Great Beginnings: Literacy and Language in Pre-K & Kindergarten Classrooms

A two-day institute featuring Matt Glover

March 11-12, 2010: 8:30am-3:30pm

How can we ensure a joyful and successful entry into literacy for all 3, 4, and 5 year olds in a developmentally appropriate early childhood context?  During this two-day institute you will work with literacy experts exploring how to support children in developing vocabulary, oral language, phonemic awareness and understandings about print.  We will also explore the role of dramatic play, storytelling and drawing as building blocks for children as writers.

Sample topics will include:

• Developmentally Appropriate Practice and What That Means
• Creating a Child-Centered Literacy-Based Environment
• The Role of Dramatic Play in Children's Literacy Development
• Language and Word Play
• The Power of Using Children's Names and Magnetic Letters to Build Literacy Knowledge
• Nurturing Young Writers
• The Role of Shared and Interactive Writing
• The Role of Drawing in Expanding Language and Writing
• The Power of Children's Literature
• Learning about Letters and Sounds

Featured Speaker: Matt Glover

Day two will feature guest speaker Matt Glover, author of Engaging Young Writers, Pre-school to Grade 1 (2009) and co-author of Already Ready (2008) with Katie Wood Ray.  Matt will discuss his beliefs, structures and supports that are important when nurturing young writers.  He will talk, in particular, about the similarities in beliefs and differences in structure across pre-school and kindergarten.

Additional Speakers Include:

Cindy Downend

Cindy is a faculty member at the Center for Reading Recovery and Literacy Collaborative with over twenty years of educational experience as a classroom teacher and Reading Recovery teacher.  She also holds a National Board Certification in the area of Early Childhood.

Diane Powell

Diane is the Assistant Director of Primary Literacy Initiatives at the Center for Reading Recovery and Literacy Collaborative.  She has worked for Lesley University for the last ten years and prior to that was a Reading Recovery Teacher Leader.

Kathy Ha

Kathy is a faculty member at the Center for Reading Recovery and Literacy Coollaborative.  She has extensive classroom experience in the primary grades with expertise in bilingual education, special education, and Reading Recovery.  As a trainer of literacy coaches she has focused on school improvement and developing teachers across the nation.

Institute Location:

Lesley University, University Hall
1815 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02140

Cost Information: $395 (includes a boxed lunch)

Please download our brochure (including registration form) [pdf].

Contact:

Alison Buraczenski at aburacze@lesley.edu or 617.349.8693 with any questions.