Full Day Program

Reading Power is a reading comprehension approach which focuses students’ attention on their thinking, enabling them to interact more meaningfully with the text. Based on research, Reading Power is a practical approach to comprehension being implemented in many districts across the province. This session is an introduction to the key concepts of Reading Power, including meta-cognition, common language and the gradual release instructional method. This is followed by an in-depth look into two or three comprehension strategies for reading information texts. Choose from: Zoom In (to nonfiction features), Determine Importance, Connect, Question/Infer, or Transform. Many lessons will be modeled, student samples shown and recommended books are shared.

Full Day Program

Reading Power is a reading comprehension approach which focuses students’ attention on their thinking, enabling them to interact more meaningfully with the text. Based on research, Reading Power is a practical approach to comprehension being implemented in many districts across the provinceThis session is an introduction to the key concepts of Reading Power, including meta-cognition, common language and the gradual release instructional method. This is followed by an in-depth look into two or three comprehension strategies for reading fiction. Choose from: Connect, Question, Visualize, Infer and Transform. Many lessons will be modeled, student samples shown and recommended books are shared.

Half Day Program

The goal of comprehension instruction is that students will learn to read strategically and thoughtfully, integrating their “thinking” to any book. Moving away from the isolation of the strategies and into application can be challenging. This session will focus on how to integrate the Reading Power strategies into your lit circles and novel studies and how to encourage students to apply their thinking as they move into more complex novels and chapter books. Information on how to set up and organize your classroom for Literature Circles will be shared and an extensive student package will be provided. As always, some great titles and an updated novel list will be shared!

District Pro D Sessions (1.5-2.5 hrs)

Are your students spending more time writing stories and personal narratives than writing nonfiction? Does your nonfiction writing program consist of the same, old “animal research report”? If so, this session is for you! This practical workshop will outline the different forms of nonfiction writing and present a variety of ideas and examples for how you can integrate your social studies and science content into your writing program. Nonfiction writing is easy to teach and easy to do – all you need is the form, the structure, the language features and the ideas. Come to this session today and leave with a plan to start teaching nonfiction writing to your students tomorrow

District Pro D Sessions (1.5-2.5 hrs)

Helping students determine importance and summarize information texts. One of the most valuable skills we can teach our students as they move into the intermediate grades is how to determine the “gist” of a piece of informational text, yet, at times, can prove to be the most challenging. This practical, interactive session will look at a variety of strategies you can teach your students to help them find the main idea, summarize and remember what’s important. Several lessons will be modeled and recommended resources will be shared.

District Pro D Sessions (1.5-2.5 hrs)

Beyond the animal research report “Non-fiction” is far more than books describing insects, dinosaurs and countries. Come and learn some exciting ways of bringing the world of nonfiction into your classroom! In this session we will explore the world of non-fiction and learn some exciting ways of introducing children to the different nonfiction forms as well as ways we can integrate more informational texts into our reading and writing programs. Lessons on helping students recognize, interpret and create “text features” will be introduced. Suggested resources, authors and nonfiction books will be included.

District Pro D Sessions (1.5-2.5 hrs)

Many teachers are integrating comprehension instruction into their reading programs. Students are “making connections” quickly and easily to texts, and their “stories” are filling our classrooms. But how effective are those connections in helping students understand the text better? How can we help our students move beyond those “quick connections” and find deeper and more meaningful connections? How do we assess their “connections”? “Making connections” is not as simple as we may think and its complexity often gets overlooked. This session will focus on the strategy of “making connections” and provide teachers with practical, effective lessons on how to “go deeper” with connections. Assessment will be addressed and, as always, some great new titles will be shared.

District Pro D Sessions (1.5-2.5 hrs)

For many of us, our only reference to the strategy of inferring comes from the definition “Reading between the lines”. While this may be clear to some, it is not concrete enough to clearly understand or apply this strategy independently. Students need support in understanding what the inferring is before they can apply in independently. In this session, we will take a look at the reading strategy “Inferring”. Participants will learn how to introduce the concept, model their thinking and practice inferring with their students through a scaffolded approach. Lessons will be modeled and many picture books that promote inferences at various grade levels will be introduced.

District Pro D Sessions (1.5-2.5 hrs)

The Leadership Team Project is designed to engage classroom practitioners in an intensive learning experience that will develop skills to effectively apply Reading Power strategies, and to develop facilitation and leadership skills to collaborate with colleagues. Over the course of a year, participants will engage in training sessions led by Adrienne Gear. Participants must be ready to:

• attend approximately 4 sessions with Adrienne Gear over the next year to learn about current reading strategies, and facilitation and coaching skills. (Dates TBA)

• implement strategies in their classroom and reflect on the impact to student achievement

• be prepared to work with one colleague (“Learning partner”) to plan and model new reading strategies.

• take on a leadership role in their school to help colleagues learn and observe strategies

• build a portfolio of student samples to share with colleagues

• facilitate a workshop on “Reading Power”.