Saturday, September 28, 2024 – Day Two

(Please note that session times and descriptions may vary slightly from what is currently posted below but will begin at 8am and go to no later than 4:00pm.)

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

Opening Remarks – 8:00 to 8:10 am

Saturday Opening Plenary Session

8:10 to 9:40 am

Sue Scibetta Hegland

Launching Lifetime Learners

The average skilled adult reader can read anywhere from 30,000 to as many as 70,000 words. That’s a lot of words! How do we develop such a vocabulary of sight words—words we instantly recognize?

It’s not through direct teaching of each of those words. Of course, children must be explicitly taught the skills and knowledge needed to read and write, and systematic instruction does include ongoing vocabulary instruction. Yet the typical student also learns how to decipher new words independently while reading—a process known as statistical learning. This ongoing learning process occurs as students develop an understanding of the essential aspects of the English writing system, which allows them to “self-teach” as they encounter new words.

So what exactly are the essential aspects of the English writing system? In this talk, we will discuss what students (and teachers) need to know in order to make sense of every word they encounter. By understanding how the writing system works, students can learn to connect all aspects of a new word—its spelling, its structure, important aspects of its pronunciation, and its various meanings and usages—so they can commit that word to long term memory for both reading and spelling. Students will be empowered to learn as they go.

The explicit instruction that makes this possible is important for all students, but even more so for those students in need of extra support.

Break – Visit Exhibitors (Last Chance to Sign up for Raffle Items) & Check out the IDA-RMB Bookstore – 9:40 am to 10:00 am

Saturday Morning Breakout Sessions

10:00 to 11:30 am – Choose 1 of 6 possible sessions

Leslie Laud, Ph.D.; Daryl Michel, Ph.D; and Amy Thomas, Head of School, Vertical Skills Academy

Student-Focused Coaching: Using a Collaborative Problem-Solving Approach to Inform Decision-Making

Learning about and implementing the science of reading, structured literacy, and/or foundational literacy skills requires a great deal of time. One professional development session or yearlong training is unlikely to lead to long-term use because there’s so many concepts and skills to consider. One way to focus on an area of reform is to use the Student-Focused Coaching (SFC) Collaborative Problem-Solving Process. This process is a structured, systematic problem-solving approach with student data/evidence as the anchor. We’ll explore this process, and use findings from a demonstrated model to then make connections to the SFC SAILS framework (Standards, Assessments, Instruction and Intervention, Leadership Sustainability) and research on differentiated, sustained professional learning, and look at a case study from Galveston TX that engaged in this work over time as they implemented thinkSRSD for writing instruction. Change takes time, and teachers need focused opportunities to practice a change reform and receive coaching support if long-term use is the goal.

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

Supporting Students with Language-Based Learning Differences in the Classroom

Language-Based Learning Disability (LBLD) refers to a spectrum of difficulties related to the understanding and use of spoken and written language. LBLD is a common cause of students’ academic struggles because weak language skills impede comprehension and communication, which are the basis for most school activities. In any language-based classroom, it is important that instruction targets developing and supporting reading, writing, speaking, and listening in addition to global elements such as memory and attention. Learn more about how Language-Based Learning Disabilities can manifest in the classroom and the best ways to structure the environment and instruction for student and educator success.

Hunter Smith, CDE Multilingual Learners with Educational Disabilities Specialist

Accommodations and Language Development Supports for Dually Identified Students

The Science of Reading provides a roadmap for effective foundational reading instruction that supports all students. Still, some adjustments, considerations, and teacher knowledge are required to ensure that Multilingual Learners and Multilingual learners with disabilities have access to the content. This session will focus on incorporating specific instructional strategies such as using Content and Language Objectives, Collaborative Talk Structures, and the Principles of Universal Design to support Multilingual Learners with disabilities.

Drea Beale, M.Ed.

Leadership Strategies to Support 6th-12th Grade Students’ Access to Grade Level Text

School leaders have the biggest influence on what students learn at school, outside of their classroom instruction (Leithwood et al, 2004). Join us to unpack how you can support struggling readers more effectively. “Leadership Strategies that Support 6-12th Grade Students’ Access to Grade Level Text” is an interactive learning session to bolster school leaders’ work as instructional leaders. In this session, participants will overview the highest leverage instructional practices for struggling readers and receive resources about these five best practices. We will review the look-fors for these pedagogical moves with explicit connection to the research about how and why these practices support struggling adolescent readers. The bulk of our session time will be spent defining instructional leadership and identifying specific leadership practices and routines to increase the efficacy of your impact on your school team. You will reflect, discuss, and plan next steps to increase the efficacy of your work.

Cassandra Novack, M.Ed.

The Heavy Hitters of Intermediate Literacy: Multisyllabic Decoding and Morphology

As students move into the upper elementary grades, there is a notable difference in the type of words they are being asked to read and understand. Not only do students need to be adept at decoding multisyllabic words, they must also have strategies for unlocking the meanings of unfamiliar words. To equip our students with the rigorous demands of complex text in these grades, we need to bring out the “heavy hitters” of Intermediate Word Work: Multi-syllabic Decoding Routines and Morphology. This session will showcase efficient instruction to get the job done: replicable, reliable routines to teach our students to fearlessly attack big words while building morphological understandings to accelerate vocabulary growth. These are critical years to continue laying the strong foundation for lifelong literacy. The foundational skills don’t end in third grade; we expand the foundation with more sophisticated tools to move our students into the sophisticated text demands they will meet in school and beyond.

Jake Sussman, Founder of Superpower Mentors

How to Build and Rebuild Trust With Your Teen or Student

Join Jake Sussman, the passionate Founder of Superpower Mentors, for an insightful discussion focused on the journey of rebuilding and maintaining trust within your family unit. Together, we will dive into the intricate social and emotional development of teens and students with learning differences. Be ahead of the change in your teen’s or student’s new environment, so that they can own their transition and you, as their parent, can focus on being the best parent that you can be.

Lunch Buffet – 11:30 to 12:30 pm – Visit Exhibitors & IDA-RMB Bookstore – Exhibitor Raffle Winners Announced

Saturday Afternoon – 1st Breakout Sessions

12:30 to 2:00 pm – Choose 1 of 7 possible sessions

Sue Scibetta Hegland

Heartless Words (And Why That’s a Good Thing!)

The concept of a heart word builds on an important finding from research: students should learn to read and spell words using what they know about phoneme-grapheme relationships as much as possible. In other words, it’s not a research-based practice to ask students to memorize words as whole units.

Heart words, then, are defined as words where some of the “sound-symbol” relationships make sense, but not all of them. The parts of each spelling that are unexpected have to be learned “by heart.”

But what if we could understand the reason for every single letter in these baffling words and use them to help students learn more about how the whole spelling system works? Many heart words become totally “heartless” once we frame our teaching in a deeper understanding of the English spelling system.

In this talk we will examine several commonly misunderstood words and learn why every single letter in their spelling makes sense. This session will also allow for more Q&A on the information presented in the plenary session on Saturday morning.

Carrie Cole, M.Ed.

Plentiful Practice for Reading Success: Building Accuracy and Automaticity through an Explicit Instructional Routine

A critical building block for proficient reading is mastery of reading foundations. While science of reading underscores the importance of a clearly defined scope and sequence for teaching these foundations, the science of learning stresses the importance of explicit instructional delivery and ample practice to ensure student mastery of skills. The integration of these two concepts connects the “what” of lesson content and design to the “how” of instructional delivery. This session will focus on utilizing clear and consistent instructional routines to enhance lesson delivery with a focus on explicit instruction and the type of practice needed to build student automaticity. Attendees will walk away with (1) explicit instructional routines that they can implement immediately with students and (2) strategies for incorporating practice into the lesson to increase student automaticity and reading proficiency overall.

Julie Joynt, Sr. Curriculum Specialist

Equipping Teens for Reading Triumphs in Middle and High Schools!

In this session, we confront a pervasive challenge many middle and high schools face: many students reading several grade levels below expectations. During this session, we will explore strategies to support students in your classroom who are striving students or may have dyslexia. We will delve into the intricacies of adolescent literacy, focusing on the critical components of structured literacy instruction. Students grappling with reading difficulties commonly struggle with decoding and fluency, directly impacting their comprehension. Surprisingly, most struggling readers aren’t solely hindered by comprehension deficits but also by foundational reading skills. In this session, we will explore how structured literacy grounded in the science of reading addresses word-level decoding, fluency development, and comprehension. Participants will gain insights into how to scaffold instruction, provide targeted support, and foster literacy skills growth in older students. Additionally, we will discuss the role of structured literacy in supporting struggling readers and students with dyslexia, highlighting the importance of early intervention and ongoing support. We will look at strategies to organize your interventions, including intensive, systematic, and multi-level instruction for Tiers 2 and 3. Most importantly, you will gain strategies to help lead your team to better practices in the classroom for the benefit of all students. The presenter will review current research on adolescent struggling readers and demonstrate effective multi-sensory teaching techniques for this group of learners.

Rachel Paradis, MS.Ed., ET/P

So, What About Struggling Math Students? Developing Number Sense in the Older Grades

We know how to help struggling readers, so can’t we apply some of those strategies to students who are struggling in math? YES, we can! Based on the methodology in Marilyn Zecher’s Multisensory Orton Gillingham Approach to Math, this seminar will look at some of the core OG strategies that are applicable in both reading and math intervention, and how to develop number sense and foundational skills that are the core deficit for students with dyscalculia. Special focus will be on those students in 4th grade and up for whom challenges developing number sense are holding back progress in higher levels of math. You’ll leave the seminar with quick exercises to determine key deficits in number sense and activities and games to use in your work with students.

Katie Hughes

Reading Starts with Your Ears

One of the major skills underlying the successful decoding of printed words is a purely auditory and oral skill. It may not be ‘reading with your ears’ in the literal sense, but the sounds we hear in words are what allow us to ultimately pull the print off the page with our eyes when we decode. The session will review the importance of phonological and phonemic awareness as young children are preparing to and beginning to read words. The presenter will then connect research to practice, providing participants with a multitude of fun and developmentally appropriate games and activities that can be used to build students’ phonological and phonemic awareness throughout the school day.

Becky Lewis, MA, NBCT; and Ariel Bobson, Literacy Partner

What families need to know about the Science of Reading

We know what the Science of Reading is and why instruction grounded in its practices are crucial in the classroom, but what does a building look and feel like when the systems are working? What can we look for as we pop into classrooms, and how can we evaluate our current systems to ensure our teachers are set up for success?

Madeline Jones, Director of Education US

Executive Function in the Classroom and Its Impact on Reading

In this presentation, we delve into the critical role of executive function (EF) skills in the context of reading instruction. As educators, it’s essential to recognize how EF influences students’ ability to decode words, comprehend texts, and engage with written material effectively. Join us as we explore practical strategies for supporting EF development in the classroom and enhancing overall reading outcomes.

Break – Visit Exhibitors & IDA-RMB Bookstore – 2:00 to 2:15 pm

Saturday Afternoon – 2nd Breakout Sessions

2:15 to 3:45 pm – Choose 1 of 6 possible sessions 

Laura Santerre-Lemmon, Ph.D., Clinical Assistant Professor, DU Department of Psychology

Dyslexia Assessment Fundamentals & Common Comorbidities

In this presentation, you will learn about the assessment process and characteristics that are important in the evaluation of risk and identification of dyslexia. Commonly co-occurring (i.e., comorbid) conditions, such as developmental language disorder, other learning differences (e.g., dysgraphia, dyscalculia), ADHD, and anxiety, will also be discussed. Attendees will learn about the characteristics of these comorbidities and evidence-based ways to assess and support children experiencing learning and related challenges.

Carrie Cole, M.Ed.

Partner Reading and Paragraph Shrinking: Strategies to Improve Reading Accuracy and Comprehension

Being able to craft a summary or “gist” statement while reading is essential for building comprehension. These summary statements help students better understand what they read and remember the most important information in a text. However, summarization can be challenging because it requires deep analysis of the text to synthesize the most important information into a concise overview statement. Explicit routines that break complex tasks into manageable steps can be a powerful tool to support students in mastering complex tasks such as summarization. This session will focus on how to establish clear and consistent routines in partner reading and paragraph shrinking in order to support students’ ability to read accurately and summarize key information from a text. Participants will walk away with explicit instructional routines that they can implement immediately with students to enhance overall reading comprehension.

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

Using Technology to Enhance Remedial Reading Instruction at the Secondary Level

Students with LBLD, particularly dyslexia, often require explicit reading instruction and remediation through grade 12. How do we make this instruction grade-appropriate? How do we reach students on a level that they can access the curriculum and also find it engaging? In the expanding Digital Age, Technological Literacy becomes an important consideration and research continues to explore the efficacy of various programs for improving student access and readability. Furthermore, educational laws have been created across decades to improve the accessibility of material to students with disabilities, particularly the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. More recently, Universal Design for Learning provides the backdrop for utilizing technology to provide access to curriculum for all students. With a foundation in research, theory, and educational laws, explore strategies to provide appropriate reading instruction as well as technological tools to support and enhance that instruction.

Brittany Philipsen, M.A.; and Danielle Lucas-Adam, M.Ed.

The Relationship Between Spelling and Orthographic Learning

Join Brittany Philipsen and Danielle Lucas-Adam for an enlightening professional learning session designed to elevate participants’ understanding of how spelling supports reading acquisition and how encoding routines can be effectively integrated into any systematic and explicit literacy curriculum. Despite often being underemphasized in literacy instruction, spelling is pivotal for developing automatic word recognition and reading skills. This session dives into research showing how encoding routines enhance phonemic awareness and orthographic knowledge more effectively than other practices.

Participants will gain insights into the neurological process of orthographic learning and the benefits of explicit spelling instruction. Brittany and Danielle will debunk myths about the unpredictability of English spelling and highlight studies that reveal spelling’s superior impact on reading skills compared to phonemic awareness and decoding routines. The session will also explore practical encoding routines like dictation, sound-symbol mapping, and word chaining, which can be integrated into any systematic phonics program. Attendees will learn the importance of incorporating such encoding practices into instruction and integrating semantic information into these practices to bolster orthographic learning. By the end of this session, educators will recognize the importance of making spelling an integral part of literacy instruction for development of complete orthographic representations, ensuring students become both effective readers and proficient spellers.

Traci Thorstenson, M.Ed., CALP; and Jennifer Anton, M.Ed.

Building a Foundation: Unifying Structured Literacy Across All Tiers

This session will provide attendees with an overview of Sand Creek Elementary school’s change management and implementation journey to align instructional literacy systems across all tiers and improve the growth of all students. Attendees will learn the specific systems and structures we’ve put in place to achieve this growth, such as our master schedule, staff professional learning, universal assessment process to identify and target interventions, enhanced Tier 1 instruction of foundational skills and language comprehension skills via UFLI implementation and thinkSRSD paired with our district’s chosen core HQIM (High Quality Instructional Material – Wonders 2023), and the resulting amplification of Tier 2 and Tier 3 instruction which utilize the same programs.

Tanya Peshovich, M.Ed.

Explicit Instruction of Sound Symbol Correspondences for Efficient Decoding and Encoding

Knowledge of letter-sound relationships is the cornerstone of literacy learning. It is through the understanding of this relationship that students are able to begin phonic decoding, leading to orthographic mapping. Utilizing key findings from research, this session will provide participants strategic routines grounded in structured literacy principles that build student mastery in accuracy and automaticity of sound-symbol correspondences. Educators will walk away with new ways to utilize sound-spelling cards as a powerful scaffolding and visual tool for students to solidify these correspondences into long-term memory for automatic retrieval.