Chapters International

Overview:

For a great many teachers, an underlying tension can arise when we strive to be well-planned, yet we also want to infuse our reading workshop with an inquiry-mindset. On one hand, teachers may appreciate the instructional security of published curricula to help guide their day-to-day teaching, yet on the other hand, they resist instruction that feels scripted, mandated, and meant for classrooms elsewhere. How, then, might we create conditions within our workshops so that children learn all they need to know to become engaged, strategic readers, while also making room for them to pursue questions, projects, and interests that may arise?

Objectives:

This session is designed for teachers who are developing reading workshops in their classrooms but who also want to be sure to infuse children's experiences as readers with a spirit of inquiry and unforeseen possibilities. With the support of activities, demonstrations, and video, elementary grade teachers consider these questions:

How do we implement reading workshops characterized by equal parts intention and joy?
What are research-based best practices for effective whole-group, small group, and one-to-one instruction?
How can we fit an inquiry mindset into our reading curricula and balanced literacy components?

Agenda:

This two-day workshop full of practical ideas and classroom strategies to help teachers find the sweet spot that exists between being well-planned and being highly responsive, between a reading workshop and an inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning.

The days will be divided into these portions:

A wide-angled look at a comprehensive literacy approach that issues invitations to all learners
A focused examination of best practices within workshop teaching
A close-up on ways to open the workshop up for inquiry-based teaching and learning

Potiential Audience:

The workshop would be appropriate for classroom teachers, coaches, and administrators who work with children in grades 1-8.

Kathy Collins

Kathy Collins works in schools and presents in conferences all over the world to support teachers in developing high-quality, effective literacy instruction in the early childhood settings through middle school. She is the co-author, along with Janine Bempechat of Not This But That: No More Mindless Homework (Heinemann, 2017). She co-authored, with Matt Glover, I Am Reading: Nurture Meaning-Making and Joyful Engagement with Texts (Heinemann, 2015). Kathy's other books include Reading for Real: Teach Children to Read With Power, Intention, and Joy in K-3 Classrooms (Stenhouse, 2008) and Growing Readers: Units of Study in Primary Classrooms (Stenhouse, 2004). Kathy has worked closely with the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University, and she taught in Brooklyn, New York. Kathy and her family live in Durham, New Hampshire.

Venue:
Melbourne

8.30 am to 3.30 pm
Registration at 8.00 am
on the 8th August 2019.