WORKSHOPS
Our workshops are crafted as dynamic, hybrid professional development experiences, designed to engage participants through interactive learning sessions. Each workshop offers customized support from an instructional coach, in-person and/or virtual conversations, online connections, and family engagement opportunities. Because we believe that meaning is co-constructed among members of a learning community, we encourage teaching partners or groups to participate in the workshop, rather than a single individual.
Overview of Oral Language Development
Prioritize oral language development as a fundamental part of emergent literacy and cognition. Identify and practice strategies for educators and care-givers to “talk less” and children to “talk more.”
Oral Storytelling: Educators as Language Artists
Integrate storytelling as an effective strategy for oral language, social and emotional development by becoming a language artist. During storytelling, listeners make meaning from language, visualize story elements, activate imagination, and reinforce narrative connections in the brain- all as precursors to reading success.
Honoring Children’s Voices: Storytelling and Story Acting
Honor the voices of young children by routinely collecting their words on paper. Then, support language growth, build confidence, and prioritize social and emotional development by dramatizing the stories as a learning community.
Leveraging Text for Talk: Interactive Read Aloud
Utilize high-quality authentic literature as a powerful tool to strengthen comprehension and language development. Encourage listeners to interact with text by posing high-level questions and support shared meaning-making through scaffolded discussion.
The Powerful Pen: Interactive Writing
Re-imagine Morning Message as a dynamic instructional strategy for literacy and language development. Strengthen concepts of print, vocabulary, comprehension and create shared experiences which build confidence and community.
Constructing A High-Quality Classroom Library
Immersion in an environment full of high-quality culturally relevant books is the primary tool for reading success. This workshop starts with an audit of classroom library and language learning resources and includes support and guidance on purchasing high-quality books for classroom libraries, including bilingual texts, audio libraries, and take-home books.
Launching The Project Approach
Guide children through in-depth studies of real world topics using a model of teaching and learning driven by children’s interest, inquiry, and fueled by family and community engagement. When implemented effectively, children are highly motivated contributors and fully engaged participants in their own learning.