Friday, September 27th, 2024 – Day One

Please note that session times and descriptions may vary slightly from what is posted below. If a session is not listed in the registration process, it has likely sold out already.

Registration & Buffet Breakfast – 7:00 to 8:00 am

Post-Breakfast Break – 8:00 to 8:10 am

Welcome & Opening Remarks – 8:10 to 8:25 am

Friday Opening Plenary Session

8:25 to 9:55 am

Leslie Laud, Ph.D.

The Power of Writing: Reading is Breathing in and Writing is Breathing out

Learn how to unleash the power of writing in your classroom! Hear the latest research on how to introduce the writing process along with key scaffolds to help your students learn how to independently take themselves through the process of close reading, then responding to content-rich, complex texts. Discover how you can support vocabulary, syntax, organization and deep thinking through a framework of simple routines and scaffolds that are easy to teach and easy for students use, and will raise their overall literacy outcomes.

Break – Visit Exhibitors (Sign up for Raffle Items) & Check out the IDA-RMB Bookstore – 9:55 to 10:15 am

Friday Morning Breakout Sessions

10:15 to 11:45 am – Choose 1 of 6 Available Sessions

Leslie Laud, Ph.D.

Developing K-2 Writers by Using Evidence Based Practices and Oral Language

Learn an evidenced-based reading, writing and structured discussion instructional framework that is easy to learn and easy to use. This session will focus on the early grades and sentence level writing. The overarching thinkSRSD framework offers a step-by-step guide to help students navigate reading texts and using the writing process. The sub skills taught within this framework, including an emphasis on sentence construction, support the entire writing process from the planning stage of analyzing text and note taking, to sentence development, syntax, and vocabulary enrichment. The hallmark of this approach (thinkSRSD+Sentences) is the focus on teaching students the social and emotional skills needed to undergird the process such as positive self-instruction, goal setting, and self-monitoring. By using these self-regulated strategies, students internalize the method and grow in writing skills to become increasingly independent writers and thinkers. These strategies can be integrated into any curriculum. You will walk away with ideas you can use tomorrow, and when you do, you will see an immediate lift in your students’ writing ability and joy when composing.

Lauren Moore and Rachel Klein

Supporting Multilingual Learners with Complex Texts in English Language Arts

In this session, educators will become more familiar with the qualitative factors of text complexity and how to use these factors to anticipate specific challenges for multilingual learners. Educators will read and discuss a complex text and review a tool that supports teachers with implementing effective supports for multilingual learners in the elementary English language arts classroom. Educators will leave this session equipped with a deeper understanding of text complexity and a flexible approach for helping all students access grade-level instruction.

Daryl Michel, Ph.D.

Aligning Instruction in an MTSS Framework: A Focus on Academic Vocabulary

Learning about and implementing a new skill or strategy in the complex context of a classroom takes time. Joyce and Showers (1982) suggested that it would take approximately 20-30 hours to study theory, 15-20 demonstrations or more, 10-15 times to practice with colleagues or small groups or teachers, and ongoing support if the goal is to build the highest level of skill in teachers and long-term use. Thus, a 1-day professional development workshop (which sometimes gets condensed to even less time) is unlikely to result in meaningful change. Most people don’t learn simply by being told what to do, so it’s important to plan for sustained professional learning that includes a clear purpose, modeling and demonstration, active engagement, and opportunities for self-reflection. Join me to learn about and experience a schoolwide professional learning community focused on teaching general academic vocabulary, including how evidence-based instructional practices can be aligned in a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) model.

Karen Tzanetopoulos, M.S. CCC-SLP

Dyslexia and Math: The Science and How to Help

Many students with dyslexia also struggle with learning math. The latest cognitive research in the science of math learning reveals significant overlaps with the science of reading, such as the significance of RAN, phonological awareness, language skills, and abstract reasoning. Furthermore, the English math language is abstract, often vague, and phonologically and morphologically complex, with many multisyllabic words, making learning math concepts more difficult, especially for children with dyslexia. Yet, math is mostly taught with a heavy language and reading load without mathematical structure, using word problems to teach and assess math concepts, which puts dyslexic students at even greater risk. Much like leveled literacy, math instruction in the United States is often taught with a student discovery approach as opposed to structured and explicit instruction. Modifying math language, utilizing explicit instruction for math concepts and for solving word problems, using meaningful manipulatives, and incorporating elements of structured literacy into math instruction can help dyslexic students succeed in math.

CANCELLED Kristine Burgess, M.Ed & M.S.Ed (She/Her/Hers)

Using Syntax to Support Reading Comprehension

Syntax is defined as the way in which words are put together in phrases. Syntax is a component of language comprehension, which is integral to reading comprehension. Gough and Tumner’s Simple View of Reading defines Reading Comprehension as Decoding multiplied by Language Comprehension. Hollis Scarborough’s Reading Rope further defines Language Comprehension as five distinct categories of skills, including language structures such as syntax. Syntax is the order of words in a sentence, and understanding the role and order of words is an important part of comprehension. Students need to be able to understand language at the word, phrase, sentence, paragraph, page, and multipage level in order to comprehend what they have read. LiteracyHow states that “learning syntax and sentence structure helps students clarify meaning within and between sentences. Studies show a close relationship between an individual’s syntactic awareness and reading comprehension; that is, as students learn to use more complex sentences in oral and written language, their ability to make sense of what they read increases as well.” Explore strategies to provide opportunities for students to learn and use syntax to support reading comprehension.

SOLD OUT – Mary Yarus, M.Ed., CALT, C-SLDS

SOLD OUT – Providing Dyslexia Intervention for the Secondary Student

Structured Literacy programs for dyslexia intervention begin at the letter/sound level. The 6 syllable types are taught along with phonological awareness practices, syllable division, spelling, handwriting, and reading to practice the new learning. There is a scope and sequence to follow with repetition and review built in with the goal of creating automaticity in reading, writing, and spelling. It is crucial that students be taught these foundational skills. However, secondary students do not have the luxury of time that a second-grade student has. This instruction may also feel like “baby work”, adding to the frustration the student already experiences. When working with an older student who is already reading but has cracks in that foundation, these basics still need to be taught while respecting what the student knows and without further delaying their learning. This presentation will provide guidance on how to accelerate instruction for older students without sacrificing the foundational components. There will also be a hands-on activity to review the 6 syllable types.

Nora Wersich Schlesinger, Ph.D.

Promoting Equitable and Inclusive Instruction in the Structured Literacy Lesson

This presentation will explore the components of Structured Literacy (SL) lessons that are based in the science of reading (SoR). Participants will understand how SL supports language, literacy, culture, social justice, and economic opportunity for all students, especially individuals with dyslexia. They will learn strategies for selecting and integrating appropriate and culturally relevant topics and texts. Strategies shared will accommodate a variety of ability levels across the components of literacy and the domains language to build equitable and inclusive classrooms.

Jake Sussman, Founder of Superpower Mentors

Navigating Transitions: Overcoming Your Teen’s or Young Adult’s Kryptonite

Join Superpower Mentors founder, Jake Sussman for an interactive breakout session designed specifically for parents with teens or young adults navigating transitional periods. This session will deep dive on how to effectively lay the groundwork to build the independence your teens and young adults so desperately crave. Get the inside scoop on the proven strategies from the success at Superpower Mentors that set up your teens or young adult for true independence. If you have a child that is struggling with a transitional period, this talk is for you.

Lunch Buffet – Visit Exhibitors (Sign up for Raffle Items) & Check Out the IDA-RMB Bookstore – 11:45am – 12:45pm

Friday Afternoon – 1st Breakout Sessions

12:45 pm-2:15 pm – Choose 1 of 7 Possible Sessions

Sue Scibetta Hegland

Turning Spelling Inside Out: Framing and Explaining Written Words to Improve Literacy

Effective spelling instruction leads to effective reading instruction. The structured literacy world has long understood this, but learning to spell often involves more memorization than we might desire—or even realize. In this talk, we will examine several organizing principles of English spelling and use them to reframe the essential knowledge taught in structured literacy approaches. This reorientation resolves puzzling questions and allows students (and teachers) to understand rather than memorize the spellings of many words. It also empowers us to expand vocabulary, deepen comprehension, and develop literacy in all students as quickly and effectively as possible.

Leslie Laud, Ph.D.

Close Reading Tools Before Writing to Texts in 3rd through 8th Grade

Discover easy-to-implement and time-efficient ways to revolutionize how you teach writing, all based in latest empirical studies and brain research. Learn an instructional framework that helps students generate fresh insights when they write about what they learn. Lead discussions in ways that invigorate close reading and deep thinking about texts, the basis of strong writing. Help your students become more strategic, independent and goal-oriented writers, and thinkers. Walk away with simple-to-use, practical, and powerful strategies with free resources that will help your students become more mindful, engaged, and action-oriented writers.

Daryl Michel, Ph.D.

Making Invisible Thinking Visible Through Oral and/or Written Expression

What might students say if they were asked to describe how they feel about reading and writing? How might they describe the amount of reading and writing they do in all subject areas? The implementation of aligned, systemic research-validated or evidence-based literacy instructional routines or activities can lead to deeper knowledge, higher levels of engagement, and increased awareness of how each student approaches reading, writing, listening, and speaking tasks. Join me to (a) learn evidence-based disciplinary literacy routines and activities to implement in any subject area, (b) understand how data can be collected from the implementation of these routines and activities and used to differentiate instruction and intervention, and (c) experience how these routines and activities help students make their thinking visible and gives them voice to express their learning. Participants will leave with explicit, systematic routines and activities that they can use with any text in any subject area (e.g., informational text, images, graphs) and visually see why it is important to get thoughts, connections, questions, and/or roadblocks on paper. You can’t assume you know what is going on inside someone else’s head. Expect students to make their thinking visible and then use this information to guide conversations and to differentiate instruction based on individual need.

Brian Wolff, Ph.D., Executive Director and Clinical Psychologist; and Danielle Mohr, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist

Psychoeducational Evaluations and Individualized Education Programs: Integrating Clinical and Educational Pathways to Identifying and Mitigating Reading Difficulties

In this presentation, we will explore ways to integrate data from clinical and school-based evaluations to support the development of IEPs with optimal supports for students with Dyslexia. Common obstacles that prevent a smoother connection between clinical psychologists and school-based IEP teams include differences in how assessments are completed and interpreted, differences in criteria used to make diagnostic and disability determinations, and, at times, differences in understanding of the school’s roles and responsibilities in providing reading interventions. In their experience, these obstacles can be overcome more successfully when the family, outside psychologists, and the school-based providers can engage in student-focused collaborative conversations about a) how their different evaluation and data sources complement each other, b) the underlying commonalities across psychological diagnostic and educational disability determination categories, and c) how appropriate school-based interventions flow from the shared understanding of and agreement on a child’s psychoeducational needs in the school setting.

Lauren McGrath, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Denver; and Michelle Rozenman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Denver

Evidence-based strategies to address stress and anxiety in children with dyslexia

In this presentation, Drs. McGrath and Rozenman, two licensed child clinical psychologists with expertise in learning disabilities and anxiety, will share evidence-based strategies for supporting children with dyslexia who are experiencing high stress and anxiety symptoms. This presentation will cover some of our recent research showing that children with dyslexia have an increased risk of developing clinical anxiety symptoms compared to typical peers. Moreover, children with dyslexia also show elevated rates of reading anxiety, a form of anxiety that has been vastly under-studied. To date, there has been little attention on interventions that can address the mental health needs of youth with dyslexia, especially anxiety. In this presentation, we will share evidence-based strategies adapted from existing anxiety interventions for youth. The presentation will include experiential practice of specific skills including 1) calming skills, 2) coping skills, and 3) strategies for engagement with academic material and celebrating engagement successes. We will also include information about what to do if a child’s anxiety is beginning to get in the way. The goal of this presentation is to equip caregivers and educational staff to deploy best practices to support youth with dyslexia who are experiencing stress and anxiety.

Julie Joynt, Sr. Curriculum Specialist

Leveraging Teacher-Led Structured Literacy Instruction and AI-Powered Reading Practice for Literacy Development

Educators delivering structured literacy instruction or intervention understand the essential place for reading practice to solidify discrete skills and to ensure students have sufficient opportunity to “pull it all together” as they read complex, connected text. Combining structured literacy with the help of AI, participants can learn how to optimize reading-practice time for students, providing specific types of reading practice that lead to optimal reading achievement outcomes based on clear instructional goals. This session focuses on strategies for using AI to offer targeted reading practice that helps dyslexic and striving students solidify their reading skills and gradually build their reading proficiency and confidence. Participants will clearly understand how AI can be used to personalize education and provide tailored learning experiences and interactive exercises that adapt to each student’s unique needs.

Antonio A. Fierro, Ed.D.

English Learners: Language Acquisition & Literacy Development

Over five million English learners are in U.S. schools nationwide, all with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, making each learner’s language acquisition journey unique. The instructional approaches and resources chosen must match the cognitive and linguistic workload faced by our language learners. This session will focus on positioning instructional approaches supporting the linguistic assets that our students bring to the classroom (translanguaging). Distinctions will also be made between those linguistic assets that may transfer partially, those that transfer entirely, and those that may cause cognitive dissonance between Spanish and English. A cross-linguistic comparison between both languages’ phonological, orthographic, and phonetic systems will also be made.

Break – Visit Exhibitors (Sign up for Raffle Items) & Check out the IDA-RMB Bookstore – 2:15 to 2:35 pm

Friday Afternoon – Closing Plenary

2:35 pm-3:45 pm

Jake Sussman, Founder of Superpower Mentors

A Mind Like Mine: Inside the World of Youth with Learning Differences

Join Jake Sussman as he shares proactive strategies for parents and educators to empower kids with learning differences. By sharing his own story of tackling learning differences, Jake instills hope and resilience in his audience, demonstrating that challenges can be transformed into real superpowers.
Jake Sussman is the Founder of Superpower Mentors, a mentorship platform that has facilitated over 8,000 sessions, connecting youth to neurodiverse mentors worldwide. With a wealth of experience and expertise, Jake has spoken across the nation working with parents and educators on how best to reach the next generation of youth with learning differences.