Vermont Reads Summer Institute

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

August 5, 6, 7 | Stoweflake Mountain Resort & Spa | Stowe, Vermont

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Teaching Students to Read Like Detectives
Douglas Fisher , San Diego State University

Preparing students who are career and college ready requires  that they be able to read, write, discuss, and think critically about a wide variety of informational and narrative texts. Yet in too many classrooms, worthy texts take a backseat as students gravitate  toward personal connections. Without close reading and discussion of complex texts, students fail to learn how to read, think, write, and act critically. Students need high quality instruction if they are going to learn to read like detectives.

Learning outcomes for participants include:

Identify major shifts in the Common Core State Standards;  
Describe an effective instructional framework for implementing CCSS;
Consider ways to use complex texts in classroom discussion.

Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. is Professor of Language and Literacy  Education in the Department of Teacher Education at San Diego State University and a classroom teacher at Health Sciences High & Middle College. He is a member of the California Reading Hall  of Fame and is the recipient of several awards including the  International Reading Association Celebrate Literacy Award, the Farmer award for excellence in writing from the National Council of Teachers of English, and the Christa McAuliffe award for excellence in teacher education. He has published numerous articles and books on school-wide approaches to improving student achievement, reading and literacy, differentiated instruction, assessment, and curriculum design. He is a board member of the Literacy  Research Association (formerly the National Reading Conference)  and co-editor of NCTE’s middle level journal, Voices from the Middle.

MINI STRANDS (Monday)

Instructional Strategies to Support Struggling Readers & Writers in Meeting the Challenges of Complex Text
Susan Biggam and Ginny Zahner

Common Core State Standards expect students to read and comprehend at the high end of their grade level complexity band, and yet we have students who are reading well below their grade level. How can we accelerate their progress so that over time they can read increasingly complex books? In this session, we will explore the CCSS definition of complex text and the reason it plays such a crucial role in the lives of our struggling readers and writers. We will examine the use of multiple types of text and share instructional practices that bring complex text within reach for these students. Gr 3-8

Vocabulary Instruction: Building Word Consciousness in an Elementary Classroom
Beth Sands and Liz Greenberg

What happens in a classroom where the students have developed a sense of word consciousness? In this session, the presenters will share a model of ongoing explicit instruction for vocabulary, based on current research and best practices. The content of this explicit instruction is continuously connected to the reading and writing work being done by the students each week. Join us to see how this is being done and how you can make it happen in your classroom. Gr 3-6

Using Book Discussion Groups for Deeper Thinking & Meeting Standards in the Common Core
Nora Skolnick and Nancy Woods

In this session we will learn how to set up book discussion groups so that students can have meaningful conversations with each other. Through these conversations, and tasks to prepare for them, they will access complex texts and delve deeper in their comprehension of the text. We will explore what makes a good choice for books to use, how to teach students to talk with each other, questioning techniques and how to develop tasks. Video clips of 3rd and 4th graders will be viewed, showing the sequence of lessons leading to independent book discussions. Participants will pick a book and develop a plan for using it to meet different anchor standards. Gr 3-4

Introduction to the Vermont Multi-tiered System of Support Field Guide
Marge Lipson

Vermont’s Multi-tiered Systems of Supports (MTSS) RtII Field Guide – the state’s new guiding document for closing the achievement gap – resulted from the hard work of a diverse group of educators from across the state. The RtI Steering Committee met over 10 months and generated the framework for a statewide policy and practice guide in the area of “Response to Intervention.” Echoing the best thinking of this group and those across the U.S., the language we now use is “MTSS” and the guidance they recommend is in the Field Guide. As the project director, Marge Lipson will walk you through the Guide and offer tips for getting started with an MTSS approach to improving outcomes for students, especially those who are (or traditionally have been) at risk of school failure. Gr K-12

Small Group Instruction: Making it Doable, Dynamic & Effective
Theresa Young

For many teachers, small group instruction is the biggest challenge. In this session we’ll consider the theoretical evidence behind the effectiveness of different types of small group instruction, and explore some ways to make it doable and effective. Strategies to be discussed will include different ways of including small group instruction in a literacy block, models of planning and approaches that might be used, as well as ways to ensure that we’re truly scaffolding for students and not rescuing them. In addition, we’ll consider the important role of ongoing assessment in planning for small group instruction, and the gradual release to student independence. Gr 3-8

Close Reading & Text Dependent Questions
Doug Fisher

Attending to the information presented in the text, while recognizing assumptions, background knowledge, and biases held by the reader, helps the reader deeply understand that which is being read. Close reading is an instructional approach that teaches students to engage in all of these behaviors. As part of close reading, students encounter a text and read that text several times, often for different purposes and based on different questions. As part of close reading, teachers and students ask questions of the text. Some questions can be answered without having read the text; others require a deeper understanding and evidence from the text. In this session, we focus on questions that require repeated close readings in order to be answered. These questions include general understandings, key details, vocabulary and text structure, author’s purpose, inferences, and opinions and arguments. Learning Outcomes for Participants include: Identify the major components of close reading; Describe the differences between close reading in elementary and secondary schools; Differentiate between questions that do, and do not, require evidence from the text. Gr 3-8

Slowing it Down: Using Reflective Practices to Build Reading & Writing Comprehension in the Adolescent Classroom
Amelia Duffy

How can teachers use reflective practices to foster greater reading and writing comprehension in their students? How can experiential strategies aid in the transfer of understanding while building a collaborative learning community? In this strand, teachers will uncover instructional practices to foster thoughtful reading and writing comprehension, and transfer academic and personal understandings through collaboration and reflection. In addition, teachers will walk away with specific strategies to use when teaching students to think deeply and write deeply about text. Gr 7-12

Why NOT Sound-it-out?
Robert Schwartz

How to teach word recognition is one of the most contentious issues in literacy education, and particularly damaging for children who struggle. Clay’s theory renders the debate moot. Participants will gain a new perspective on assessment and instructional procedures to guide differentiated instruction. K-2

Strategies for Success With Implementing Common Core State Standards in K-2 Writing Workshops
Pat Gallant

Participants in this session will take a close look at the K-2 Common Core State Standards for Writing and discuss instructional shifts for teachers. Participants will learn developmentally appropriate strategies for teaching young students to write narratives, opinion pieces, and explanatory/informative texts within a primary writing workshop. K-2

Writing for Understanding & Common Core Writing Standard 7
Marty Gephardt

CCW.6.7: “Students conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and refocusing the inquiry when appropriate.” Students in grades 5-8 are building knowledge to gain independence on the key components of research writing. This session will focus on instructional strategies for teachers wanting to develop short-focused research writing projects. Gr 5-8

FULL STRANDS (Tuesday & Wednesday)

Reader’s Workshop
Nancy Woods & Cathy White

This session is for teachers interested in implementing a Readers’ Workshop Model in their classroom. We will delve into the components of the Readers’ Workshop from mini-lessons to sharing, and provide opportunities for participants to consider their unique classroom situations. In addition, we’ll view clips of classrooms integrating the workshop framework into their regular classroom practice. Participants will practice instructional techniques using short texts and picture books. Reflection and discussion in the group will enhance learning and understanding to provide teachers with the tools they need to establish a Reader’s Workshop in their classroom. Gr 3-6

The Same Old Song, But With a Different Meaning: Layering Literacy in the Content Areas through Critical Thinking & CCSS
Alysia Backman & Cynthia Reyes

The Common Core reminds educators about the importance of including critical thinking skills in our reading and writing, using complex text with higher level
instruction and learning activities, and including interactive and productive discussion in our units and lessons. In this strand, educators will learn how to embed these skills and strategies in their curriculum, instruction, and assessments. Educators will examine the ELA CCSS with the lens on critical thinking strategies to get students engaged in the discourse of what it means to be a literary critic, historian, or scientist in the classroom. They will also work on layering these literacy skills and strategies in units/lessons from their own curriculum and leave with a unit that is aligned to specific Common Core standards. Gr 6-12

Adventures in Genre Study: Exploring Informative/Explanatory Writing
Kathleen Harrington & Mary Beth Monahan

In this 2-day strand, participants will develop a “genre-study” unit on informative/explanatory writing aligned with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).
We will unpack the CCSS and explore the “what” and “why” of informative text. We will dig into the phases of researching and writing informative/explanatory texts, (e.g. research questions, note taking strategies). Different frameworks for organizing a genre study will be explored, drawing on models provided by Katie Wood Ray, Lucy Calkins, Nell Duke and McMackin & Siegel. We will also immerse ourselves in a range of mentor texts to generate the curriculum for this unit. During the course of the 2 days, participants will develop a series of mini-lessons for this genre unit of study. Gr 3-8

Exploring Informational Texts: Reading to Learn, Enjoy, & Share
Pam Chomsky-Higgins

Participants in this strand will have the opportunity to read and discuss current informational texts written by a wide range of authors. Together we will learn what makes a “great” informational text and will apply this knowledge to a number of texts that will be available to explore. Connections to the Common Core State
Standards with its emphasis on informational texts will be explored. We will think about informational texts as read alouds, as the foci of discussions, as sources for report writing, as texts for small group instruction, and, as choices for independent reading. Participants will have reading time each day and be invited to respond to what they are reading in discussion groups as well as in writing. Participants are invited to bring along one or two favorite informational texts to share. K-6

Writer’s Workshop in the K-2 Classroom
Adrienne Magida

As Katie Wood Ray states, “No matter what, let them write.” Even our youngest writers are ready for writers’ workshop! In this two-day session we will take a look at how to inspire students and keep them writing. By developing an awareness of author’s craft through the use of children’s literature, we will model how to build a “toolkit” for students. This will provide them with the necessary tools they need to make choices about structure, voice and punctuation. We will also spend time examining the workshop components, developing units of study ready for the classroom, writing in the Common Core and discussing the use of assessment to drive your instruction. K-2

Reader’s Workshop in the 1-2 Classroom
Gayle Moskowitz and Pam Menz

Read! Read! And more Reading! With the shift to a workshop model, first and second graders are reading more then ever. We will share the framework and components of a workshop as well as the organization and daily routines that make up the block. Units of study will be shared that compose a yearlong calendar, including some integrated units with science and social studies and lots of writing about reading. Gr 1-2

I Can Use Juicy Words: Fostering Vocabulary Development in Young Children
Pat Nally

Vocabulary is one of the major components of early reading instruction, but how should it be taught to young children? This strand will take a close look at the role of oral vocabulary development and its impact on literacy success. We will start with a review of Common Core Standards related to vocabulary. A review of the research about vocabulary development will be presented, with a particular focus on the works of Isabel Beck and Michael Graves. The presenter will share some basic steps to follow when planning and delivering vocabulary instruction. We will also discuss guidelines for selecting vocabulary, the use of student friendly definitions, and the development of a repertoire of activities that help students personalize and process new words for long-term use. Participants are asked to bring one or two children’s books that would be appropriate for read-alouds at their grade level. Please choose a book containing rich vocabulary. Gr K-3

Teaching Language & Literacy in a Multi-Tiered System of Support
Marge Lipson and Pat Gallant

The available evidence suggests that students’ academic and behavioral success is promoted when schools and districts adopt a multi-tiered approach to teaching and learning. A Vermont Statewide Steering Committee in RtI created the Vermont MTSS-RtII Field Guide to offer research-based guidelines for schools wishing to implement a multi-tiered system of student support to improve achievement for all students. During this 2-day strand, conveners and members of the Steering Committee will first present an overview of the Field Guide and then address each of its components in relation to optimizing language and literacy learning for all.

Embracing the Common Core State Standards through Inquiry
Theresa Young

The CCSS joins an ongoing effort to raise children and citizens who think clearly and deeply, who have gained knowledge and acquired judgment, and who take action with humanity in mind. Inquiry-based teaching is problem or question driven; it encourages collaboration; it develops kids into explorers and discoverers; it requires kids to think; and it puts teachers in nonconventional roles. In this workshop participants will be given an opportunity to explore the four models of small-group inquiries and create a plan connected to the CCSS for implementing it in their own classrooms. Participants should bring a copy of the CCSS. Gr 3-8

Registration Information

Summer Institute: Monday ONLY: $225 per person *
Summer Institute: Monday-Wednesday: $650 per person *
UVM Credit: $225 **

A Team of 5 Registrants from the same school or district will be given a reduced rate of $600/person. All registrations must be received at the same time to qualify for the group rate. Please fill out a separate registration form for each registrant.

* Includes continental breakfast, lunch, and all materials.
** One graduate credit option available for participants registering for Monday only.

A separate registration form is required for each individual and must be accompanied by a check or purchase order made out to VRI at UVM. Registrations, checks, and purchase orders can be mailed to: Vermont Reads Institute at UVM, 204D Mann Hall, UVM, Burlington, VT 05405

Confirmations and Cancellations

A $30 cancellation fee will apply to all registrants who cannot attend. Notice of cancellation must be given by July 30. Cancellations after that date will be charged 100% of the registration fee. No refunds will be granted after that date. The same policy applies for purchase orders. A substitution of a registrant may be made at any time. Returned checks will be charged $25.

You will receive a confirmation by e-mail. If you do not receive a confirmation, please contact the VRI at UVM office to ensure that you are registered, at 802.828.0520.

Schedule of Events

Monday
7:30-8:45: Registration & Continental Breakfast
8:45-11:30: Welcome and Keynote by Doug Fisher
12:00-1:00: Lunch
1:00-3:00: Mini Strands
3:15-3:30: UVM Course Registration (Mandatory for those receiving graduate credit)

Tuesday & Wednesday
7:30-8:30: Registration & Continental Breakfast
8:30-12:00: Full Strands
12:00-1:00: Lunch
1:00-3:00: Full Strands

Hotel Information

Stoweflake Mountain Resort and Spa
PO Box 369 | 1746 Mountain Road | Stowe, Vermont 05672
802.253.7355 or 800.253.2232
www.stoweflake.com

Check in: 3:00pm
Check out: 11:00am
Room Rates: $170-190/per night

Overnight rooms are not included in your conference fee. You will need a credit card to make a reservation. Please indicate that you are attending the VRI at UVM conference to get the room rate. There is a one night non-refundable deposit. Any cancellations will be charged to that deposit. For further accommodation options and information, visit www.gostowe.com.

Stoweflake Mountain Resort and Spa accommodations can be arranged by calling 802.253.7355 or 800.253.2232.