Region 13 Literacy Workshops
Spring 2017
Workshop Offerings
Unless otherwise noted, all face-to-face workshops will be held at:
Education Service Center Region 13
5701 Springdale Rd. Austin, TX 78723
Workshops run 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. (check course offering on e-campus for any change of time).
For detailed workshop descriptions and to register, log-in to Region 13's e-campus system (click on link below). Other ELAR workshops may be added to this list over the course of the year. Workshops lacking at least 10 participants, 7 business days prior to the workshop date, may be subject to cancellation.
ELAR Distinguished Speaker Series: Kylene Beers and Bob Probst (Grades 4-10)
Cost: $155.00
CPE: 6 hours
Workshop ID: SP1734264
Description: "When students recognize that nonfiction ought to challenge us, ought to slow us down and make us think, then they're more likely to become close readers." That means we need to help them question texts, authors, and, ultimately, their own thinking. No matter the content area, with Reading Nonfiction's classroom-tested suggestions, you'll lead kids toward skillful and responsible disciplinary literacy.
Picking up where their smash hit Notice & Note left off, Kylene Beers and Bob Probst write: "Fiction invites us into the writer's imagined world; nonfiction intrudes into ours and purports to tell us something about it." This crucial difference increases the responsibility of the nonfiction reader, so Kylene and Bob have developed interlocking scaffolds that every student can use to go beyond a superficial reading:
- 3 essential questions that set students up for closer, more attentive readings of nonfiction texts;
- 5 Notice & Note nonfiction signposts that cue kids to apply the skills and processes that sophisticated readers use instinctively; and
- 7 proven strategies readers can use to clear up confusions when the text gets tough.
We all know the value of helping students define nonfiction and understand its structures. Reading Nonfiction goes the next crucial step--helping kids challenge the claims of nonfiction authors, be challenged by them, and skillfully and rigorously make up their mind about purported truths.
All participants receive a copy of Nonfiction Reading!
Expository Playbook and Test as Genre Unit: English I
Cost: $120.00
CPE: 6 hours
Workshop ID: SP1735972
Presenter: Megan Beth Hedgecock
Description: Steadily building their confidence and ability, our students have been learning effective reading and writing strategies all year. But will this learning transfer on test day?
When students have been immersed in reading and writing in different genres throughout the year, and the STAAR test is drawing near, they are ready to begin a Test as Genre Unit. A Test as Genre Unit follows the same methodology as other genre inquiry units. Students immerse in the genre of the test, reading passages they would expect to find on the test, reading and discussing the types of multiple choice questions they will eventually have to answer. Students explore the writing tasks and prompts of the writing test. And they slowly begin to build a rapport with the standardized test. In this case, familiarity breeds confidence. Students write passages and questions that emulate the test. Students study writing prompts and write their own. They had been reading like writers all year in the other genre inquiry units, reading like poets, reading like op-ed journalists, reading like novelists. Now, the the Test as Genre Unit, they read like test-makers. And they practice the reader and writer moves they have been honing all year, using the test as their text.
Experts like Nancie Atwell, Randy Bomer, Ralph Fletcher, and Frank Serafini agree that students need dedicated time to practice transferring the skills learned in class to test-like tasks. This just-in-time workshop will deliver real strategies and instructional sequences for doing this important work.
All participants will receive a copy of the Secondary Expository Playbook.
Persuasive Reading and Writing: Grades 9-12
Cost: $85.00
CPE: 6 hours
Workshop ID: SP1735974
Presenter: Megan Beth Hedgecock
Description: In this workshop, participants will learn about implementing writing workshop structures that create confident readers and writers, while preparing students for writing strong persuasive essays on the STAAR. We will begin our learning with study of the persuasive rubric and released essays that gain deep understanding of the state's expectations of persuasive writing. Megan Beth will then move between two modes of presentation:
- demonstrating strategies of genre study and integration of reading and writing; and
- asking participants to respond pedagogically.
Likewise, participants will experience the process of a persuasive genre unit of instruction as a writer, reader, speaker, and thinker and , in turn, discuss the instructional implications of each strategy and plans for implementation.
Exploring the Explanatory Genre for STAAR, 2016-17: Grades 3-5
Cost: $130.00
CPE: 6 hours
Workshop ID: SP1735975
Presenter: Megan Beth Hedgecock
Description: In this workshop, participants will learn about implementing writing workshop structures that create confident readers and writers, while preparing students for writing strong expository essays on the STAAR.
We will begin our learning with study of the expository rubric and released essays that gain deep understanding of the state's expectations of expository writing. Megan Beth will then move between two modes of presentation:
- demonstrating strategies of genre study and integration of reading and writing; and
- asking participants to respond pedagogically.
Likewise, participants will experience the process of a expository genre unit of instruction as a writer, reader, speaker, and thinker and , in turn, discuss the instructional implications of each strategy and plans for implementation.
Participants will receive the Elementary Expository Playbook which offers an instructional process for using mentor texts to teach author's craft. The Playbook includes expository mentors texts and instructional writing strategies specifically chosen to prepare students for the STAAR writing task. Chapters include: Focus, Organization, Development of Ideas, Progression, and Language and Conventions.
Suggestions for using this resource will be embedded throughout the workshop.
This workshop if for the active learner! Please come prepared to fully engage in the writing process, learn from colleagues, and revel in the power of language.
ELAR Distinguished Speaker Series: Debbie Diller (Grades K-5)
Cost: $155.00
CPE: 6 hours
Workshop ID: SP1734265
Description: Next Steps with Literacy Workstations: Adding Rigor and Relevance
This session will help teachers evaluate and reflect upon the independent work their students are doing at literacy work stations and focuses on adding the elements of rigor and relevance to existing classroom work stations. In this session, trouble-shooting and making connections are the focus.
Participants will receive a copy of Growing Independent Learners!
ELAR Distinguished Speaker Series: Kelly Gallagher (Grades 6-12)
Cost: $155.00
CPE: 6 hours
Workshop ID: SU1734266
Description: In the Best Interest of Students
Kelly reminds us that standards come and go but what remains constant is the need to stay true to what we know works in the teaching reading, writing, speaking and listening. In addition to sharing his ideas on authentic teaching and learning, Kelly shares effective strategies for achieving meaningful results in the ELA classroom.
All participants receive a copy of In the Best Interest of Students!