This free workshop series in the fall of 2021 is open to all Canadian educators interested in evolving classroom practices to align with the science of reading. Each session has an interactive panel discussion with a team of educators from a school or board who have begun to make exciting changes in their approach to literacy. Following the panel discussion, participants will be invited to join breakout rooms to share their own stories of success and ideas about how we can work together to improve outcomes for all students.
Information gathered in the breakout rooms will be used to create a resource for Ontario educators interested in creating a culture shift towards the science of reading in their own boards.
#1 August 18, 2021
This workshop involved a panel of educators from Winston Churchill Public School in Kingston, ON - Emily Moorhead, Hayley Johnston, and Laura Lamarche.
#2 September 22, 2021
The workshop involved educators from Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board - Director of Education David DeSantis, Special Assignment Teachers Sarah Cassidy & Lori McCaw, and Principal Sandra Fragoso.
#3 October 27, 2021
This workshop involved a panel of Speech Language Pathologists.
This webinar describes four types of reading assessments (outcome, screening, diagnostic, and progress monitoring) and explains the role that each one plays in the selection and use of appropriate and effective interventions for struggling readers.
The slides for this presentation may be downloaded here.
The webinar recording is available here.
Presenter: Margie B. Gillis, Ed.D. is a Certified Academic Language Therapist, a research affiliate at Haskins Laboratories, and the president of Literacy How, a non-profit organization that provides professional development on the Science of Reading. Margie is also the president of the Anne Fowler Foundation providing scholarships for educators. She is the co-founder of Smart Kids with LD, the former president of ConnBIDA, a board member of the Academic Language Therapy Association, Dyslexia Society of CT, and New Alliance Foundation, and a professional advisor for Understood, ReadWorks, and the International Foundation for Effective Reading Instruction.
The presentation slides are available here.
During this webinar, Kim and Natalie share a variety of strategies and tools that educators (and parents) can implement both at home and in school to support students enrolled in French as a Second Language programming. They discuss the importance of creating a systematic, explicit, cumulative, and multi-sensory literacy program in French while offering science-based ideas and resources that can be implemented and incorporated into your current literacy program. They want you to have the tools necessary to support all learners in your classroom so that they can achieve success in reading, writing, and spelling.
Presenters: Kim Lockhart and Natalie George
Kim Lockhart is a French Immersion, elementary Student Support Teacher (SST) with the Limestone District School Board in Kingston, Ontario. She graduated from Trent-Queen's Concurrent Education Program in 2000, with a double major in French and Biology. In 2015, Kim earned her Master of Education degree from Queen's University. She focused her research on evidence-based instructional practices that support students with reading difficulties in French Immersion Programs and developed a resource for parents: "Supporting and Inspiring Your Child with Reading Difficulties in the French Immersion Program". In 2020, Kim received her Associate level, Orton-Gillingham certificate, and most recently, worked with the International Dyslexia Association, Ontario Branch to facilitate workshops for educators and parents of dyslexic children across Ontario. Kim volunteers her time with the Learning Disability Association of Kingston (LDAK) and is a strong advocate for parents of students.
Natalie George is a french immersion educator with the Limestone District School Board. Natalie graduated from Brock University with a Bachelor in Child and Youth Studies in 2004 and a Bachelor of Education in 2005. Natalie received her Orton Gillingham associate training in 2018 from Fundamental Learning in Toronto, Ontario, and is currently enrolled in a Multisensory Math Training with The Atlantic Seaboard Dyslexia Education Centre in Rockville, MD. Natalie is a consultant with Dyslexia Canada where she works to advocate for children and families with dyslexia across Canada. Natalie has received her FSL Specialist and Special Education AQs and is registered with the Ontario College of Teachers. Natalie volunteers her time as a board member with Youth Diversion - a local non-profit supporting at-risk youth and is a volunteer mentor with the Rise - a charity that provides people with a history of mental health or addictions a path forward toward sustained self-employment.
Presenter: Dr. Nancy Wise is an educational consultant who specializes in French immersion. She has a Ph.D. in Second Language Education and a M.Ed. in Special Education from OISE/University of Toronto. Nancy worked for 28 years as a Special Education teacher for the York Region District School Board. She spent 20 of those years in the French immersion context, advocating for students with diverse learning needs. Nancy has done presentations for school boards, teacher organizations, and parent groups. Her research has been published by the Ontario Ministry of Education and in peer-reviewed educational journals.
Click HERE to download the presentation slides.
Speech Language Pathologists have always provided assessment and treatment to children with speech, language, and communication difficulties. Speech and oral language development were often the focus of SLPs in the early years of the profession, however, as research into oral language development began to overlap with how written language is learned, SLPs have fulfilled the role of professionals who can assess and treat those children who have difficulties with their literacy skills. Indeed, with proper screening in Kindergarten and grade one, SLPs can predict those children who will likely need some extra support to crack the code of English.
Unfortunately, educators and parents are not always aware that their school SLP can provide support in this area. Often teachers need to seek out answers to their questions about students who are struggling to read, and it is only after an exhaustive search that they connect with the SLP at their school. However, once they do, they invariably laud the collaboration and feel they have the support they require to deal with reading instruction and remediation.
This webinar outlines the services that Speech Language Pathologists can provide to students, their teachers, and families. It highlights the connection between oral and written language and outlines the language skills (e.g., phonological awareness, phonics, oral receptive language, etc.) that need to be taught to children as young as three and as old as high school, in order to ensure literacy.
Presenter: Corina Murphy is a co-manager of the Speech Language Pathology department at Peel District School Board, the second-largest school board in Ontario. In her 29 years as an SLP clinician, she provided assessment, treatment, and consultation to children, their families, and, their allied health and educational teams in various settings including Health Units, Hospitals, Children’s Treatment Centres, Boards of Education, Community Care Access Centres, and Private Practices (including her own). Most recently, she taught courses at the newly-developed Masters of Speech Language Pathology Program at McMaster University, provided services to First Nations in Communities in and around Sioux Lookout, and co-authored a Chapter in a College Textbook, “Developmental Disabilities in Ontario”.
Alternative Education Resources Ontario(AERO), is a free bilingual transcription service and alternate format repository for educational institutions in Ontario. AERO creates accessible documents, including text to speech PDF and audio formats. Join Isabel for an overview of AERO’s services and eligibility requirements.
Click HERE to download presentation handouts.
Presenter: Isabel Trueman is an Alternate Format Resource Technician and website troubleshooter. She has been working with AERO for over 8 years.
Service ontarien de ressources éducatives en formats de substitution (SOREFS), est un service de transcription gratuite et dépôt de formats alternatifs pour les institutions éducatives en Ontario. SOREFS crée des documents accessibles incluant des PDF texte-voix et des formats audio. Rejoindre Isabel pour un survol des services de SOREFS et les critères d’admissibilité.
Cliquez ici pour les documents de présentation.
Présentatrice: Isabel Trueman est une technicienne des formats de substitutions et résous les problèmes du site web. Elle travaille avec SOREFS depuis 8 ans.
Cette vidéo francophone a été créée par Elisabeth Bealieu, conseillère pédagogique. Elle fut commanditée par le Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario à Sudbury. La vidéo se base sur la série de deux vidéos par Jan Maclean, "Helping your Struggling Readers", présentée par IDA Ontario en 2018-2019, ainsi que certaines pratiques de la "Reading Clinic" de Kingston.
L'enseignement des correspondances graphème-phonème s'adresse aux parents, enseignants et enseignantes au cycle préparatoire en français langue première et au cycle primaire en français langue seconde, ainsi qu'aux enseignants et enseignantes ressource.
La vidéo comprend les directives pour enseigner la correspondance graphème-phonème, le décodage et l'encodage de mots, l'écriture en lettres moulées, ainsi que la lecture et l'écriture de phrases. De plus, vous y retrouverez les consignes pour évaluer les connaissances de l'enfant au niveau sa correspondance graphème-phonème. Ce matériel GRATUIT, y compris l'évaluation, peuvent être téléchargés ICI.
N'oubliez pas de consulter d'autres ressources en français sur notre site web!
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We are very pleased to provide a new and wonderful French video resource, L'enseignement des correspondances graphème-phonème (see video above).
This video, in French, was created by Elisabeth Beaulieu, sponsored by the Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario in Sudbury.
It is based on Jan Maclean’s 2-part video series “Helping Your Struggling Readers” presented by IDA Ontario in 2018-2019, and the practices of The Reading Clinic in Kingston, ON.
The video is directed at parents and teachers of children in junior- and senior-kindergarten for French first language, and Primary levels for French as a second language instruction, and special education teachers.
The video includes instruction for teaching letter-sound correspondences, word-level decoding and encoding skills, handwriting, and reading/writing sentences. The video also includes the instructions to evaluate student’s knowledge of grapheme-phoneme correspondences. The FREE materials, including the assessment, can be downloaded HERE.
Be sure to check out other French resources on our website!
Learning to read is a human right. Educational science addressing children’s reading acquisition and early reading instruction has been a research success story. Instructional studies demonstrating positive outcomes from applying science-derived principles in classrooms will be highlighted, as will the efficacy for teaching children with dyslexia or external factors that place students at-risk in this domain. Systemic changes that will support all children’s right to read are discussed.
This was part of the Microsoft ConnectED Virtual Conference 2020.
Dr. Jamie Metsala is a Professor of Education, Mount Saint Vincent University. Alicia Smith is President of IDA Ontario.
Implementing structured literacy instruction in the kindergarten classroom: A three-part series by Emily Moorhead
In this three-part series, Emily Moorhead discusses and demonstrates the implementation of structured literacy instruction in a kindergarten classroom.
Presenter: Emily Moorhead (OCT (BAH, B.Ed)) is a teacher at the Limestone District School Board, Kingston, ON. She has been teaching early primary children for seventeen years. When her own child showed signs of difficulty in learning to read, she recognized that, like her son, there were consistently children who were leaving kindergarten unprepared for reading success in Grade One. Emily became deeply engaged in her own learning and teaching practices to ensure that every child was given the tools to become a successful reader. Read more about Emily's path to structured literacy instruction here.
Click here to download a handout for the webinar.
*NEW* Q&A's - by Emily Moorhead
In this first of a series of three webinar, Emily describes and demonstrates playful phonological and phonemic awareness tasks that move children along a developmental continuum and form a strong oral language foundation for reading. She pays particular attention to the often missed pieces of phonemic awareness and models ways to develop “diagnostic ears,” to differentiate tasks for a range of abilities within a kindergarten classroom setting. She then discusses specific strategies and concrete materials for connecting phonological awareness and print.
Click here to download the webinar handouts.
Emily demonstrates and discusses ways to support young learners as they begin to use letters to blend and segment for reading and spelling. She models how this leap from oral to print can be explicitly taught, guided, and scaffolded to support every learner in ways that are playful and fun. She provides guidance for planning, and will demonstrate a complete lesson. Finally, Emily will share resources for use with students, as well as providing insights and suggestions for planning a scope and sequence of concepts for instruction.
Click here to download the webinar handout.
Emily discusses and shows ways to support learners’ growth toward reading through large group, small group, and individual instruction. She shares insights about group formation and models activities and games that provide engaging, targeted practice for children at various stages of learning. Emily takes the mystery out of "controlled text" and show some examples of text suitable for new readers.
In this second episode of our four-part Discovering Dyslexia webinar series, we look at supporting dyslexic students. Guests include Sara Peden, a Psychologist and dyslexia interventionist from Calgary, who provides an overview of structured literacy, and Ron Cadez, a principal in the Louis Riel School District in Manitoba and Kate Griggs founder of Made By Dyslexia.
Click here to view the recorded webinar.
Click here to download the presentation and a copy of the OPA guidelines. NOTE: a revised version of the presentation was uploaded 27Nov19 @ 4pm.
For several years, there has been inconsistency in the psychology community on diagnostic criteria to use when diagnosing a Learning Disability. This inconsistency has caused considerable confusion in the public and disruption in service. To remediate this, a cross-sectoral group of psychologists spent 20 months developing consensus-based diagnostic criteria and guidelines for the assessment of Learning Disability. Recently, the Ontario Psychological Association and the Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario adopted these criteria and they are available at the link above or on the OPA website under Resources: https://www.psych.on.ca/Resources/OPA-Guidelines
In this webinar, attendees will learn
- why the guidelines were developed and by whom
- what is different in the current guidelines from older guidelines;
- criteria required for a diagnosis of Learning Disability;
- myths about assessment;
- assessment of special populations, eg. gifted, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse students
Presenters: Dr. Carolyn Lennox is a Clinical and School Psychologist, currently Manager of Psychology Services in TDSB West Region, Learning Centre 4. She received her M.Phil. in Clinical Psychology at the University of London, England and completed her PhD. in Clinical-Developmental Psychology at York University. Past work experience includes Manager of Clinical Services at the Geneva Centre for Children with Autism and School Psychologist with the Peel District School Board. A past board member of the Ontario Psychological Association (OPA), she is currently a member of OPA and of the Executive committee of the Section on Psychology in Education of OPA ; member of CPA; President of the Association of Chief Psychologists with Ontario School Boards; chair of the Liaison Committee between the Ministry of Education, Special Education Branch, and OPA ; and, co-chair of the Cross-Sectoral group in Ontario concerning assessment and diagnosis of students with Learning Disabilities (that resulted in the OPA Guidelines for Assessment and Diagnosis . Special interests include learning disabilities, dyslexia and the reading process, autism and resilience.
Dr. Judy Wiener is Professor Emerita of School and Clinical Child Psychology in the Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development at OISE/University of Toronto. She worked as a school psychologist in Quebec and Ontario for six years, has consulted in children's mental health centers, supervised assessments in the OISE Psychology Clinic, and had a small private practice. Her primary clinical expertise is assessment and psychosocial interventions with children and adolescents with learning disabilities and ADHD, and immigrants and refugees. Dr. Wiener was previously President of the International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities and Chair of the Educational and School Psychology Section of the Canadian Psychological Association. She recently was an active member of the Cross-Sectoral Committee that developed the Ontario Psychological Association Guidelines for Diagnosis and Assessment of Children, Adolescents and Adults with Learning Disabilities. Dr. Wiener is on the editorial board of several journals. Her research is on self-perceptions, family and peer relationships of children and adolescents with ADHD and learning disabilities and the efficacy of school-based and mindfulness interventions. She has published over 100 book chapters and articles in peer-reviewed journals and co-authored a book published by Springer entitled Psychological Assessment of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Children and Adolescents: A Practitioner’s Guide.
This webinar is intended to support educators in decision-making positions in schools, districts, and Ministries of Education.
Click here to watch the recorded webinar.
Click here to download the presentation. Please visit https://www.nancyyoung.ca/ for a larger copy of her Ladder of Reading & Primer.
Educators in positions of leadership understand the importance of learning to read. Yet, despite the best efforts of students and teachers, countless students across all grades continue to struggle. Why?
Nancy will summarize:
- The Ladder of Reading (N Young): Reading is not something humans are born to do and the ease of learning to decipher the written code ranges, irrespective of IQ.
- Behaviour, attentional, and emotional challenges may be rooted in difficulty learning to read.
- Provincial/territorial curriculums which are not aligned with reading science have led to a lack of teacher training in effective reading and assessment methods.
- Certain screening procedures and instructional essentials are urgently needed at the foundational stages.
Key takeaways for attendees:
- The current system is needlessly failing too many students and teachers.
- Explicit and systematic instruction grounded in the reading science is crucial for many (especially children with dyslexia) and can advantage all students.
- Strong and informed leadership can empower and drive change.
Presenter: Nancy Young B.A., M.Ed. (Special Education) is a consultant working with educators and families across Canada and globally, building awareness of the need for, and supporting implementation of, evidence-based reading instruction in schools. Nancy is a certified Structured Literacy Teacher (Center for Effective Reading Instruction) and is a member of the International Dyslexia Association and the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading. Nancy’s areas of specialty include dyslexia, ADHD, giftedness, and ELL. She is the author of Secret Code Actions™(Teacher Edition and Parent Edition). Her website is www.nancyyoung.ca.
Click here to see the recorded webinar.
Click here to download the presentation (zip file).
The presenter will outline the definition of dyslexia and dispel common myths. Information and resources to help families and schools to support students with dyslexia will also be provided. She will also share success stories about educators in Manitoba public schools who are using dyslexia-specific, structured literacy instruction training to help all learners in the classroom setting.
Presenter: Valdine Bjornson has earned an M.Ed., Special Education Certificate as well as C-TESL and a Graduate Certificate in International Education. Valdine is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Education focusing upon dyslexia. She is working on becoming an OG trainer (Fellow) with the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators and is certified by the International Dyslexia Association as a Tier 3 Dyslexia Specialist. She has worked in several Manitoba school divisions in both rural and urban settings. She has served as a Reading Clinician-Specialist at university, in public schools, and private practice. Valdine provides workshops, training, and professional development, and she has founded the Reading and Learning Clinic of Manitoba, to provide effective and evidence-based teacher development opportunities in Manitoba.
Click here to see the recorded webinar.
Click here to download the presentation and reading materials.
Instruction based on an understanding of modern cognitive, linguistic, and neurological science can make a tremendous difference to students with reading difficulties, including dyslexia. We will review what is meant by "Structured Literacy" and how to teach it. The importance of teaching language skills in an explicit, systematic manner will be emphasized.
Presenter: Louisa Moats, Ed.D., has been a teacher, psychologist, researcher, graduate school faculty member, and author of many influential scientific journal articles, books, and policy papers on the topics of reading, spelling, language, and teacher preparation. She was Co-Principal Investigator of an NICHD Early Interventions Project in Washington, D.C., public schools and Principal Investigator on two small business innovation research (SBIR) grants from the National Institutes of Health. In addition, she led the committee that developed the International Dyslexia Association’s Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading. Dr. Moats developed her current approach to teacher training, called LETRS, from her experiences as an instructor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, St. Michael’s College in Vermont, the Dartmouth Medical School Department of Psychiatry, and the University of Texas, Houston. Dr. Moats’ awards include the prestigious Samuel T. and June L. Orton award from the International Dyslexia Association for outstanding contributions to the field; the Eminent Researcher Award from Learning Disabilities Australia; and the Benita Blachman award from the Reading League.
Click here to see the recorded webinar.
Click here for a copy of the presentation and handouts.
This is a follow-up to the Helping Your Struggling Reader Part 1 webinar of Thursday, May 31, 2018. Part 1 contains essential background information you will need for the Part 2 webinar (see links below for the recorded video & handouts).
This webinar will teach the more complex elements of English phonics in a systematic way. This is crucial knowledge that empowers you and your child to see that while English phonics are complex, English is not "crazy" and most words do indeed follow rules. Participants are encouraged to bring yellow index cards, scissors, and a black marker to the session. These will be used to create a teaching resource that can be used with your child/student.
Presenter: Jan MacLean B.Sc.(O.T.), M.Sc. is the founder of The Reading Clinic in Kingston, Ontario. Since 2001, the Centre’s YES! Reading, YES! Writing and YES! Math programs have helped hundreds of students achieve success. Jan is a Certified Orton-Gillingham Educator and Practitioner, and an IDA Dyslexia Therapist.
Click here to see the recorded webinar.
Click here for a copy of the presentation and handouts. **NEW Printable cards now available.
This webinar is for parents of young children and teachers of struggling readers. It addresses why some children struggle to learn to read and early warning signs of reading difficulties. Participants are guided through one of the first steps in how to teach a child to read. Participants are encouraged to bring white and yellow index cards, scissors, and a black marker to the session. These will be used to create a teaching resource that can be used with your child/student.
Presenter: Jan MacLean B.Sc.(O.T.), M.Sc. is the founder of The Reading Clinic in Kingston, Ontario. Since 2001, the Centre’s YES! Reading, YES! Writing and YES! Math programs have helped hundreds of students achieve success. Jan is a Certified Orton-Gillingham Educator and Practitioner, and a IDA Dyslexia Therapist.
Click here to see the recorded webinar about CELA services, and how to download and listen to audiobooks from CELA and Bookshare.
CELA (Centre for Equitable Library Access) offers access to 500,000+ accessible books and more for people who have difficulty reading print due to dyslexia, vision loss, or a physical disability. CELA’s collection includes books for kids and teens, with a focus on best sellers, award winners, and Canadian books that are hard to find in accessible formats. Books can be downloaded and read with a variety of accessible reading apps or software. CELA membership is free through any Ontario public library, thanks to funding from the Government of Ontario. Once signed up, you can also receive a free Bookshare membership, and get access to the world’s largest accessible online library. For more information email: members@celalibrary.ca