Reading Recovery Institute

Nov. 16–17, 2009 (Monday-Tuesday)

The Reading Recovery Institute promotes a greater understanding and facilitates better teaching practices for Reading Recovery professionals. In addition, you can attend a variety of special events and visit the exhibit hall with the latest children's and professional books.

If you are attending the Reading Recovery Institute, please bring the following books:

  • An Observation Survey of Early Literacy Achievement
  • Literacy Lessons Designed for Individuals, Part One and Part Two

Keynotes and Reading Recovery Institute Sessions

Session A: Keynote with Linda Alston | B Sessions | Session C: Gambrell Keynote | In-Depth RRC Sessions | D Sessions

Session E: Laminack Keynote | E Sessions | Session F: Keynote with Mary Fried | G Sessions


SESSION A: Keynote Address with Linda Alston (all participants)

Monday, Nov. 16, 2009 | 8:30-10:00 am

The Glitter, The Gift, The Dazzling Light of Hope
Linda Alston, Kindergarten Guide, Author, and Literacy Specialist
The Glitter: You will take a reflective look at their own literacy journey, asking themselves introspective questions such as: How did I learn to read? Have I ever written my own literacy autobiography? Where is my own true passion for literacy? Where do I bring the "glitter" of the teaching of literacy to my students? The Gift: You will be moved, touched and inspired as they are reminded of the life-long gift of literacy that they guide students toward each day. Paper, charts, sentence strips and pencils--hundreds of dollars; leveled-book libraries with varying genres--thousands of dollars; a passion for the written and spoken word--priceless! The Dazzling Light of Hope: You will be acknowledged and celebrated for the noble work you do to create and empower literate citizens of the world. You will look beyond the parts of literacy to the whole and the hope that literacy confers to every student for living a bright, rich and abundant future. Sponsored by Scholastic.

B Sessions

Monday, Nov. 16, 2009 | 10:30 am–noon

RRB-1 - Featured Speaker
Helping Children Construct Meaning Across the Lesson
Nancy Anderson, Reading Recovery Trainer, Texas Woman's University
Meaning is the most important source of information; however, it may be hard to value "invisible" information over "visible" letters on the page. Understand the critical role of meaning as the guiding force of strategic activity.

RRB-2 - Featured Speaker
Reading Recovery Links to New Models of Learning
Mary Ann Doyle, Reading Recovery Trainer and Professor, University of Connecticut
Reading Recovery teachers understand Clay's processes of observing change over time in the study of children's literacy learning. Developmental psychologists have applied similar methods in a new science of children's learning. This session will examine how Reading Recovery theory and procedures are related to this newer study of learning and explore parallels, with a focus on early writing, to enhance our understanding of children's literacy learning and discuss instructional implications. (Repeated: RRG-2)

RRB-3 - Featured Speaker
Teaching Children with Language Differences
Mary Fried, Trainer, The Ohio State University
Some children enter Reading Recovery with weaknesses in language development and now increasing numbers of school districts enroll children who are English language learners (ELLs). Children with language difficulties or differences have high success rates in Reading Recovery if they have a knowledgeable, skillful teacher. This session will help Reading Recovery teachers to become more effective in teaching children with language differences.

RRB-4 - Featured Speaker
Using Response to Intervention (RTI) to Support Struggling Readers CANCELLED
Mary K. Lose, Associate Professor, Department of Reading and Language Arts and Director of the Reading Recovery Center of Michigan, Oakland University, Mich.
Central to a successful RTI approach is emphasizing early versus later intervention, delivered by responsive teachers who focus on childrens' abilities as the starting point for instruction. Recommendations are presented to administrators in support of evidence-based RTI approaches with benefits for children, teachers and schools. Administrators' Strand

RRB-5 - Featured Speaker
In-the-Head Activity: What Does It Mean?
Mary Rosser, Reading Recovery Trainer, University of Maine
In Literacy Lessons: Designed for Individuals, Part Two (Heinemann, 2005), Marie Clay tells us that the brain's activities are complex. She encourages teachers to think of the learner as building a neural network, or system, for working on written language that becomes smart enough to extend itself. In this session, you will have the opportunity to learn how to support learners during the process of connecting and integrating the elaborate networks of strategic activities that increase speed of processing during the reading and writing of continuous texts. (Repeated RRD-3)

RRB-6
The "Transformation of Conversation" in Writing During the Training Year
Rosemary Brown, Reading Recovery Teacher Leader and Literacy Consultant, Reading Recovery Regional Training Center, Springfield, Mass.
The teacher's role is to, "…start up a conversation, guided by all you know about this child" (Clay 2005). Using video clips, teachers will hear the conversation during the first and second round of tutoring and the resulting "stories" generated by these students. A segment of the presentation will be devoted to round-table discussions led by teachers who have just completed their training year. This workshop is suitable for Reading Recovery teachers-in-training or those who are in their field year.

RRB-7
Visual Processing: Making It Easy to Learn
Laurel Dickey, Reading Recovery Teacher Leader, Hampshire Educational Collaborative, Mass.
As Reading Recovery teachers, we understand the importance of teaching children to process print as a source of information when reading. This session will look at ways we can best help children to become efficient and effective at processing print while reading continuous text. We will explore how various sections in Literacy Lessons: Designed for Individuals, Part Two (Heinemann, 2005) provide possibilities for this teaching across a child's lesson and across the entire series of lessons. Specifically, we will look at "What is reading during these early lessons?" "Taking words apart while reading" and "More about attending to words in isolation." We will consider how these sections work together to support teaching that builds the child's strong visual processing system.

K-8 Literacy Conference and Middle School Strand Sessions

Session C: Keynote Address with Linda Gambrell

Participants may attend the Literacy Conference Session C Keynote Address with Linda Gambrell (1:30–2:45 pm) OR a three-hour, In-Depth Reading Recovery C Session (1:30–4:30 pm).

Monday, Nov. 16, 2009 | 1:30–2:45 pm

The Impact of Reading on Student Achievement: Critical Elements Proven to Work
Linda Gambrell, Professor of Education, Clemson University, SC
This session will describe research-based best practices that provide the foundation for effective literacy instruction that supports and nurtures students in becoming motivated and engaged readers. Vocabulary development and comprehension strategy instruction will be highlighted.

In-depth Reading Recovery C Sessions

Monday, Nov. 16, 2009 | 1:30–4:30 pm

In-Depth RRC-1 - Featured Speaker
The Importance of Sequence: The Order in Which the Brain Attends to Information
Salli Forbes, Director and Trainer of the Reading Recovery Center of Iowa, University of Northern Iowa
The order in which the brain attends to information affects whether the information will lead to understanding, clarity and effective, efficient processing. In this session, teachers will consider the ways in which order and sequence play a role in reading, how to teach for the child to develop habits of sequential scanning and how to teach children with a particular sequencing problem. Emphasis will be given to examples of children who exhibit difficulties with sequence and how to teach for the effective use of information in print, including teaching for correct sequential movement and sequential attention to print.

In-Depth RRC-2 - Featured Speaker
Individual Learners, Unique Routes to Literacy
Betsy Kaye, Reading Recovery Trainer, Texas Woman's University
Through careful observation and reflection, Reading Recovery teachers continually revise their "personal theories" about a child's processing. These theories guide their teaching. Learn to use lesson data to hypothesize about children's problem solving, reflect on teaching and recognize when alternate paths are necessary.

D Sessions

Monday, Nov. 16, 2009 | 3:30-5:00 pm

RRD-1 - Featured Speaker
What Can You Hear that Might Help? - Featured Speaker
Ann Ballantyne, Reading Recovery Trainer, New York University
Explore relationships between listening, seeing and saying in the development of early literacy competence. Examine procedures and activities in Literacy Lessons: Designed for Individuals to foster awareness of 'sounds you expect to see.' (Repeated RRE-2)

 

RRD-2 - Featured Speaker
Beyond the Words: Considering Nonverbal Communication in Reading Recovery Teaching CANCELLED
Mary K. Lose, Associate Professor, Department of Reading and Language Arts and Director of the Reading Recovery Center of Michigan, Oakland University, Mich.
This session will examine the role of nonverbal communication and its relationship to verbal communication in early literacy contexts with reference to Clay's work in Reading Recovery. Elements of nonverbal communication will be illustrated utilizing video examples and transcripts of child-teacher interactions within select lesson activities with an analysis of their relevance for the particular child's learning. Recommendations are presented to teachers pertaining to the impact nonverbal communication may have on the efficiency and effectiveness of their interactions with children.

RRD-3 - Featured Speaker
In-the-Head Activity: What Does it Mean? (Repeat)
Mary Rosser, Reading Recovery Trainer, University of Maine
In Literacy Lessons: Designed for Individuals, Part Two (Heinemann, 2005), Clay tells us the brain's activities are complex. She encourages teachers to think of the learner as building a neural network, or system, for working on written language that becomes smart enough to extend itself. In this session, you will have the opportunity to further develop your understanding of how to support learners during the process of connecting up and integrating the elaborate networks of strategic activities that speed processing during the reading and writing of continuous texts. (Repeated RRB-5)

Session E: Keynote Address with Lester Laminack

Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009 | 8:30-10:00 am

Participants may attend the Session E Keynote Address with Lester Laminack or a Reading Recovery E Session.

Let's Dream Big, Work Together, Move Forward
Lester Laminack, Education Consultant and Author
Is it a dream to believe that we can focus our decisions on the question: "Will this be good for children?" Let's explore a vision for what might be possible if we come together for the good of our children.

Session E

Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009 | 8:30–10:00 am

RRE-1 - Featured Speaker
Letters, Sounds, and Words: Teaching for Efficient Visual Processing
Nancy Anderson, Reading Recovery Trainer, Texas Woman's University
It is very easy to become overly focused on item learning related to letters, sounds and words in a child's Reading Recovery lessons. This session will explore the role of visual information in an efficient strategic processing system and ways to analyze records in order to capture and describe children's strengths. We will display specific teaching moves from videos that support teaching to children's strengths while untangling confusions. (Repeated RRG-1)

RRE-2 - Featured Speaker
What Can You Hear that Might Help? (Repeat)
Ann Ballantyne, Reading Recovery Trainer, New York University Reading Recovery Project

Explore relationships between listening, seeing and saying in the development of early literacy competence. Examine procedures and activities in Literacy Lessons: Designed for Individuals to foster awareness of 'sounds you expect to see.' (Repeated RRD-1)

RRE-3 - Featured Speaker
Teaching for Comprehension in Reading Recovery
Salli Forbes, Director and Trainer of the Reading Recovery Center of Iowa, University of Northern Iowa
We do teach comprehension in Reading Recovery, despite what our critics claim. It is necessary to teach meaning in reading and writing if we are to teach for effective processing. Participants will examine ways that Reading Recovery teachers can teach for comprehension throughout the lesson and across a series of lessons.

RRE-4 - Featured Speaker
He Said, She Said: Recording Responsive Teaching Interactions
Betsy Kaye, Reading Recovery Trainer, Texas Woman's University
Reading Recovery teachers design instruction that is fine-tuned to the individual learner; therefore, keeping excellent records of their teaching and children's responses is key. This session will help you take lesson record notes that allow you to reflect on you teaching and support children's accelerative learning.

RRE-5 - Featured Speaker
Understanding the Emotional Life of Struggling Readers
Carol A. Lyons, Professor Emeritus, The Ohio State University
We will discuss five core emotional abilities that struggling readers need to be successful. We will also look at implications for promoting children's emotional development and capacity to learn.

RRE-6
Priming the Processing in Roaming around the Known
Michael Buonaiuto, Reading Recovery Teacher Leader, Cambridge Public Schools, Mass.
Marie Clay's An Observation Survey of Early Literacy Achievement (Heinemann, 2007) gives Reading Recovery teachers information about how students are looking at print. How do we use this information in Roaming Around the Known? We will explore how to help children look at print without "deliberately teaching any new items or processes."

RRE-7
Reading Recovery as a Comprehensive Systems Approach
Robyn Jacob, Reading Recovery Teacher, Newark School, Vt.
Susan Lynaugh, Reading Recovery Teacher Leader, East Central Vermont Literacy Consortium
Rhoda McLure, Reading Recovery Teacher, Wolcott School, Vt.
Reading Recovery is part of a comprehensive systems intervention across 40 schools in the East Central Vermont Literacy Consortium. Comprehensive literacy components such as: Ongoing professional development, assessment and monitoring of student progress, effective school team teams and collaborative problem solving will be presented. We will discuss Reading Recovery as part of Response to Intervention (RTI). ECVLC is a successful Reading Recovery consortium that has been providing services to over 40 schools since 1993. Administrators' Strand

K-8 Literacy Conference and Middle School Strand Sessions.

Session F: Reading Recovery Keynote with Mary Fried

Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009 | 10:30 am–noon

Pulling Together
Mary Fried, Trainer, The Ohio State University
When Marie Clay discusses the complexity of literacy learning, she often uses the phrase 'pulling together'. Young children must learn to pull together many sources of information as they learn to read and write. Teachers need to foster this pulling together in effective ways to help accelerate each child's learning. At the broader school level, teachers and administrators need to pull together to support the lowest achieving students and strengthen educational experiences for all children.

Session G

Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009 | 1:00-2:30 pm

RRG-1 - Featured Speaker
Letters, Sounds, and Words: Teaching for Efficient Visual Processing (Repeat)
Nancy Anderson, Reading Recovery Trainer, Texas Woman's University
It is very easy to become overly focused on item learning related to letters, sounds and words in a child's Reading Recovery lessons. This session will explore the role of visual information in an efficient strategic processing system and ways to analyze records in order to capture and describe children's strengths. We will demonstrate specific teaching moves from videos that support teaching to children's strengths while untangling confusions. (Repeated RRE-1)

RRG-2 - Featured Speaker
Reading Recovery Links to New Models of Learning (Repeat)
Mary Ann Doyle, Reading Recovery Trainer and Professor, University of Connecticut
Reading Recovery teachers understand Clay's processes of observing change over time in the study of children's literacy learning. Developmental psychologists have applied similar methods in a new science of children's learning. This session will examine how Reading Recovery theory and procedures are related to this newer study of learning and explore parallels, with a focus on early writing, to enhance our understanding of children's literacy learning and instructional implications. (Repeated: RRB-2)

RRG-3 - Featured Speaker
Strengthening Teaching Decisions: The Challenges of the New Book
Mary Fried, Trainer, The Ohio State University
We will analyze teaching decisions during the introduction of the new book in relation to the child's processing and teaching during the first reading. We will introduce and practice a process for reflecting on your own teaching.

RRG-4
Monitoring and Supporting Reading Recovery
JoAnn Hawley, Reading Recovery Teacher Leader, Broome-Tioga BOCES, NY
Amy Johnson, Reading Recovery Teacher Leader, Broome-Tioga BOCES, NY
Administrators and teachers will have the opportunity to analyze and interpret Reading Recovery data that will assist them in monitoring the implementation of Reading Recovery. You will examine several ways to organize data that will enable districts to implement this process within their own literacy teams. There will be opportunities to explore ideas in supporting students before, during and after Reading Recovery that are consistent with RTI approaches in early reading. Administrators' Strand

RRG-5
"Hers cute." "We goed home." Observing and Extending Children's Language in the Reading Recovery Lesson CANCELLED
Beth Simpson, Reading Recovery Teacher Leader, Moultonborough School District, NH
Marie Clay's An Observation Survey of Early Literacy Achievement (Heinemann, 2007) and Record of Oral Language (Heinemann, 2007) provide the Reading Recovery teacher with a wealth of information. This session will explore how these two assessments support the planning of individualized lessons for students with English as a Second Language and for students who are native speakers of English with limited language skills.

K-8 Literacy Conference and Middle School Strand Sessions.
updated 08/20/09 | 11:54 AM