on skill-building strategies that encourage purpose and engagement; as a result, educators can effectively teach those literacy skills to support developing students as they learn to read, write, and think critically. In this presentation, Peg will offer an overview of the seven essential literacy skills where educators will discover how to: expand their teaching methods to include literacy skills, introduce literacy into daily lesson planning, embed reading comprehension into any subject area, and scaffold instruction using literacy strategies to boost subject-area comprehension.

Comprehension is what reading is all about!&nbsp;Learn how to foster students’ comprehension by showing them how to: focus on relevant information, interpret it and integrate it with what they already know. You’ll learn how to create an instructional environment that promotes risk taking and involves students in a variety of real reading situations – and meets standards. Your students will learn to focus on meaning as thoughtful readers.

Message from SoMLA Chair, Kelly Davis and 2024 Conference Chair, Sandy Keaton.

We welcome you to SoMLA's 52nd annual Conference! We are thrilled to be back in person. This is a perfect learning network to help you accomplish your professional goals. Engage with a variety of speakers, from across the country and around the world, as they bring their "best practices" to you . Select your favorite sessions relating to our conference theme, Bridging Young Readers to Forever Readers. Rejuvenate your learning plan to make a difference each day, focusing on literacy for all! SoMLA is here to help you grow and reach your goals. Enjoy the conference!

Conference Schedule at a Glance Conference 2024 Keynote Speakers Wednesday Sessions Thursday Sessions Friday Sessions SoMLA Executive Board and Graditude MSDE Credit Information Registration Hotel Map Exhibitors, floor plan with maps SoMLA Past Presidents Feedback

4-5 6-7 8-39 40-75 76-103 104-105 106 107 108-111 112-125 126-127 128

Friday April 5, 2024 Featured Speaker 1:00-1:50 Lindsey A, B, C

Friday April 5, 2024 Keynote Speaker 2:00-2:50 Fitzgerald Ballroom A, B

Why Can’t My Best Word Readers Understand What They Read? Supporting Executive Skills for Better Comprehension

Joan Macenat Charles

Word Wizardry: Dual Coding &amp; Semantic Reasoning in Vocabulary Instruction

Ever wonder why some students seem to have the research-based skills they need for reading (e.g., phonemic awareness, phonics knowledge, and vocabulary) but still struggle to put all of these things together when reading? This talk will examine key thinking skills, called executive functions, that underlie reading comprehension by enabling students to manage the complex array of processes required for skilled reading. Research shows that students with reading difficulties also have weaknesses in executive functions. The good news for educators is that reading-related executive function processes can be supported and strengthened, resulting in improvements in these and in reading. In this session, participants will learn: <ul><li>Basic information about executive functions&nbsp;</li><li>Insights into specific ways executive functions support self-regulated reading&nbsp;</li><li>Research-tested take-home strategies for assessing, supporting, and strengthening executive functions in students’ reading.&nbsp;</li></ul> Sponsored by Curriculum Associates

Word meaning is pivotal in learning to decode and comprehend. This presentation reviews several frameworks (e.g., Lexical Quality Hypothesis, Simple View, Scarborough’s Rope, and the Triangle Model), emphasizing the relationship between print and vocabulary meaning. Attendees will discover multiple new vocabulary learning activities that can be immediately incorporated into instruction ensuring strong orthographic mapping. Sponsored by Really Great Reading

Wednesday April 3, 2024 Exhibitor Session 11:00-11:50 Owens Amphitheater

Wednesday April 3, 2024 Exhibitor Session 11:00-11:50 Grason

Kylie Rymanowicz Professional Development, Hatch Early Learning

Cory Armes Senior Content Specialist, Literacy, Carnegie Learning.

Nurturing Literacy through Engaging Play in Early Childhood.

Opening the Reading Door for Students in Poverty

Our session is designed to inspire early childhood educators and families to rethink traditional approaches to literacy development. By integrating engaging play into the learning process, we can create a nurturing and enjoyable environment where children naturally develop the foundational literacy skills they need.  

Research reveals that poverty results in significant differences in brain maturation and affects language and reading development. This causes a ‘double jeopardy’ of poverty and learning issues, but educators can change that by building essential skills foundational to learning.

Thursday April 4, 2024 Concurrent Session 10:00-10:50 Burke

Thursday April 4, 2024 Concurrent Session 10:00-10:50 Fitzgerald Ballroom C

Shanetia P. Clark, Ph.D. and Heather J. Matthews, Ph.D.

Dr. Deann Collins

Courageous Conversations and Global Perspectives: Using Award-Winning Picture Books to Engage Young Readers

Pathways to Maryland’s Literacy Legacy

In this session, we will invite participants to imagine using Jane Addams Children’s Book Award (JACBA) books to honor young children’s questions about the world by amplifying a global perspective.

The Maryland State Department of Education is committed to developing and increasing stakeholder knowledge around the Science of Reading. With a shared understanding that Literacy is the foundation for all learning and that strong literacy practices yield an impact across core academic subject areas, MSDE has launched an expansive overarching literacy initiative. This session will introduce the key elements of Maryland’s plan for moving literacy outcomes for students, teachers, schools, and districts.

Wednesday April 3, 2024 Exhibitor Session 1:20-2:10 Burke

Wednesday April 3, 2024 Concurrent Session 1:20-2:10 Fitzgerald Ballroom

Ways to Make Writing Instruction More Efficient and Effective

Cancelled

Accelerating English Language Learners’ Literacy Skills

Writing Workshop is a deeply research-based method to help students learn to write passionately and engagingly.  Yet, many teachers feel like it takes a tremendous amount of time to get through minilessons within the workshop model.  Find out how we teach minilessons, share mentor texts, and manage students in a way that is efficient and effective.

Boost vocabulary. Improve reading skills. Accelerate language acquisition. Join Danny to discover helpful tips, valuable strategies and outstanding children’s literature you can use to enhance the literacy skills of your English language learners. Plus, you’ll explore how to promote greater cultural understanding in your classroom by building on the varied backgrounds of your students.

Wednesday April 3, 2024 Concurrent Session 1:20-12:10 Duncan

Wednesday April 3, 2024 Keynote Speaker 2:30-3:20 Fitzgerald Ballroom

Julia Lindsey

An Overview of the Seven Essential Literacy Skills ~ Part 2 continuing the morning conversation

Focusing on and Beyond Foundations: A Nuance View of the Evidence

While every classroom teacher may not be a certified reading teacher; we know that every teacher is, indeed, a teacher of literacy in their classroom. We also know that essential literacy skills are the foundational competencies that students require to build lives of learning. In this full-day workshop, Peg will demonstrate how to choose one of the essential skills based on your state’s standards, and how to customize it for your classroom: from creating and designing a lesson plan, complete with strategies including graphic organizers, worksheets, and charts, to writing a vigorous learning intention and scaffolded success criteria, and finally, applying assessment methods for all student abilities.  

Focusing on and Beyond Foundations: A Nuance View of the Evidence Teaching reading is both simple and undeniably complex. In this keynote, Dr. Julia B. Lindsey will invite you into the nuances of the evidence around reading instruction, with a particular focus on the necessity of both foundational skills and knowledge, as well as the connections between aspects of reading. We will explore some commonly held understandings and extend these with additional recent research findings to ensure your classroom instruction is precise, efficient, and effective. Sponsored by Scholastic

Wednesday April 3, 2024 Concurrent Session 8:00-8:50 Grason

Wednesday April 3, 2024 Concurrent Session 8:00-8:50 Owens Amphitheater

Accelerating Student Growth in Middle School Reading Intervention Courses

Engage Students Through Sensory Literacy Instruction

Through collective work centered on research, trial, and feedback we share our experience with student-led goal setting in reading intervention courses.

Research shows that repetitive activities which integrate the senses (auditory, visual, and kinesthetic), improve both student engagement and memory of information.  This presentation will provide activities that meet the needs of your diverse learners by integrating music, puppet skits, visuals, and a variety of texts.  Participants will sing songs and learn raps from puppet skits to improve both sight word and foundational skill knowledge. The participants will also review engaging fiction and non-fiction texts. The texts are designed with a natural sentence structure to promote fluency and they provide opportunities for students to apply their knowledge from the phonics component of the lesson.  After reviewing various texts, participants can discuss comprehension questions and activities that apply to particular texts.   

Thursday April 4, 2024 Concurrent Session 8:00-8:50 Burke

Thursday April 4, 2024 Concurrent Session 8:00-8:50 Duncan

Social Emotional Learning Text Set &amp; Lesson Seeds

Using Children's Picture Books to Foster a Growth Mindset

Using research supported SEL text set, we share how we integrated SEL goals into our literacy sessions and how you can too!

Discover how read-alouds can foster such different aspects of a growth mindset as perseverance, critical thinking, and problem-solving. Walk-away with a bibliography of children’s picture books that inspire.

Friday April 5, 2024 Featured Speaker 10:00-10:50 Duncan

Friday April 5, 2024 Featured Speaker 10:00-10:50 Owens Amphitheater

Dr. Jan Burkins

Reading empowers young people to find themselves and to create success for themselves. How do we build readers for life? Let's explore the dynamics that make a book work for the reader. It's the magic formula of looking at the reader and looking at the book - what do they have in common? Where is the intersection between how the book processes the world and how the reader processes the world? Author Jason Reynolds says he can tell in two paragraphs if a book has the right “beat” for him. How can we find that magical connection for each reader?

Based on Jan’s groundbreaking book with Kari Yates, this keynote tells the story of their journey into the body of reading research often referred to as the science of reading, acknowledging that rethinking our practices is not only academic and practical work, but it is definitely emotional work as well. In this humorous, engaging, and science-filled keynote, Jan shares strategies that can build a bridge between the “science of reading” and classroom practice on behalf of students. We definitely have work to do. But bravely embracing science&nbsp;and&nbsp;balance will ensure that more children learn to read with less struggle. Jan will leave you with both clarity and energy for the journey ahead.&nbsp; This will be a virtual session.

Shifting the Balance (K-2): 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom [Virtual Session]

Thursday April 4, 2024 Concurrent Session 8:00-8:50 Owens Amphitheater

Thursday April 4, 2024 Concurrent Session 8:00-8:50 McIntosh

Dawn Little

Building Bridges: From the Word to the World

Let's Talk! Implement Productive Talk Strategies and Increase Engagement of ALL Learners

Discover the power of "building bridges" through culturally relevant, responsive, and sustaining literacy practices and promote invested, lifelong readers by making meaningful connections between the 'word' and the 'world' around them.

Let’s Talk!&nbsp;Join me as we explore several productive talk strategies that engage all learners, especially multilingual learners.&nbsp;Leave with several strategies you can implement into instruction tomorrow!&nbsp;&nbsp;

Friday April 5, 2024 Exhibitor Session 11:00-11:50 Lindsey A, B, C

Friday April 5, 2024 Lunch 12:00-1:00 Warfields

Selma Woldermichael, Emma Sanks., and Dr. Karen Bradford

Transforming Literacy Instruction: PGCPS’s Journey

Enjoy a Buffet Lunch in the Warfields room. Ticket required.

Join us for an in-depth review of how the PGCPS Elementary RELA Department strategically transformed literacy instruction and brought the Science of Reading to life in elementary classrooms.

Friday April 5, 2024 Concurrent Session 10:00-10:50 LINDSEY A, B, C

Friday April 5, 2024 Concurrent Session 10:00-10:50 WARFIELDS

Dr. Karen Bradford and Dr. Melinda Cunningham

Top Ten Things Administrators Need to Know About the Science of Reading to Lead the Charge

We know that 95% of students can learn how to read using instruction and programs based on the science of reading, yet we are still facing a growing literacy crisis. As students move from elementary school to middle and high school, many do not have the foundational decoding and comprehension skills they need to read to learn. Join this discussion of how educators can employ the strategies and best practices we’ve learned according to the Science of Reading to assist secondary students.&nbsp;&nbsp; Sponsored by Lexia

Wondering why so many districts and schools are turning to the Science of Reading? Be the leader that your district/school needs for this journey! We are thrilled to offer a Science of Reading workshop geared entirely toward building and district leaders. Our one-hour workshop explores what the Science of Reading is, why it is the most effective way of teaching reading, and how to begin your journey.&nbsp; Participants will leave with straightforward ways to identify red flags and roadblocks and actionable next steps, including:&nbsp; <ul><li>Walkthrough checklist for Science of Reading practices&nbsp;</li><li> Science of Reading curriculum evaluation guidelines&nbsp;</li><li>Teacher knowledge surveys to determine where to begin your professional growth plan&nbsp;</li></ul>Change starts with administrators’ leadership, and we are passionate about helping you start your journey!&nbsp; Sponsored by Really Great Reading

&nbsp;Joan Macenat Charles

Wednesday April 3, 2024 Concurrent Session 1:20-2:10 Owens Amphitheater

Wednesday April 3, 2024 Concurrent Session 1:20-2:10 McIntosh

Kimberly Arriaga Gonzalez and Cristina Cammarano

Effective Vocabulary Teaching for Enhanced Reading Comprehension

Fostering higher order thinking skills through philosophical discussion with children

Unlock ESL Success: Learn practical strategies for effective vocabulary teaching, empowering ESL students to enhance their reading comprehension skills and excel academically.

Presenters discuss their experience facilitating philosophical discussion with ESL learners, and they discuss how translanguaging in dialogue promotes higher order thinking skills.

Thursday April 4, 2024 Featured Author Session 10:00-10:50 Owens Amphitheater

Thursday April 4, 2024 Featured Author Session 10:00-10:50 Duncan

A Book and A Hug

Using ABookandaHug.com - Need some great read-alikes? Want your students to see authors who look like them? Need a new book to teach a lesson? How about finding them all in one place. Come and join the fun as we explore abookandahug.com and find the treasure chest of tools designed for you.

I was a kid who didn’t read novels. The huge tomes that my mother read with names like Michael Cricthon or Steven King on the three-inch spine really intimidated me. So when my third grade teacher handed me Roald Dahl’s Matilda, I immediately said, “No I don’t read novels, I read comics”. But this book was filled with witty little illustrations, and pretty soon I had read the entire book. A teacher cared about me enough to give me the right book at the right stage of my development to usher me along the path of being a lifelong reader. That’s why I write books for that age group and that’s why I visit hundreds of elementary schools, passing on my message. My show has many elements, guitar songs, puppet and impassioned, inspirational talk promoting reading, writing and rewriting and never giving up.

Journey to Becoming an Artist

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Friday April 5, 2024 Concurrent Session 8:00-8:50 Burke

Friday April 5, 2024 Concurrent Session 8:00-8:50 McIntosh

Charles Grattan Baldwin

Moving beyond decoding basic one syllable cvc words can be scary!&nbsp;I have strategies for children that are ready to move to the next level and apply knowledge of syllabication and morphology to decode multisyllabic words like a pro!

Understanding the science of reading and the three cueing system is essential. Now, what happens to the ideas that are not the science of reading?

The Science of Reading; going from the broken to the flawed

Wednesday April 3, 2024 Keynote Speaker 9:00-9:50 Fitzgerald Ballroom

Wednesday April 3, 2024 Keynote Speaker 10:00-10:50 Fitzgerald Ballroom

Bringing Joy Back into Education

Choosing and Using Decodable Texts

Educators (teachers, administrators and staff) did not enter education for the pay or daily accolades from society; they are in it because they care about kids. The standardized testing craze and pandemic have terrified students, overwhelmed parents and led many great educators to quit. Come join Danny as he reminds you of your importance as an educator in the every day development of children. He’ll show you how to laugh, sing, dance and play in order to bring the joy back into education.

At this presentation, Wiley will explore what decodables are, how to use them, and how to maximize their impact. The focus will be on building decoding fluency; early reading behaviors; and incorporating vocabulary, writing, and comprehension work into daily instruction with decodables. Participants will also learn how to choose decodables and how to know when students are ready to transition to less-controlled text. Sponsored by Benchmark Education

Friday April 5, 2024 Exhibitor Session 10:00-10:50 Grason

Friday April 5, 2024 Concurrent Session 10:00-10:50 Burke

Alan Becker

Melissa Jacobsen

Words Matter when it comes to Reading and Writing

It is critical that word study is an integral part of our literacy curriculum. Using the power of Greek and Latin word roots, students can dive deeper into the meaning of words and educators will learn how this approach aligns with the Science of Reading. In this session, you will learn simple and effective ways to incorporate word root routines into your weekly instruction using morphology. These strategies can be used right away as you return to your classrooms as early as next week! Sponsored by Teacher Created Materials

Getting Comfortable with Uncomfortable Conversations: Teaching Texts With Sensitive Issues in the Secondary ELA classroom

Learn how to use the “Let’s Talk” framework from Learning for Justice to lay the groundwork and facilitate critical conversations in your classroom.

Thursday April 4, 2024 Featured Author Session 1:15-2:05 Lindsey C

Thursday April 4, 2024 Keynote Speaker 2:15-3:15 Fitzgerald Ballroom A, B

A look behind the children's book: working with scientists

All students can read on grade level and beyond when you teach them to comprehend using the evidence-based, reciprocal teaching strategies- predict, question, clarify, and summarize. Join Lori Oczkus, best-selling author and literacy consultant, as she demonstrates “Fab Four” or reciprocal teaching lessons that dramatically improve comprehension using any text at any grade level! Learn to use short and sharp mini-lessons with the whole class, intervention groups, and book clubs for fast results of .74 or two years in one year. Students often make these rapid gains in just a few months! Lori will share her “go to” lessons, coaching tips, and successful implementation models from her schools around the globe. Don’t miss this lively session loaded with engaging high yield/ low-prep ideas to use immediately for dramatic results in your classroom and school!

Accelerate Literacy for All Students with the “Fab Four” Comprehension Strategies

Children's author Jennifer Keats Curtis (JKC) will discuss her work with scientific experts. The longtime writer, who has no professional science background, often jokes that she "speaks scientist," as she regularly works and co-authors books with PhD’s, biologists and environmental experts in order to write her nonfiction and realistic fiction.

Friday April 5, 2024 Concurrent Session 8:00-8:50 Owens Amphitheater

Friday April 5, 2024 Keynote Speaker 9:00-9:50 Fitzgerald Ballroom A, B

Mel Cooper and Debbie DeGrosky

Science of Reading: Making Sense of the Research and Instruction Understanding

The Knowledge Gap: What It Is and How to Narrow It.

Natalie Wexler

The Science of Reading is important. We’ll then go over what literacy skills classroom instruction should include to give ALL your students a jump start on their reading journey.

In an effort to boost reading scores, schools spend many hours on skills like “finding the main idea,” leaving little time for social studies and science. But studies show that comprehension depends far more on the reader’s knowledge of the topic or of general academic vocabulary than on abstract skills. If we want all students to reach their potential, we need to immerse them in content-rich subjects that build academic knowledge and vocabulary, beginning in kindergarten. That’s what an increasing number of schools and districts are now doing, with promising results. Sponsored by Amplify

Thursday April 4, 2024 Exhibitor Session 8:00-8:50 Lindsey A, B, C

Thursday April 4, 2024 Featured Author Session 8:00-8:50 Grason

Sherry Eichinger-Wilson and Melissa Perlman

Cecil County Schools is partnering with Chapter One