PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
TOPICS and TRAINING

Customized Literacy Courses are also available upon request

Differentiated Literacy Centers
[Grades K-6] Click here for Workshop Outline!

Teachers enjoy constructing four core
differentiated literacy centers at the workshop

Make differentiated literacy centers and uninterrupted small group teaching a reality in your classrooms! This workshop will demonstrate the organization and implementation of literacy centers that meet a range of student needs, increasing the time students spend reading and writing each day. Differentiated tasks will be provided that focus on essential strategies in Reading Comprehension, Fluency, Word Study and Writing. Each strategy is presented with multiple levels of challenge, making standards-based instruction accessible to every student.

This one or two-day training may include a make and take component to support the transfer to classroom implementation. Follow-up visits may be scheduled at one or two month intervals to provide helpful feedback to teachers on how to continue to improve their literacy centers. Meetings with grade level teams on these visits are designed to address common challenges and identify the next steps.

Differentiated Small Group Reading Instruction
[Grades K-6] Click here for Workshop Outline!

Differentiated reading groups are formed based on a 
common need in a specific skill or strategy

This workshop addresses the question: “How do I juggle the needs of multiple small groups of students each day and teach at the point of need?” Maximize your small group teaching time with strategy-based grouping based on assessment data. Identify the appropriate teaching point, select text that supports the teaching point, and plan lessons that will move students along the developmental reading continuum. Acquire a toolkit of highly interactive lessons and student materials to support implementation of targeted, differentiated instruction in word recognition, fluency and comprehension.

Follow-up visits may be scheduled with grade level teams to co-plan sequences of lessons based on student data. Subsequent visits provide in-class coaching while teachers work in small groups, followed by working collaboratively with teachers to construct an action plan based on their instructional goals.

Response to Intervention in Action
[Grades K-6] Click here for Workshop Outline!

Navigate each step of implementation at the school-wide and classroom level with this doable, sustainable approach to RtI. Examine options for organizing and scheduling classroom and intervention programs that double or triple the instructional time and rate of student growth for Tier 2 and 3 students. Align student data and instruction with these If/Then charts that identify the appropriate research-based lesson formats in word recognition, fluency and comprehension for specific profiles of student need. Learn practical ways to incorporate more targeted learning opportunities for Tier 1, Tier 2 and 3 students across the literacy block.

Find out the factors that cause potential pitfalls to successful implementation and student progress – and how to avoid them. Learn how other schools and districts have navigated the roadblocks to implementing RtI and use these examples of successful implementation as a guide for your own school or district.

Developmental Word Study in Action
[Grades K-6] Click here for Workshop Outline!

Students engage in identifying categories of words
containing common spelling features

Find out how a developmental word study program can improve student skills in spelling, writing and reading. Learn how to administer and analyze spelling inventories and use this information to plan and implement a differentiated word study program. Examine options for scheduling and rotating groups of students or integrate word study in your small-group reading lessons. Experience hands-on, inquiry-based activities that research has identified as the most effective. Acquire a teacher toolkit of resources to make implementation doable and sustainable.

The Role of the Reading Specialist/Literacy Coach
[Grades K-6] Click here for Literacy Coach Training!

Literacy Coaches need support too! Find out the proven frameworks for establishing and working with collaborative teams, coaching individual teachers to achieve the vision they have for the literacy instruction in their classroom, and maintain the momentum for school-wide literacy initiatives. Learn practical tips for working with the adult learner and addressing common obstacles to the implementation of new teaching practices. Acquire a coach’s toolkit of model lessons and formats for inter-classroom visits and collegial sharing in your building. Establish a teacher take-out of ready-to-go resources that makes implementation of new literacy practices motivating and manageable for your colleagues.

This training can be provided as a one day overview or as a three-part series: 

1) Establishing your role as a literacy leader and navigating the roadblocks to change

2) Collaborative formats for working with groups of teachers and stocking a literacy resource room for teachers that supports best practices

3) Effective coaching dialogue to encourage reflective practice and responsive teaching

Differentiating the
Literacy Block/Reader's Workshop
[Grades K-6]

Differentiate your reader's workshop program and take it to the next level. Discover formats for teaching comprehension, fluency and word study that ensure all students have access to essential skills and strategies, and are responding and learning throughout instruction. These evidence-based lessons and materials support differentiation in each component of your program - within read alouds, shared and guided reading, word study (phonics, vocabulary and spelling) and independent literacy stations. Ensure all your students have access to critical skills and strategies in each component of your literacy block. Acquire a teacher's toolkit of formats, lessons and resources to support you in each step of implementation.

Follow-up visits with grade level teams focus on planning instruction during the literacy block so that differentiated instruction is built into the daily curriculum.  Subsequent visits provide ongoing feedback on the implementation steps and collaborative problem-solving of challenges teachers may experience during the transition period.

Reading Fluency and Comprehension Intervention
[Grades 1-6]

Learn which intervention techniques work best for low progress readers with different profiles of need. Examine common profiles of student need and the strategic, intensive instruction required for each one. This workshop incorporates highly interactive teaching formats for fluency and comprehension instruction to bridge the gap for struggling readers. Implement powerful intervention strategies that enable students to comprehend both narrative and nonfiction text structures and succeed on comprehension assessments.

Students work on the same strategy, yet complete differentiated tasks designed to meet their needs

A menu of literacy center tasks is displayed on a project board

With years of experience as a classroom teacher, special education resource teacher, reading specialist and literacy coach to guide her, Margo now enjoys her role as an educational consultant with school districts across the United States and Canada. Margo's books and training are designed to support teachers in developing highly effective, differentiated literacy programs.