Literacy: Reading & Writing
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 | Instructor: Gayle Meinkes-Lumia – gaylelumia@yahoo.com
In-Service Course – 3 Credits – 45 Hours
Course Description: Literacy is incorporated into every discipline. Students must be able to read, comprehend, and analyze both simple and complex texts in order to achieve success. This course will present a plethora of fiction and non-fiction readings that will guide participants and allow them to inculcate a wealth of strategies into their repertoires - including vocabulary strategies, decoding information, metacognition, pedagogical scaffolds, small academic groups, and a wealth of textual graphic organizers in every discipline. An influx of strategies will be brought to the forefront and ready utilize.
*A must for K-12 educators* | |
 | The ability to engage our learners is a technique all educators must possess. Formulating ideas and strategies to springboard discussions are tantamount for students today. Recognizing the need to enhance the learning environment will lead students towards success. In this course, participants will explore a myriad of strategies to assist them in the questioning process. Text dependent questions will be at the forefront as well as strategies from Fountas & Pinnell, differentiation techniques, student centered lessons, technological ideas, web components, and so much more. Teachers will completely enhance their students’ thinking. A must for all educators in the K-12 Classroom!!!
ON-LINE (3 credits/45 hours) in service credit only | |
 | Course Description – Engaging students in all levels of reading instruction is crucial for all subject matters. Literacy instruction is tantamount as students utilize remote instruction on a daily basis. This course will provide students with authentic tools for selecting books, responding to them, critiquing them, utilizing book clubs, and centers for discussion. A Must for K-12 Educators!!! (3 credits/45 hours) – In-Service Credit | |
 | Do you view vocabulary instruction as prosaic, humdrum, monotonous, mundane, thread bare? Acquiring vocabulary skills are tantamount to doing well in all aspects of academics. Instructing students on vocabulary usage can be accomplished through many modalities: computers, reading, diagramming, activity based. This course will provide you with effective ways to implement vocabulary instruction with your students. Current research will be examined, as well as specific strategies that enable students to comprehend vocabulary words will be addressed.
A must for all K-12 educators!!!!
On-Line (3 credits/45 hours) In-Service Credit only | |
 | This course focuses on the use of digital methods to analyze and archive literary texts, emphasizing issues of diversity and inclusion. Covers three main areas: text encoding, textual analysis, and archive construction. Considers literary texts, including works by well-known authors such as Shakespeare, together with collections by marginalized writers, including slave narratives and writings by early modern women. Offers students an opportunity to explore what counts as literature and how computers, databases, and analytical tools give substance to concepts of aesthetic, cultural, and intellectual value as inflected by race and gender.
ON-LINE (3 credits/45 hours) In-service credit only | |
 | *New Course Instructor: Kim Kittredge kkittredgeliips@gmail.com 3 Credits In Service Course (45 Hours) Dates: Summer 2025 - August 18th – 22nd Course Description: Connecting literature and reading to the daily lives of our students is a tremendous task. Educators who take this course will work on text connections, human connections and deeply engaging with text. Teachers will work on literary activities such as theme, literary devices, figurative language, plot, quotations and characterization just to name a few. Activities and strategies will be shared on uses of literary symbols and connections to text and our students’ lives. Symbolism through art and literature will also be discussed. Learning how to teach these symbolic and artistic connections and continue to engage our students will lead them to a more effective and positive future. This course is a must for all educators of all grades K-12. | |
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Instructor: Gayle Meinkes-Lumia – gaylelumia@yahoo.com
(3 Credits/45 Hours) – In-Service Credit
Course Description: It is much more difficult for our brains to unlearn something than to learn something new. Having the capacity to train our brains to make deep connections to learning is the purpose of this course. Participants will understand the factors that shape myelination in children and comprehend how it provides the foundation for brain connectivity and support of emergent cognitive and behavioral functioning. Studying the reasoning behind this neurodevelopment will enable teachers to create comprehensive lessons that support and engage learners from all walks of life. *A must for all K-12 educators and disciplines!! | |
 | Ranging from preschool to high school, writing is always a challenge for students. This course will provide you with the ingredients necessary to instruct students on how to attack the writing before it attacks them. Addressed will be the different forms of writing to provide students with, the new and innovative techniques by writing gurus, writing formulas, writing templates, journal topics, ELA writing guides,etc.. Students will simply beg for the pen and paper! A must for all K-12 educators!!!
ON-LINE (3 Credits / 45 hours) in-service credit only | |
 | This course will provide a foundation for understanding the history and development of Bilingual Education. The overall social and philosophical foundations of Bilingual Education will be reviewed in detail. Additionally, legislative changes throughout history for students of limited English proficiency will be examined by participants. By understanding the development of Bilingual Education over time, educators will be better prepared to meet the needs of English Language Learners (ELL).
ON-LINE (3 credits/45 hours) in-service credit only | |
 | Course Description:
This course will explain the process of Gestalt Language acquisition and how we may see it in our students. We will also discuss the process of teaching this type of language learning. Suitable all Educators and Staff K-12.
ON-LINE (3 credits/45 hours) in-service credit only
Instructor: Kim Kittredge kkittredgeliips@gmail.com
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 | Giving Students More Authority – Facilitating Meaningful Classroom Discussions in the K-12 Classroom PDLI 9130 (45 HOURS/3 GRADUATE CREDITS) Instructor: Gayle Meinkes-Lumia – gaylelumia@yahoo.comCourse Description: Providing students with high quality discussions that promote learning and engagement is tantamount to teaching. High quality discussions include content-specific ideas that spark students to express different points of view, reflect on their own opinions, varying perspectives, and engage in democratic dialogues. Education that develops deep reasoning, critical thinking, and conceptual and practical tools for inculcating knowledge is tantamount for students today. Teaching in this modality empowers our learners and enables them to recognize that proactive engagement is the key to their success. In this course, participants will be instructed on the pedagogical principles that promote student learning and democratic engagement. They will learn the ways in which students themselves facilitate learning and streamline their own thinking. Teachers will be instructed on ways in which to act as mediators and not sages, including the ins and outs of effective questioning. Rich discussion tactics will be integrated as fishbowl techniques, Socratic Seminars, Jigsaws, formative assessments, graphic organizers, gallery walks – all of which engage the learner and provide for optimum efficacy. Goals and Objectives: Upon completion of the course, participants will be better prepared to: • Understand the impact of effective classroom discussions
• Comprehend the respective ways in which teachers can transform their classrooms via classroom dialogues
• Generate meaningful strategies that challenge students
• Develop deep learning outcomes for their classrooms
• Integrate a myriad of learning activities that challenge their learners
• Engage their learners with 21st century tools of instruction | |
 | “Guided reading is a teaching approach used with all readers, struggling or independent, that has three fundamental purposes: to meet the varying instructional needs of all the students in the classroom, enabling them to greatly expand their reading powers; to teach students to read increasingly difficult texts with understanding and fluency; to construct meaning while using problem solving strategies to figure out unfamiliar words that deal with complex sentence structures, and understand concepts or ideas not previously encountered. Guided reading is the place where every child, every day, has the opportunity to learn by reading a book that is just right.”
– Fountas & Pinnell, 2001
This course will provide a detailed explanation of the philosophy of guided reading. Various components of guided reading will be explored including: management, teacher and student roles, assessment, flexible grouping, strategy and skill lessons, etc. Participants in the course will research the history of small group instruction and compare/contrast guided reading with more traditional instructional approaches. In addition, participants will learn the benefits of guided reading and be given the resources and information to implement guided reading within his/her own classroom.
ON-LINE (3 credits/45 hours) in-service credit only | |
 | Course #PDLI9040
(45 HOURS/3 GRADUATE CREDITS)
ON-LINE
Instructor: Rose Marino Foster rosemarino5@gmail.com
Course Description:
“Guided reading is a teaching approach used with all readers, struggling or independent, that has three fundamental purposes: to meet the varying instructional needs of all the students in the classroom, enabling them to greatly expand their reading powers; to teach students to read increasingly difficult texts with understanding and fluency; to construct meaning while using problem solving strategies to figure out unfamiliar words that deal with complex sentence structures, and understand concepts or ideas not previously encountered. Guided reading is the place where every child, every day, has the opportunity to learn by reading a book that is just right.”
– Fountas & Pinnell.
This course will provide a detailed explanation of the philosophy of guided reading. Various components of guided reading will be explored including: management, teacher and student roles, assessment, flexible grouping, strategy and skill lessons, etc. Participants in the course will research the history of small group instruction and compare/contrast guided reading with more traditional instructional approaches. In addition, participants will learn the benefits of guided reading and be given the resources and information to implement guided reading within his/her own classroom. Applicable all Educators and staff K-12. | |
| Course Description:
Writing can be complex and difficult activity for students of all ages. Writing is more than just a skill or taleant, it is a means of investigation and expression for learning. This course explores writing for learning in all grades and disciplines. In this course we will expose educators to effective approaches and best practices for helping students learn to write. Educators will discuss how ideas about how and wh to teach writing have progressed dramatically in recent years. Then teachers can work towads providiing the appropriate writiing activities for their students. A must for all educators grades K – 12.
ON-LINE (3 credits/45 hours) in-service credit only
Instructor: Kim Kittredge kkittredgeliips@gmail.com
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| PDLI 9140 Instructor: Gayle Meinkes-Lumia – gaylelumia@yahoo.com(45 HOURS/3 GRADUATE CREDITS) Course Description: Education that incorporates a multiethnic perspective recognizes children’s own frames of reference, ones that utilize ideas formed through the traditions of the students’ families and communities. It is a way of teaching that addresses issues of equity and commitment to social action. Teaching in a multiculturalism fashion promotes academic excellence and social justice for all children. Helping children become critical thinkers and make connections in their learning is the essence of multicultural instruction, one that promotes democracy and recognizes that proactive engagement in students of all ages is the key to their success. In this course, participants will be instructed on the ways in which to infuse multiethnic strategies into students’ repertoires. Teachers will be able to create a successful classroom environment where culture is at the forefront, developing and maximizing responsibility, diversity, and cognitive growth in students throughout this course. They will explore various resources such as articles, interviews, readings, differentiated learning sites, lesson plans, and links to literary sites. Additionally, they will research a variety of sources and decide which ones are engaging and fit into their curriculum. Teachers will gain student centered ideas, lessons that differentiate, challenging ways to motivate students, current research on pedagogy, various interdisciplinary websites and Socratic seminars and philosophical rounds that take literacy and learning to a new level! Goals and Objectives: Upon completion of the course, participants will be better prepared to: • Understand the impact of culture in students’ learning
• Comprehend the respective ways in which teachers can transform their classrooms
• Design multicultural learning activities that challenge students
• Create assessments and lessons for their classrooms
• Utilize character education within their classrooms
• Create instructional goals with the multicultural learner in mind | |
| How Proficient Readers Think: Utilizing Fiction and Non-fiction Sources to Master Cognitive Thinking How do skillful readers think when they are reading subject-matter text? How do they formulate connections and interactions with texts? As teachers, we have these strategies in our own brains; they were never explicitly taught to us. Instead, during our mostly fortunate lives as children, students, and teachers to be, we gradually cobbled together this repertoire of cognitive thinking through our reading, story-telling, family literacy, school, and books. Unfortunately, many of our students do not come from these literate backgrounds. We need to demonstrate the strategies to them, explicit instruct them, and become more aware of what is occurring in their minds. This course will guide you through the seven core reading strategies that will assist students in developing their own internal cognitive repertoire. You will be provided with articles and activities that will assist your students in progressing further and succeeding in life. A must for all K-12 educators.
ON-LINE (3 credits/45 hours) in-service credit only | |
| According to recent reports from the National Council of Teachers of English, approximately half of high school graduates lack the reading skills needed to pass first-year college courses, and only 59 percent of the students tested were considered ready for college level work. Equally alarming, the National Assessment of Educational Progress reported that 70 percent of middle and high school students score below the proficiency level in reading achievement. The lack of improvement in literacy achievement has many negative implications for the nation’s economy and ability to compete globally. To be competitive in the current job market, American youth have to possess far more advanced literacy skills than those required of any previous generation.
The first portion of this course will examine the recent studies and statistics of current trends regarding adolescent literacy. Participants will research federal policy for improving the performance of adolescents. The second part of this class will focus on reading interventions for adolescent learners. Participants will study the philosophy, implementation, and effectiveness of various reading intervention programs including: Reciprocal Teaching, Strategic Instruction Model, Accelerated Reader, Corrective Reading , Fast ForWord, Read 180, etc. In addition, this course will provide numerous reading strategies and interventions to use with adolescent students before, during, and after reading. Some of the strategies/interventions featured in this course include: anticipation guides, the Frayer Model, Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA), Selective Highlighting, Survey-Question-Read-Recite-Review (SQ3R), Exit Slips, Question-Answer Relationship (QAR) and many more! With the resources and information provided in this course, teachers will be able to create dynamic lessons which help foster student success.
ON-LINE (3 credits/45 hours) in-service credit only | |
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(45 hours/3 credits) In service course only
Instructor: Jessica Uebel Juebelliops@gmail.com
Course Description: “Reading Comprehension Revisited” is a podcast by Natalie Wexler. This podcast dives into the history of how teachers taught reading comprehension. It shares the research that shows how students comprehend. Similar to “Sold a Story”, this is an expose that brings awareness to the importance of how children learn to read-how they comprehend what they are reading. In this course teachers of all grades (K-12) will learn the history of how and why schools chose the programs and methods they did to teach reading comprehension. We will explore the current practice that is on trend-The Knowledge Matters Campaign. Teachers will explore and engage in discovering the role of knowledge-building in the classroom. Teachers will share and reflect on their own methodologies, research programs,and design lessons and activities.
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 | (3 credits/45 hours) In-service credits Instructor: Gayle Meinkes-Lumia – gaylelumia@yahoo.com Course Description: This course analyzes the everyday domains of language and literacy. Understanding how language and literacy are intertwined and developing the skills necessary for students is crucial for everyday communication. Providing this connection for our learners in all disciplines enhances their success and guides them in their achievement. Participants will be provided with a medley of activities and strategies that strengthen students’ cognitive learning including read-alouds, vocabulary acquisition, word games, and manipulatives. A Must for K-12 educators!!!! | |
 | Course Description:
This course will examine how we as educators work on literacy, literacy programs, and literacy techniques with our students. Educators will develop classroom literacy and comprehension programs to work with the population of students you have in your classrooms. Participants will learn effective and strategic literacy methods such as fluency and phonics, and will transform your classroom within a matter of weeks. A classroom where comprehension builds literacy perfection, is one that any educator strivers for. This course is a must for teachers of grades K-12 of all levels.
ON-LINE (3 credits/45 hours) in-service credit only
Instructor: Kim Kittredge kkittredgeliips@gmail.com
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| Course Description: In order for our students to develop better, more sophisticated literacy skills to succeed, they need to work hard to meet the demands around them. Literacy is more than just learning how to read, it is writing skills, speaking skills, solving problem, and beyond. In this course, educators in will develop and share tools and activities to strengthen their students’ literacy skills and help them succeed utilizing the new Next Generation Standards. This is a must for all teachers of all disciplines and subject areas K-12.
ON-LINE (3 credits/45 hours) in-service credit only
Instructor: Kim Kittredge kkittredgeliips@gmail.com
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| CCSS ELA-Literacy. RL5.1 – Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
CCSS ELA- Literacy. RL 2.6 – Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud
Course Description: Creating a balanced literacy program in one’s classroom is tantamount to student success. In this course, participants will be introduced to a medley of literary forms and techniques that will ensure student success. Topics include: author study, literature circles, poetry analysis, RAFT writing, non-fiction and fiction sources, newspaper and magazines, vocabulary study, arguments, etc… Assignments include: raising the proficiency bar, determining and clarifying meaning in texts, distinguishing between text types. In the end your classroom will be infused with literate individuals!!!!
Participants will be introduced to a medley of literary techniques. They will be able to comprehend, organize, and orchestrate a balanced literacy program within the confines of their classroom. They will also be able to walk away with a wide array of material for their literate classrooms.
a. Participants will be able to implement a balanced literacy program in their classrooms
b. Participants will be able to glean the knowledge of experts in their field and develop writing assignments for their students
c. Participants will be able to acquire a medley of non-fiction and fiction assignments (common core driven) for their classrooms.
ON-LINE (3 credits/45 hours) in-service credit only | |
| A Literature circle, sometimes referred to as a book club, is a type of reading instruction that is commonly found within a balanced literacy program. The main goal of literature circles is to enable children to develop a thorough understanding of a text. Reading comprehension is deepened through the completion of individualized tasks, combined with small group discussions. This form of reading instruction involves student choice, which fosters a student-centered love of literature. Through the use of literature circles, students are given the opportunity to purposefully respond to a text, make connections from their background knowledge, engage in critical responses to make meaning from the text, and much, much more!
Course participants will research the philosophy behind literature circles, as well as the methods, roles, and procedures of literature circles. Through this research, participants will learn how to implement this form of reading instruction within his/her own classroom. This course will provide information on the ways in which to differentiate literature circles, in order to the meet the needs of both advanced and struggling readers. In addition, this course will provide resources for teachers to further explore literature circles including: bibliographies of suggested literature, role worksheets, lessons plans, and much more! Suitable all educators, K – 12.
ON-LINE (3 credits/45 hours) in-service credit only | |
| Small, peer-led discussions about texts; engaging, thought provoking critical readers – these are just some of the descriptions that are entailed in literature circles. When kids are engaged in well-structured book clubs, their comprehension and their attitude toward reading, both improve. Well-designed literature circles, organized by competent teachers can pave the way for lifelong readers and learners. In this course, you will learn how to construct literature circles (fictional and non-fictional) inside your classroom and enable students to create meaningful connections within various texts. Participants will complete a myriad of tasks:
• Complete an introspection of themselves and their teaching styles
• Complete research on literary circles
• Share relevant teaching stories that assist everyone in the teaching process
• Cultivate student interest by creating exciting reading opportunities
• Master different approaches to prepare students for higher thinking
• Execute lessons that enrich student learning
• Read a young adult novel and complete literature circle activities of your own
Overall, participants will be refreshed as they enhance their classrooms by learning more about themselves!
ON-LINE (3 credits/45 hours) in-service credit only | |
| As educators, we are required to be teachers of literacy. We are all required to be teachers of literacy. We must learn to embrace this change, not deject it. This course will provide you with the means of loving every minute of literacy. You will be introduced to many literacy websites, learn the newest literacy out there to teach, uncover a wealth of creative writing assignments, incorporate interdisciplinary modalities, and have students love literature once more. Games and exciting anticipatory sets will be demonstrated as well. Your students will thank you! This course is a suitable for all educators K-12.
ON-LINE (3 credits/45 hours) in-service credit only | |
| Make A Splash with Your Learners – Spreading Reading and Writing Competency Across All Content Areas *New Course*
Instructor: Gayle Meinkes-Lumia – gaylelumia@yahoo.com
In-Service Class – 3 Credits – 45 Hours
Mid-Winter Recess (2025) - February 17, 18, 19, 20, 21
East Meadow Location – 8:00 am-5:00 pm
Course Description: Literacy is at the forefront of education today. All teachers are expected to be teachers of reading and writing regardless of their subject area. Teachers need a repertoire of lessons and ideas to motivate learners and elevate student abilities. This course provides a plethora of lessons, graphic organizers, best practice techniques, strategic thinking skills, collaborative, small group activities, and models that enhance student learning. Via the activities, participants will delve deeper into the literacy process and apply the models to their respective discipline. The subject areas of reading, writing, science, math, social studies, and health will be covered. Specific strategies and projects will be covered as well as a multitude of best practice techniques. In the end, participants will walk away with a literary bag of tricks! In this course, participants will be instructed on the various ways to foster literacy development. They will learn the strategies that facilitate student learning, including read alouds, dialoging about texts, engagement before, during, and after reading, and extensive discussions that allow for creativity and growth. Teachers will be instructed on ways to incorporate complex texts into their repertoire and build upon students’ knowledge. A rich literary curriculum will be addressed as well, including orthographic mapping, text structure, and interdisciplinary applications
*A must for K-12 Educators!! | |
| Instructor: Gayle Meinkes-Lumia – gaylelumia@yahoo.com
Short texts are everywhere, and so are the readers who love them. Many short texts serve as opportunities to learn valuable skills and connect deeply with students. Short text can be found in a myriad of contexts such as tweets, chat messages, search queries, product descriptions, or online reviews. Within this course, teachers will learn how to select, plan with, and use short texts as mentors that instruct valuable skills and strategies, increase reading volume and inspire opportunities for writing across content areas. Links to ideas and concepts as well as interdisciplinary modules will be provided. Teachers will emerge with a toolkit for reshaping shared reading that can be put into immediate usage in the classroom. A must for K-12 classrooms!! | |
 | Who doesn’t love music? Music is poetry. Poetry is rhythm. Listening to music on all levels can completely highlight and elevate students scores and lives. From our elementary years, music has always been at the heart of many children. Incorporating songs into the classroom can spark students interests. In this course, we will research content area songs, modern music, children’s songs, classic rock songs and comprehend how they tie into the school setting. Participants will have the ability to offer their own song to research. Music can relate to your mood and relieve stress. Songs as Airplanes; Titanium; One More Night, and Diamonds will be discussed as well as Tupac Shakur lyrics and various rap in the classroom. A must for K-12 educators.
ON-LINE (3 credits/45 hours) in-service credit only | |
| “It is the interaction, the transaction, between the reader and the text that not only creates meaning, but creates the reason to read.” – Notice and Note. Completely absorbing oneself in a text with deep engagement and insight is the ultimate goal that we have for our students. Being able to independently ponder the text with rigor and analysis is critical for students in classrooms today. In this course, you will learn the strategies that enable your students to encapsulate the goals of meaning constructor, discourse developer, expounder of assumptions, assembler of higher learning skills. You will be provided with anchor charts and graphic organizers that place your students at the forefront of the learning experience. They will learn to deeply ponder a text, to pause and reflect, to connect with both fiction and non-fiction texts; thus achieving an overall captivating experience.
Participants will be introduced to the concept of extreme close reading via the technique of “Notice and Note”. They will be able to incorporate aspects of this highly effective technique into their classrooms. Regardless of discipline or grade level, their students will benefit from the rigor and insight into texts that this program offers.
ON-LINE (3 credits/45 hours) in-service credit only | |
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Course Description: The three P’s of instruction are the driving forces for students’ successes. Ingraining this mindset in our learners creates lifelong skills. This course will explore the vast array of connections that teachers must foster in the classroom, including interdisciplinary ideals as: text to self, text to world, text to text. Teachers will be able to engage their learners in every discipline and bestow enlivened lessons into their worlds. Topics include creative writing, exploratory science, oral histories, mathematical manipulatives. All Next Generation standards will be covered. A must for K-12 Educators!!!
(3 credits/45 hours) In-service credit only |