TRAINING AT YOUR CAMPUS
We will inservice all of the teachers at your Campus so that vertical alignment can prevail. Every teacher plays a role, and together everyone creates a performance of a lifetime for each child. All students will benefit from the small chunking at each grade level, and will harbor a feeling of love for learning. Let us give each grade level team the WHY, the WHAT, and the HOW of effective vertical alignment for Reading and Writing.
Tap and Think Reading
Tap and Think Reading is available for Grades PK-2, 3-8, and 9-12. Reading Inservices are Two-Day trainings and both days are required.
PK-2 Tap and Think Reading Day 1
In Day 1 of PK-2 Reading, participants will explore reading with realia in mind as they begin by asking questions, making predictions, and looking at the text to self, text to text, and text to world connection. Students will have a better understanding of author’s purpose, author’s perspective, text structure, text features, and point of view. At a grade-appropriate level, students will use concrete strategies for comprehending text like never before as they dive into visualizing what they have read, gathering textual evidence, and inferencing. Through the process of recognizing, verbalizing, and utilizing concepts with games and activities, teachers will leave with a wealth of knowledge in connecting reading and writing in a Teach BIG way!
PK-2 Tap and Think Reading Day 2
In Day 2 of PK-2 Reading, teachers will grow in higher level concepts like literary devices, character traits, literary elements, summarizing, and theme. Participants will look at question analysis and how to create a habit within their students of going back into the text to gather textual evidence. Furthermore, we will look at answer choice distractors and what makes an answer choice incorrect, and we will dive into real-life strategies for using all of the skills we have learned within reading passages. It will be an unforgettable, valuable training as participants “scroll” their way through reading and writing.
3-8 Tap and Think Reading- Day 1
Day 1 of our Tap and Think Reading features an incredible, brain-based method for comprehension and recalling reading selections. Participants will learn about CLOSE reading as they dive into concrete aspects of comprehension including author’s purpose, author’s perspective, text structure, genre, point of view, textual evidence, elements of literature, and literary devices. In addition, higher level, abstract concepts like emotional changes/growth, inferencing, summarizing, main idea, and theme will be thoroughly covered! Within each of these concepts, students will learn through the Claims/Domains of listening, speaking, reading, and writing as they play tactile learning games that will help them remember forever the concepts taught in your classroom. Participants will see just how connected reading and writing truly are as we share our Reading WRITE concepts!
3-8 Tap and Think Reading Day 2
Day 2 of Tap and Think Reading will begin with in-depth vocabulary analysis. Teachers will experience new ways to develop quality dictionary skills and use context clues to determine the meaning of a word. Additionally, they will walk through poetry, drama, question, and answer choice terminology. Participants will analyze text features in a brain-based way that emphasizes the author’s purpose behind each text feature. They will become even more aware of this question-based terminology by applying strategies to simulate assessment passages. With such a firm knowledge base from Day 1, participants will analyze types of questions, look at answer choice distractors, and use answer choice strategies with ease. Reading comprehension application will be more tangible, interactive, and retainable than ever before when students are Reading WRITE!
The Writing Academy
Bring The Writing Academy inservices to your campus this year! Each inservice below is a separate, 6-hour inservice day. All inservices are brain-based and focus on teaching curriculum through kinesthetic games and activities.
Literary Foundations (Grade Levels: PK-2, 3-8, 9-12)
The Foundations Day is dedicated to brain-based strategies for writing interesting, engaging compositions. Teachers participate in tactile-kinesthetic activities that teach students organization, progression, and development of ideas, including voice. Teachers are introduced to the vertical alignment of The Writing Academy process during this inservice. Teachers will be provided with strategies that are grade level appropriate and will return to their classrooms with confidence, as well as, a new sense of purpose in their own role in teaching successful writing. When teaching is fun, interesting, and engaging, it is effective for the students! By the end of this inservice, it will be apparent that the key to getting students to write like authors is teaching them to think like authors regarding transitions, voice, introductions, conclusions, and the various types of development.
Expository CAFE (Grade Levels: PK-2, 3-8, 9-12)
In Day 1 of our three-day expository training series, teachers will dive into expository foundations. The day will begin with thorough prompt analysis, focusing on the difference in thesis writing depending on the three types of WHY prompts. Participants will experience introductions, brainstorming, organizing of thoughts/ideas, developing thoughts/ideas, and HAT conclusions. Through tactile-kinesthetic games and activities, participants will leave with a solid Expository foundation, a variety of strategies, and graphic organizers that will help their students succeed in both assessments and life-time writing.
Expository PLUS (Grade Levels: 3-8)
In Day 2 of our three-day expository training series, participants will experience how to take the foundation of Day 1 and learn how to achieve 3’s and 4’s. OCTO Surgery will become OCTO MORE, How and Why CAFÉ will become CAFÉ PLUS, and much more! Teachers will learn to take students who are good authors and equip them with the strategies to make them excellent authors. If would like to empower your kids to reach their fullest writing potential through hands on, tangible, brain-base strategies, you do not want to miss Expository PLUS– Day 2!
Persuasive (Grade Levels: 6-8, 9-12)
At the conclusion of this in-service day, teachers will leave with strategies and activities that will help even struggling writers approach persuasive/argumentative writing with confidence. Handouts will expose them to the logos, pathos, and ethos rationales. Individual and group activities will allow students to polish their persuasive skills and make convincing arguments in fun ways. Participating in the development and writing of a complete persuasive/argumentative paper, including introductions and conclusions, teachers will receive an organizer and a manipulative that will effectively lead their students through a position essay. Focus will also be placed on the role of the counterarguments and addressing them in this type of paper. At the end of the day, participants leave with new strategies and activities and a “Can Do” attitude with regard to the assessment.
Editing (Grade Levels: PK-2, 3-8, 9-12)
Tackle the objective section of the assessment head-on! You will experience sentence structure and grammar rules being brought to life. Students will know what it means to SEE a sentence, and BE a sentence. Participants will explore tactile-kinesthetic games that help students learn and internalize grammar rules. These learning games will be followed by how to apply this to the assessment and samples of how it will look on the test. This seminar will go on to address: nouns, pronouns, verbs (helping and linking), verb tense (simple, perfect, progressive, and perfect progressive), adjectives, prepositions, prepositional phrases, adverbs, punctuation, capitalization, and the all important- comma! Classrooms will never be the same after this in-service!
Revising (Grade Levels: 3-8, 9-12)
In true Writing Academy, creative, tactile-kinesthetic fashion, revising will be taught by being a R.O.C.K. star! Teachers will learn to teach students to recognize connections, offs, repeats, and knowledge needed in assessment test selections. This seminar will address fragments/run-ons and misused/confused words. Teachers will see how students become “CSI – Comma Splice Investigators” to become experts in comma usage and sentence structure. Teachers will walk away with a wealth of knowledge about what is tested on the assessment, and tactile-kinesthetic, fun ways for students to learn and remember how to revise sentences, selections, and papers using sample assessment test passages/questions.
Contact Kelley or Rylie to Schedule an On-site Inservice or Call us at (281) 549-4466
Kelley Kratky
Rylie Stevenson
