Embracing Literacy 2025 Events

Introduction
Effective and informed leadership is essential for driving literacy initiatives and fostering the daily motivation needed to be the chief reminding officer and casting the vision, meeting the discrete mission goals, and transforming a system. In this session, we explore leadership moves that promote literacy excellence, from setting a vision to providing ongoing support and professional development. Participants will gain practical strategies for leading literacy improvement efforts within their schools or districts. The learning experience in this session comes from a six-day literacy leadership course.
Session Objectives
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Identify key leadership moves that drive literacy improvement, including vision-setting, strategic alignment, and consistent messaging.
2. Examine how leaders can serve as motivators, vision-casters, and chief reminding officers to sustain momentum in literacy initiatives.
3. Apply practical strategies from a research-based literacy leadership framework to support ongoing professional development and system-wide transformation.

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?

Introduction:
How do the science of reading and the science of writing work together to support student understanding? This interactive session explores how foundational sentence-level writing instruction strengthens comprehension by explicitly linking reading, writing, speaking, and thinking. Participants will learn how to leverage sentence construction as a powerful tool to bridge decoding and deep understanding. Grounded in research, this session will provide practical strategies for integrating writing into daily instruction in ways that engage students and enhance comprehension across content areas.

Objectives:

1. Explain the connection between the science of reading and the science of writing.
2. Identify how foundational sentence writing supports reading comprehension.
3. Understand the role of sentence-level writing in connecting reading, writing, speaking, and thinking.
4. Apply practical strategies to incorporate writing as a tool for deepening comprehension in daily instruction.

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?

What do phonemic awareness and letter knowledge have in common? They both contribute to the development of the alphabetic principle. Children's reading development depends on their understanding of this important principle – the idea that letters and letter patterns represent the sounds of spoken language. This fundamental knowledge and integration of phonemes and graphemes prepares children for reading and spelling. Utilizing key findings from research, educators will build on this understanding and leave with practical tools aligned to structured literacy principles to embed multisensory instruction of letter names, shapes, and sounds into their daily instruction. 

Objectives:
•   Define the alphabetic principle
•   Discuss considerations for integrating phonemic awareness and letter/sound instruction early on to promote reading •   Discuss the importance of letter name accuracy and automaticity
•   Identify iconic and non-iconic letters
•   Discuss the benefits of teaching letter formation using a continuous stroke and how explicit instruction helps                 children anchor letter names into memory 

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?

This session will explore how integrating peer observations into a multifaceted approach to professional learning can sustain teacher engagement and foster a culture of continuous growth within school districts. Using one district's journey to enhance small group reading instruction aligned with evidence-based practices and the science of reading, we’ll demonstrate how peer observations can improve instructional efficacy, empower teachers, and drive lasting change. Through interactive activities—such as a case study discussion, insights from a district leader, building principal, literacy coach, and teacher shared via recorded video, and hands-on application to one’s own district—attendees will gain actionable strategies for implementing peer observations. Participants will also receive practical tools and a planning guide to help develop their next steps for creating sustainable, impactful professional learning that cultivates ongoing growth. This session is designed for educators and leaders seeking to strengthen their professional learning culture and maintain momentum beyond the initial stages of implementation.

Objectives:

1: Examine the characteristics, structures, and research behind peer observations as a tool for professional learning.   2: Explore how structured peer observations can improve small group reading instruction aligned with evidence-based instructional practices and the science of reading while fostering a culture of continuous growth.  
3: Investigate how administrators and coaches can design and support peer observation programs that reflect a shared vision of effective practice and are integrated into a multifaceted, ongoing approach to professional learning. 
4: Gain insights into the challenges and successes of peer observations, focusing on the goals of self-efficacy, non-evaluative feedback, and collaboration. 
5: Leave with actionable strategies to launch or refine peer observation programs in one’s own district.


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?