Instructor: |
Stephanie Sumner |
Location: | Online |
Dates and Times: | July 1, 2023 – August 11, 2023.Asynchronous, four Zoom meetings (times can be adjusted by cohort agreement) July 5th, 19th, and 26th, and August 9th – 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. |
Credits: | 3 graduate |
Tuition: | $1,195 |
The research, practices, and frameworks of teaching elementary children to read have been the source of a philosophical tug-of-war that has reignited “the reading wars” in the past year. The climate of assuming an “either/or” approach to reading instruction perpetuates the assumption that a dichotomy between teaching foundational skills and rich comprehension exists, and that one method is better than the other. Balanced literacy? Structured literacy? What if our approach to reading instruction focused on “both/and”, driven by evidence-based research? It is essential that early and elementary educators understand the most essential, effective practices for teaching children to be proficient, effective, empowered, and joyous readers.
This course is centered on the belief that we need to stop swinging the pendulum back and forth between these approaches to reading and meet in the middle – incorporating evidence-based practices of both balanced and structured reading instruction that can come together to design reading instruction that is effective for all learners. Many educators in today’s classrooms have been trained in one approach or the other. Understanding the “both/and” is an important starting point for redesigning the teaching of reading to support the most recent, evidence-based practices to teach today’s children to read successfully and joyfully.
**This course will be followed by additional offerings focusing on:
Remote Learning Technologies:
Audience: This course is for all early and elementary educators, instructional coaches, and leaders who wish to demystify the conflicting messages they’ve received regarding best practices in teaching children to read. This course is great for:
Participants will
Stephanie Sumner has Bachelor's degrees in Elementary Education and Psychology from the University of Vermont (1996), a Master's of Education degree in Science Education K-8 from Johnson State College/ Vermont Science Initiative (2012), and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in Educational Leadership from St. Michael's College (2017). Since 1996, she has worn many hats as an educator. She has been a classroom teacher in grades 4, 5 and 6 within several models (self-contained, specialized content areas, teaming and looping). She has also served as a curriculum consultant and instructional coach across content areas. As a school leader, her instructional leadership and professional development has focused greatly on social-emotional learning (and related areas of culturally-responsive and trauma-informed practices), and elementary mathematics, science and literacy instruction. Additionally, she has led professional learning communities engaging in professional development related to developing and sustaining Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, structured literacy, science of reading, math best practices and high leverage concepts, social emotional learning and executive functioning.
Hougen, M. C., & Smartt, S. M. (2020). Fundamentals of Literacy Instruction & Assessment, Pre-K-6. Brookes Publishing Company.
Fisher, D., Frey, N., & Akhavan, N. (2019b). This Is Balanced Literacy, Grades K-6. Corwin.
Selected research articles and videos will be linked and assigned.
(802) 786-3617
Center for Schools Team
(802) 468-1325