Reading Opens the World: New Literacy Webinars for Grades K-12

Thursday, May 26, at 6:00 p.m. EDT
Available On Demand
Grades K-12
Join Anne Harper Charity Hudley and Kimberly Bigelow for an interactive session designed to help you affirm students’ linguistic identity and position students as experts by designing a language and literacy equity audit for your classroom or learning community.

Thursday, June 2, at 6:00 p.m. EDT
Available On Demand
​​​​​​​Grades 3-6
Join Anne Harper Charity Hudley and Rachel Samuels for an interactive workshop that will guide you in using poetry to teach about language variation in the late elementary grades.  This workshop will bring out the poetry in your students and in you!

Thursday, July 28, at 2:00 p.m. EDT
Grades 2-6
How can we rethink small group reading instruction and unlock the complexities of language in ways that accelerates students’ ability to read more increasingly complex text independently? During this interactive webinar we will explore new structures and strategies for small group reading instruction that will equip students with the tools necessary to unlock these barriers.

Now available on demand (Thursday, Jan. 27, at 6 p.m. EST)
Grades K-12 
Even before the pandemic, many English language learners struggled to participate on equal terms with their English proficient classmates. The pandemic has made that struggle even harder. Many literacy programs are set up with great intentions, but sometimes they don’t really take into consideration the particular needs of ELLs. If you are looking for ways to incorporate literacy practices through individualized instruction that work for this population of students, join us for tips, resources and strategies you can use right away that help ELLs read and write successfully.

Now available on demand (Thursday, Feb. 3, at 6 p.m. EST)
Grades K-12
Get tips and tools on ELL instruction. Students’ ability to read and understand grade-level text is integral to their academic success. Learn how to scaffold literacy instruction and make the content comprehensible to English language learners. This webinar will include specific strategies and models of visual and linguistic supports that will enhance your instruction and assist students in reaching high levels of success.

Now available on demand (air date: Thursday, Feb. 17, at 6:30 p.m. EST)
Grades K-5
Join this session to examine The Simple View of Reading—a formula demonstrating that an individual’s reading comprehension is the product of decoding skill and language comprehension. This webinar will break down each category into its component factors that contribute to developing successful young readers.

Now available on demand (Thursday, March 24, at 6 p.m. EDT)
Grades 6-12
Our teaching standards set high expectations for student learning, whether it is in mathematics, science or history. Explore five research recommendations to improve students’ reading comprehension in the content areas.

Now available on demand (Thursday, April 14, at 6 p.m. EDT)
Grades K-12
Learn strategies that educators and tutors can use to select and teach vocabulary to support word recognition and text comprehension. Academic language is at the heart of what English language learners need to succeed in their schoolwork. While many ELLs appear to acquire English relatively fast, their ability to understand the language of textbooks, assessment, and complex text can be overlooked. In this webinar, you will learn how to select vocabulary to teach, as well as research-based methods to teach different kinds of vocabulary words and phrases.

Now available on demand (Thursday, April 21, at 6:30 p.m. EDT)
Grades 4-12
Learn how to use the three steps of the MAX framework—motivation, acquisition and extension—to improve the reading, writing, speaking and listening skills of your students. This webinar unpacks strategies to use before, during and after reading (first developed by Max Forget) for you to engage students when reading from texts.

Now available on demand (Thursday, April 28, at 6:30 p.m. EDT)
Grades K-6
Become familiar with research and understand how individuals acquire and remember words as you expand your knowledge of best-practice strategies that will maximize vocabulary acquisition.

Now available on demand (Thursday, May 5, at 6:00 p.m. EDT)
Grades K-12
Language and literacy can be broad and deep, spanning academic, social and emotional aspects. Join Anne Harper Charity Hudley and Christine Mallinson for a research-based, interactive session to help you engage in conversations about language and culture, and to identify with your students. This session will help you craft your linguistic autobiography and guide your students and colleagues to create theirs so you can richly engage with each other about your linguistic and literary heritages.

Now available on demand (Thursday, May 19, at 6:00 p.m. EDT)
Grades PreK-3
Join Lee & Low Books along with the Center for English Learners at the American Institutes for Research for a fast-paced, joyful discussion on best practices for writing in preschool, centering English learners and dual language learners and their needs.