PETERBOROUGH, N.H., Sept. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Staff Development for Educators (SDE), one of the nation's leading providers of professional development for K-12 educators, is pleased to announce a new line of grades K-2 and 3-5 seminars entitled Motivating & Guiding Today's Readers and Writers taking place in Des Moines, Iowa and Grand Rapids, Michigan, this Fall.
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Designed and presented by outstanding literacy expert presenter Laureen Reynolds, both seminars are designed to teach easy-to-implement and fun guided reading and writing routines that fit with today's classroom challenges.
If you've ever felt like you were dragging students through reading and writing instruction, instead of guiding them, or if you've found your students are coming to your classroom with a greater diversity of literacy experiences and levels of motivation, this seminar is for you. Reynolds, an expert and author in this area, shares ways to fit in targeted instruction in a busy classroom, and has also developed key strategies for fostering independence, confidence, engagement, and independence in your students.
The K-2 seminar focuses on how to use small-group and one-on-one instruction to reach different learners in the classroom, with a particular emphasis on the introduction of a variety of types of text types, as well as more complex texts in guided reading. Reynolds explores ad hoc grouping strategies and ways to support readers as they persevere and problem-solve new kinds of texts.
With equal attention paid to guided writing, Reynolds introduces a flexible framework for whole-group, small-group, and individual instruction to help target foundational writing skills. Teachers will leave with meaningful independent practice activities and discover simple formative assessment strategies to help keep writers moving forward.
"Young learners usually come to us excited about school and school work. The challenge is harnessing their enthusiasm and turning it into productive instructional time," explains Reynolds. "If you're unsure how to prepare your young students for the increasingly rigorous expectations, this seminar can help you, with practical ideas and strategies that you can employ every day to keep each of your learners moving forward."
In the grades 3-5 seminar, the Reynolds' key takeaway is how to develop purposeful strategies that promote independence. She demonstrates how to appropriate ask third, fourth, and fifth grade readers and writers probing questions to get them thinking about the text their interacting with, helping them think more critically and become independent problem-solvers. Her easy-to-implement techniques also include ways to fold assessment into ongoing lessons, ways to respond to assessment data and use it to plan flexible groups, and how to deliver more effective direct instruction.
Reynolds also unveils questioning strategies for working in small groups to tackle and solve problems, ways to keep students engaged and progressing with meaningful and independent literacy practice activities, and routines to maximize teaching and extend student understanding.
"You need new skills to teach to new expectations, and students need focused support to meet them," Reynolds acknowledges. "Today's students live in the short-hand world of Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram—and may have limited exposure to the foundational types of writing as the standards now require. My seminar helps marry career-ready writing with everyday communication."
Both the K-2 and the 3-5 seminars will help teachers understand how to incorporate guided reading and writing seamlessly into classroom routines, provide effective techniques for moving effortlessly between whole-group, small-group, and individual reading and writing instruction, explore powerful assessment and flexible grouping strategies, cultivate management practices, and build strategies to encourage comprehension, the reading and writing process, collaboration, and independence.
Motivating the Guiding Today's Readers and Writers will take place in in Des Moines, IA on November 3-4, 2015 for K-2 and November 5-6, 2015 for grades 3-5, and in Grand Rapids, MI on November 17-18, 2015 for K-2 and November 19-20, 2015 for grades 3-5.
About SDE
SDE is one of America's leading providers of professional development for PreK through Grade 12 educators. Through Onsite PD, PD Events, Web-based PD, and PD Resources, the company empowers teachers and administrators across the country with ongoing professional development that is not only research-based, innovative, and rigorous, but also practical, motivating, and fun. All SDE trainings are presented by the nation's top authors and educational experts, with the goal of creating extraordinary classrooms that prepare students for the evolving demands of the 21st century.
For more information about SDE, educators are encouraged to visit www.sde.com, or to call 1-800-462-1478.