Literacy: Reading & Writing
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 | “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 | |
 | Course Description
Are you looking for ways to improve reading comprehension, writing skills, and a deeper understanding of content area material? Science of Reading (SOR) has identified vocabulary acquisition as a key component for students' success in reading. This course will guide you through research based data and strategies to help you get to the “root” of effective vocabulary instruction for all students. Topics included: 3 Tiers of Vocabulary, Academic Vocabulary, Memory (how the brain works), Importance of Background Knowledge (critical for ENL and below grade level readers), Reinforcement through games, centers & technology. (Grades k-12 General Education, Special Education, ELL) | |
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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 Spring 2025
Instructor: Gayle Meinkes-Lumia – gaylelumia@yahoo.com
In-Service Class – 3 Credits – 45 Hours
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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Gayle Meinkes-Lumia – (gaylelumia@yahoo.com)
Inspiring students to excel and tapping into their minds and identities is something that all educators need to be aware of. Literacy paves the path in all disciplines and revives students’ engagement and focus. This course will inculcate a wealth of strategies that bring literacy to life – including mathematical thinking, multisensory activities, discovery science lessons, innovative history concepts, viewing ideas through multiple lenses. Teachers will be able to successfully incorporate strategies that encourage divergent thinking and motivate their learners. Participants will rigorously guide students through dialogue and creative fiction and non-fiction -ensuring that all students will thrive and have voice in literacy.
A Must for K-12 Educators!!!! | |
 | April is National Poetry month, but this genre is beneficial to study and teach all year long!
According to Fountas and Pinnell, “When you immerse your students in rich, lively poetry, you introduce them to intense, concise, skillfully crafted language.” Poetry instruction helps to build fluency skills as well as creates an opportunity for students to think critically, make inferences, and draw conclusions. With regards to high stakes testing, poetry is a genre found on NYS ELA exams each year across the grade levels. Poetry is also incorporated within the Next Generation Standards and therefore it is necessary for educators to teach this genre.
The first part of this course will explore the genre of poetry and the benefits for using poetry within the classroom. Participants will research the vast array of poetry forms available to use with his/her students. The course will provide resources to assist educators with poem selection and expose participants to a variety of poetry websites.
The second part of this course will focus around poetry with regards to the Next Generation Standards. Participants will research the expectations of the Next Generation Standards appropriate to his/her grade level. In addition, participants will view and evaluate multimedia resources as well as actual poetry lessons appropriate to his/her grade level. Also, participants will explore poetry exemplars from the NYS Department of Education. As a culminating activity, participants will create dynamic poetry lessons aligned with the Next Generation Standards for immediate use in his/her classroom. Appropriate for all educators K-12!
ONLINE (3 Credits / 45 hours ) in-service only | |
 | Instructor: Gayle Meinkes-Lumia – gaylelumia@yahoo.com
In-Service Course – 3 Credits – 45 Hours
Course Description: Grammer and Literary Elements tend to go by the wayside in today's classrooms. Students must have the literary foundation in order to be more efficient readers and writers. This course will demonstrate to participants that grammar and literary elements can be fun and fundamental! Teachers will glean a wealth of ideas to enhance their classrooms and make their students extremely savvy with the foundations of English. Topics include grammar a go-go, snippy stories, mad libs, punctuation scavenger hunt, and many more!
*A must for K-12 educators* | |
| 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.
ON-LINE (3 credits/45 hours) in-service credit only | |
 | “Every teacher is a teacher of reading”. Reading and writing are the backbones of education today. Students are required to read and write in all of their subject areas as well as employ their reading and writing skills to meet NYS standardized test requirements. To ensure that students perform well on these exams, to promote lifelong readers and writers, we as educators need to enhance student interest, vision, and comprehension in these areas.
In this course, you will learn carefully crafted reading and writing techniques that could be incorporated into any discipline. Lessons and graphic organizers for mathematics, social studies, science, health, art, physical education, career skills, and English language learners will be covered, as well as scaffolding techniques for immediate use in the classroom.
The course will focus on creative ways to implement reading and writing into your curriculum. You will walk away with a multitude of ideas and strategies to immerse your students with. Particular focus will be on read alouds, double-entry journals, literature circles, partnered reading and writing, vocabulary splashes, memo writes, and on-demand task writing activities.
In the end, teachers and students alike will be refreshed. Everyone will be a lifelong reader and writer, and will see reading as a pathway to success. A must for all elementary and secondary educators!!!!! All work must be submitted no later than October 29th, 2010.
ON-LINE (3 credits/45 hours) in-service credit only | |
| Reading is a complex act for humans. It is a visual process that begins with ones ability to use ones vision to interpret graphic symbols. Reading requires great visual acuity. The essence of reading comprehension is to be able to cognitively process the words by drawing meaning from your own experiences and knowledge. Comprehension strategies best serve students when they are employed across the curricula and in the context of their actual learning. The goal of literacy in science is to develop in students a curiosity about the world around them. The study of science should help students make better sense of the world in which they live. In order for this to occur, students must learn how to question their knowledge, methodology, skills, values, and attitude toward the world around them. In this course, teachers will learn to fully engage students with the scientific world and make them active participants in their learning. Too often, the science textbook is used in a passive manner of learning. Participants will learn to make science more engaging through before reading, during reading, and post reading activities that develop vocabulary, build prior knowledge, activate and scaffold science. A plethora of graphic organizers will be given. A must for K-12 teachers of reading and science!
ON-LINE (3 credits/45 hours) in-service credit only | |
| Course Description:
This course is designed to look into the mind of readers. Educators will explore how students think when they are reading subject-matter and texts in your classroom. Do students make the connections and interactions you want them to as they read? Educators will share strategies for reading success with your students no matter what the subject area or age of your students. We will look into what works and what doesn’t and share techniques and reading lessons. This course is a must for all K-12 educators.
ON-LINE (3 credits/45 hours) in-service credit only
Instructor: Kim Kittredge kkittredgeliips@gmail.com
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| Is it difficult to motivate your students to write? Are they hesitant to participate in class discussions? This course will help alleviate stress in your classroom! Each lesson is designed to encourage your students to participate in discussion, while providing activities to help improve writing skills. Use the suggested picture books or your own to complete this course. Suggestions for K-12!
ON-LINE (3 credits/45 hours) in-service credit only | |
 | Kim Kittredge Kkittredgeliips@gmail.com Do you ever wonder what some of the ingredients are that go into the successful teaching of reading and writing? Both reading and writing comprehension are both complex processes that require lots of effort and various skills. Some of these skills are often completely neglected while a child follows traditional teaching methods. As a result, reading and writing often become a cause for a student’s anxiety and frustration. In this course educators will be given new, innovative and fun techniques for reading and writing teaching methods. From journaling, to writing projects, to guided reading, or reading with purpose, educators will find the tools to create the perfect recipe for their students to be successful. By the end of this course teachers will be armed with enough “food for thought” to help them be the best teachers of reading and writing they can be. This course is a must for educators of all grades and levels K-12. | |
| How many times do you find yourself uttering the same phrase – ‘show, do not tell!’ when it comes to your students’ writing? How many of our students still engage in a basic, antiquated (5 paragraph essay) format, using no creativity or style? How many times have we come across the ‘non-reader’ in our classes? After taking this course, your students’ writing and reading problems are sure to be eliminated. You will learn the tricks of the trade in terms of writing, including the “magic-three sentence”; the “smiley face” writing technique; the “interview poem”; the “figurative language writing style” and many others to pique student interest. Books and samples will also be discussed that motivate student learning. A variety of genres and assignments will be presented for you so that you may walk away with a wealth of knowledge. All subjects and grade levels welcome.
ON-LINE (3 Credits / 45 hours) in-service credit only | |
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Course Description – Motivating students who have checked out to learning can be extremely stressful. Teachers need a blueprint for introducing more rigor into their classrooms while creating fun-filled activities that are critical thinking and inquiry based. Participants in this course will learn how to effectively address the distinct needs of their students that go beyond their comfort zones and push them toward success. A slew of activities will be completed including differentiated instruction, reading and writing in the content areas, interdisciplinary tactics, cross-cultural techniques, and current websites geared towards success. Both fiction and non-fiction sources will be addressed, as well as science and math strategies for learning.
(3 credits/45 hours) – In-service Credit |