Overview

This summer our focus is on providing educators tools for helping their students with comprehension. Past IDA President Nancy Hennessy’s The Reading Comprehension Blueprint: Helping Students Make Meaning from Text will be our source.

About the Book Study

Our enthusiastic facilitators will dig in on how to teach comprehension. Facilitators lead in-depth discussions of the key facets of reading comprehension highlighted in this book. Conversations and small group application of exercises and activities will be targeted by grade level to allow participants to gain a deeper understanding of the content as it relates to the students they are currently teaching. At the end of the 4-week course, participants will have practical techniques ready to use with their students. Resources discussed during the course will be compiled and made available on our website following the conclusion of the event.

About the Text (Adapted from Brookes Publishing.com)

Comprehension is a primary ingredient of reading success—but most educators aren’t taught how to deliver structured comprehension instruction in their classrooms. K–8 teachers will find the guidance they need in this groundbreaking professional resource from Nancy Hennessy, former IDA President and an expert on reading comprehension.

Aligned with the science of reading and IDA’s Structured Literacy approach, this book is a must for in-service educators and an ideal supplement to pair with core literacy textbooks. Today’s teachers will get the essential knowledge and practical tools they need to help every student become a proficient reader—and build a strong foundation for school success.

Educators Will:

Get critical background knowledge. This book provides educators with all the fundamentals they need to teach this key component of reading proficiency.
Master the blueprint. Teachers will get a complete framework for organizing instruction, aligned with the language comprehension strands of Scarborough’s Reading Rope. In-depth chapters are devoted to each facet of reading comprehension, including vocabulary, syntax and sentence comprehension, text structures, background knowledge, and levels of understanding and inference.
Make it work in the classroom. Educators will find practical guidance and tools for planning their units and lessons, adapting to the needs of individual students, and assessing student progress.

Practical Materials: To help them apply the science of reading comprehension and design high-quality instruction, teachers will practice classroom activities and review sample lesson plans that help them reflect on and strengthen their practices. The photocopiable teaching resources, including unit and lesson plan organizers, can be used again and again in the classroom.

About Nancy Hennessy

Ms. Hennessy is an experienced teacher, diagnostician and administrator who currently works as a literacy consultant. Nancy has worked across grade levels K–12 with both general and special educators. While in public schools, she provided leadership in the development of innovative curriculum for special needs students and a statewide revision of special education code, and she led a state-of-the-art professional development program for all teachers. She is a former Wilson Language Lead Trainer and National Trainer for Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS; Sopris-West).

Nancy has delivered keynote addresses, workshops, and training to educators nationally and internationally on topics including professional development, strategic planning, and components of skilled reading and writing and dyslexia. She has also developed professional development offerings on reading instruction for the AIM Institute of Learning & Research and on dyslexia for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Most recently, Nancy has focused on delivering virtual and in-person professional learning opportunities focused on reading comprehension.

Nancy co-authored the second revision of Module 6 of LETRS, Digging for Meaning: Teaching Text Comprehension, and authored Chapter 15, “Working with Word Meaning: Vocabulary Instruction,” in Multisensory Teaching of Basic Language Skills, fourth edition (Birsh & Carreker, 2018).

Nancy has held various positions for the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), including President, Branch Council Chair, and National Conference Chair. She also served on the National Joint Committee for Learning Disabilities. She is an honorary member of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society, the 2011 recipient of IDA’s Margaret Rawson Lifetime Achievement Award, and the recipient of the 2012 June Lyday Orton Award from the North Carolina Branch of IDA (NCIDA).

Dates and Times

Four Tuesdays this summer at 7:00 – 8:30:

June 20

June 27

July 11

July 18 with Nancy Hennessy

All meetings take place virtually.

CEU’s and Certificates

ACT 48, ALTA, CERI, and IMSLEC CEU’s will be available.
1.5 credits per session attended.

Due to the highly interactive nature of this Book Study only the facilitators presentations at the beginning of each session will be recorded and released at the end of the series. The breakout portions will not be recorded.

If you cannot attend all sessions, you can receive credit for the sessions you do attend.

Certificates of completion will be sent via email by July 31.
ACT 48 hours will be submitted by August 18.