Workshop Descriptions Lee Ann speaks on k-12 literacy and curriculum topics.

She is happy to design and build a keynote, workshop, breakout, classroom demonstration or parent event to suit. Sample workshop descriptions are noted below. Workshops are loosely organized into categories: curriculum, reading, technology and writing. Curriculum and Instruction How Do You Know? Formative Assessments that Drive Instruction How do you assess what students know and are able to do? This workshop will explore the use of exit slips, polls, conferences, surveys, inventories, letters, and other formative assessments that help teachers build rapport and understand where their students are as they plan instruction. Participants will examine sample assessments to create mock instructional plans for language arts students. During the workshop, we will brainstorm and discuss ways to assess students background knowledge, strengths, and needs across content areas and grade levels. Score! Goal-Driven Instruction Recognize goal-driven instruction and know how to choose meaningful and manageable instructional goals for a class period, a week, a unit or a quarter. Watch teachers in action and reflect on the instruction observed. Learn to discriminate between goal-driven and content-driven instruction. In this workshop, teachers will read, discuss and reflect on how learning goals and formative assessment will aid student achievement. Lesson Study Introduce the lesson study process to faculty or administrators teach how to engage in lesson study, and here Lee Anns reflections as a participant and facilitator. Teachers will learn how to collaborate, design research lessons, and collect and analyze data in order to improve instruction and increase engagement and achievement. Lee Ann can help you chart your lesson study course or facilitate a group of teachers embarking on journey through book study, planning or implementation. Professional Development 2.0 Wanted: One Teacher. Must be curious and want to learn. Must have idea-sharing, can-do attitude; creativity and previous exploration experience a bonus. Bring your laptops, digital devices and can-do attitudes to this hands-on session where we will explore professional learning online in communities such as Ning and Twitter. Unpacking the Common Core What do Common Core standards mean for students in our classrooms? What will teachers need to know and do differently? What are teachers already doing that Common Core requires they continue? Explore the changing landscape and make plans for instruction during this session.

Reading Reading Amplified Explore digital tools that energize readers and amplify instruction. Use Google books as a concordance for analysis, annotate Internet text with Diigo, and more from Lee Anns book Reading Amplified: Digital Tools that Engage Students in Words, Books and Ideas. Teachers will collaborate across platforms or devices as they connect instructional purposes, authentic activities and digital tools.

Reading Rocks! How Can You Make Independent Reading Work? How can you encourage students to read fiction and nonfiction on their own? What should you be doing while students are reading independently? Join us to explore answers to these questions. From the prereading book talk to the post-reading assessment, learn successful organizational and management tools that support independent reading. Learn how knowing students and supporting readers at the elbow helps teachers avoid common pitfalls of sustained silent reading time. Take home record keeping and assessment ideas that will organize and manage independent reading in any classroom. Finding the Magic Peer to Peer: Successful Literature Circle Strategies for All From pre-circle book talks to post reading assessments, learn successful management tools that support students learning through literature circles. How can you support book choice? What can role sheets tell you about student learning? We will define literature circles, assess students samples and practice literature circles with nonfiction. Leave this workshop with record keeping and assessment ideas that will lead to literature circle success. Growing Readers Kick start your year or rekindle your relationship with students through letters, surveys, polls and readingfocused community-building. Practice formative assessments that build and nurture relationships between readers. From community set up and norms to surveys and book talks, leave this workshop excited to connect to your reading community. Analyzing Complex Text: Strategies for Digging Deeper Annotate, mark, code, draw, and discuss. From modeling to monitoring, review strategies that scaffold analysis. Explore text complexity and how scaffolding enables students to stretch. Teachers will take home a sample lesson and an instructional sequence that can be adapted across grade levels, content areas and texts. Tools That Lead to Independence: Logs, Academic Journals & Graphic Organizers What is the gradual release of responsibility? How can I encourage students to think for themselves? We will discuss these questions by examining three tools: learning logs, academic journals, and graphic organizers. This workshop will offer hands-on practice with many of the tools used to teach vocabulary. Learn how flexible tools can help students regulate their own learning. Small groups will examine students academic journals. We will also discuss the purpose of logs, academic journals, and graphic organizers across content areas and grade levels. How Do You Know? Initial Assessments that Drive Instruction How do you assess what students know and are able to do? How do your assessments help you plan for instruction? This workshop will explore the use of data snap shots, surveys, attitude and interest inventories, letters, and other initial assessments that help teachers build rapport and understand where their students are before they begin the school year. In small groups participants will examine student sample assessments to create mock instructional plans for language arts students. During the workshop we will brainstorm and discuss ways to assess students background knowledge, strengths, and needs across content areas and grade levels. Comprehending Content: Building Understanding through Strategic Instruction How can I scaffold reading comprehension for my students? What tools can we use to build comprehension as we read together? We will practice strategies to help students comprehend text before, during and after reading. This workshop includes hands on practice with strategies such as admit slips,

predict-o-grams, concept ladders, quick writing, word study and more. Find out how your students can beat the odds by embedding standardized test practice into authentic content area reading. Technology Get Connected with Collaboration Tools Looking to organize class information and connect to students and parents? This session will compare collaboration tools that groups. Well look at calendars, shared documents, micro-blogging and chat as we talk about which tools suite your audience and purpose. Take away strategies for getting started, reaching out and connecting with your Eduverse! Review-o-Matic Do your students need support beyond your demonstration of a digital tool in the classroom? Learn how to create a screen cast. These mini-movies are simple to shoot, narrate and post online! Presto! Instant help at students fingertips!

Professional Development 2.0 Wanted: One Teacher. Must be curious and want to learn. Must have idea-sharing, can-do attitude; creativity and previous exploration experience a bonus. Bring your laptops, digital devices and can-do attitudes to this hands-on session where we will explore professional learning online in communities such as Ning and Twitter. Whats a Wiki? And other Web 2.0 Tools Blogs, wikis, networks? What is Web 2.0 and how is it different from the Internet we know and love? Should we start with the task or start with the tool? Lee Ann will take you on an exploration of Web 2.0 tools that engage student readers and writers. Go Digital: Infusing Technology into Everyday Instruction How can use 21st century tools to support student and engage readers? This workshop will review online tools you can use with students to build vocabulary and comprehension skills. Do students need practice visualizing, summarizing, or building background knowledge? Theres an app or a tool for that! Explore and book mark tools such as Wordnik, Sumo Paint, Toon Doo, and Spezify that you can use in your classroom and beyond. Writing Blueprints of a Lifetime Use students experience to craft narrative. Draw and talk to generate ideas. Draft. Share and discuss. Simple yet powerful, these strategies get students writing about what matters. Grammar for Dummies! What is Teaching Grammar in Context?* What does teaching grammar in context look like? How much time does it take? In this workshop we will discuss what it means to teach grammar in context. Examine grammar through three lesson structures: deductive thinking exercises, mini-lessons, and extended mini-lessons. Participants will examine student writings and develop grammar mini-lessons. In addition, we will brainstorm ideas for helping students make grammar, and the rules of grammar, their own. See What I Mean? Writing Photo Essays with Students

Want to engage students in meaningful nonfiction writing? Looking for a way to make writing relevant to students lives? Teach students how to write a photo essay! From generating a topic, to planning and drafting, this workshop will explore writing photo essays with students. We will write from photo-sets but also discuss how you can use student generated photography to spur writing. We will wrap up by previewing photo-essay titles you can use with students and by listing lessons student photo-journalists need to succeed. Write With Me! Using Model Text to Develop Voice What do you know about your student writers? We will delve into student samples to discuss what they reveal about what students know and are able to do before jumping into writing ourselves. See how using a model text helps students develop voice. Focus on the writing process and how you can use model text to develop writers and a writing community. We will write and share during our time together. Slam! Empower Youth with Poetry Lee Ann has hosted and organized poetry slams for teens for more than a dozen years. A poetry evangelist, Lee Ann will share her passion and the power of youth voices with your faculty or group. Learn how to make spoken word and poetry performance part of your school culture. From initial writing workshops to weekly poetry clubs to the grand slam performance, this work session shares tools teachers and faculty can use to kick start, organize and maintain poetrys presence on high school campuses.