Embracing Literacy 2025 Events

Introduction:
Secondary educators often face the challenge of supporting students who struggle with decoding and fluency, yet professional development in the Science of Reading is largely focused on elementary instruction. This session bridges that gap by providing research-based strategies tailored for middle and high school students.

Participants will clearly understand how the Science of Reading applies beyond the early grades and explore practical, age-appropriate methods for teaching decoding, fluency, and comprehension. The session will cover effective instructional approaches, adaptable interventions, and high-quality resources designed for secondary learners.

1. Understand how the Science of Reading applies to middle and high school students. 
2. Recognize the challenges faced by adolescent struggling readers and their impact on learning. 
3. Apply evidence-based decoding and fluency strategies in secondary classrooms. 
4. Utilize practical tools and resources to support older students in mastering foundational literacy skills. 
5. Support a schoolwide literacy approach by integrating structured literacy strategies across disciplines.

Objectives:
By the end of the workshop, attendees will leave with actionable strategies to implement in their classrooms, tools to assess and address literacy gaps, and a deeper understanding of how structured literacy can support struggling readers in content-area learning. Whether you are a classroom teacher, literacy coach, or administrator, this session will equip you with the knowledge and resources to enhance instruction and improve student outcomes. Conference attendees will find this session particularly valuable as it addresses a critical but often overlooked need—helping older students develop the foundational literacy skills they require for academic success.
Understand how the Science of Reading applies to middle and high school students. Recognize the challenges faced by adolescent struggling readers and their impact on learning. Apply evidence-based decoding and fluency strategies in secondary classrooms. Utilize practical tools and resources to support older students in mastering foundational literacy skills. Support a schoolwide literacy approach by integrating structured literacy strategies across disciplines.

Credit Reflection Questions: Applying Learning to Practice

• What new insights did you gain from the presentation, and how did they connect to your existing knowledge or experience?
• In what ways did the presentation deepen or enhance your understanding of the topic?
• How do you plan to apply what you learned in your work? Who will benefit from it, and what changes or improvements do you expect to see?

Building Language Networks: Integrating AI into Explicit Vocabulary Instruction -Explicit vocabulary instruction is essential for secondary students to engage with complex texts and communicate effectively. This session explores how AI tools can enhance vocabulary teaching by supporting word selection, offering adaptive learning experiences, and strengthening language networks. Participants will learn research-based strategies for direct vocabulary instruction, including selecting high-utility words and fostering word consciousness. Through practical examples and discussions, attendees will discover how to integrate AI to improve vocabulary instruction, enhance comprehension, and build academic language networks, leaving with actionable insights to create a language-rich environment that accelerates literacy development.

Introduction:
During this session, participants will dive into the understanding that comprehension is not a skill but rather an outcome. We will explore evidence-based strategies to use before, during, and after reading that support students in reading words accurately and fluently, understanding word meanings, building background knowledge, and focusing their attention on critical content. Through hands-on activities, we will practice three key strategies: Clicks and Clunks, Paragraph Shrinking, and a before-reading vocabulary strategy, while discussing how to adapt these techniques for diverse learners, including struggling readers and English learners. Attendees will leave with practical resources, templates, and actionable steps to implement these strategies and foster proficient readers and writers. Whether you're a teacher, coach, or administrator, this session will equip you with tools to drive meaningful student outcomes and bridge the gap between reading comprehension and writing proficiency.

Objectives:
1. Understand the process of reading comprehension. 2. Identify effective instructional practices to support reading comprehension before, during, and after passage reading. 3. Practice text protocols to support comprehension (paragraph shrinking).