Strong Start Professional Development

Literacy Launch: Reach Your Readers Starting Day 1

Part of UW-Parkside’s Strong Start Professional Development Series

August 10, 11, 12  |  9-10:30 AM  |  VIRTUAL

#1: August 10 – Focus on Secondary Readers: This session will focus on practical strategies and ideas that educators can immediately implement. During this session, participants will learn to identify and address the diverse literacy needs of adolescents, in both content-specific and general literacy skills. Key areas of focus would include explicit instruction in vocabulary development, strategies for improving reading comprehension of complex texts, and techniques for fostering effective writing across disciplines. The session will also emphasize the importance of creating a literacy-rich classroom environment, including incorporating digital tools and promoting student engagement through active learning and collaborative activities. Participants will ideally leave the session with concrete examples, adaptable resources, and a renewed understanding of how to empower all students in the secondary literacy classroom.

#2: August 11 – Focus on Primary Readers: This session focuses on equipping educators with the knowledge and tools to build confident, capable readers in the primary grades. Grounded in the science of reading, the session will break down how students learn to read and spell, with a strong emphasis on phonemic awareness, phonics, and the essential rules of encoding. Participants will explore practical, explicit teaching strategies that make these skills clear, systematic, and accessible for all learners, helping to ensure no student falls through the cracks. In addition, the session will highlight ways to make instruction engaging, responsive, and aligned to student needs. Educators will walk away with strategies for modeling thinking, providing meaningful practice, and using data to drive instruction. The session will also touch on common misconceptions in early literacy, ways to support struggling readers, and how to build strong connections between reading and writing. By the end, participants will feel empowered to “crack the code” alongside their students and create classrooms where literacy success is both achievable and celebrated.
 

#3: August 12 – Focus on Reluctant Readers: As students get older, teachers tend to hear how much their students dislike reading. These non-readers find it boring; what can a teacher do? Many strategies and tools will be presented during this session to aid teachers in increasing student interest in reading. Apart from learning the strategies, you will be able to dig in and start exploring and thinking about which one would work best for you and your reluctant readers. Once students are hooked on reading, they will be able to venture into a plethora of different worlds.   

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
This workshop is ideal for anyone who has responsibilities related to literacy instruction. Teachers, paraprofessionals, education assistants, administrators,
and community volunteers are all encouraged to attend.

FACILITATED BY
Sallie Berndt – Whitewater Unified School District (Session 1)
Kelsey Deinhammer – Oak Creek Franklin School District (Session 2) 

Meghan Mota – Racine Unified School District (Session 3)

COST – 

Full 3-Day Workshop
$75 Early registration rate from now until July 10
$90 after July 10

or

$35 for any one session
$60 for any two sessions

*Last day to register – August 8