Workshops

Workshops

(click on the titles below for workshop descriptions)

Reciprocal Teaching at Work Strategies for Dramatically Improving Reading Comprehension
Many students decode and yet don't comprehend what they read. How can we improve the comprehension of all students, especially our struggling readers? The Fabulous Four, or reciprocal teaching strategies (Palincscar and Brown), predict, question, clarify, summarize, work as a powerful package to begin to yield dramatic results in reading comprehension in as little as 15 days! Lori Oczkus will share her very best lessons for using reciprocal teaching strategies with the whole class during shared reading, in guided reading with small groups, and in literature circles. Creative ways to incorporate and improve comprehension while differentiating instruction for a wide range of learners will be presented. Lori will share new and motivating lessons from her continual classroom work and award winning video.

Teaching Kids to Comprehend Nonfiction Text: Strategies for Success.
How can we boost comprehension scores and meet standards? How can we encourage students to read and better understand nonfiction texts? Come and learn new and exciting ways to develop a classroom environment where students love to read and study nonfiction. Dozens of innovative yet practical strategies for teaching students to comprehend nonfiction texts will be included.. Lori will share dozens of motivating and engaging whole class lessons as well as guided reading ideas especially for nonfiction. Her unique spin on reciprocal teaching makes nonfiction literature circles a natural. Lori's presentation will feature hands on activities to use tomorrow and dozens of practical lessons.

Guided Writing Practical Lessons, Powerful Results
Come learn the powerful effect scaffolded writing instruction can have on your students. Guided writing is the "missing middle piece" that supports students during that fledgling phase between modeled/shared writing and their solo pieces. Lori's practical lessons show you how to easily transform dull, lifeless writing into colorful organized pieces full of voice. You'll walk away with the steps and "cool tools" to guide students as they write everything from personal narratives to poetry and reports. The presentation is based on Lori's popular Heinemann book, Guided Writing: Practical Lessons, Powerful Results.

Teaching the Hard Parts to Comprehension: Infer, Synthesis, and Evaluation
Good readers go deeper into text s to infer, make connections, develop opinions, and evaluate the author's craft and character's actions. In this hands on workshop we explore many interactive lessons that help students develop critical reading and thinking strategies. Come and learn sure- fire ways to at last make inferring understandable, as students synthesize into deeper meanings while judging the author's craft and other literary elements. .Walk away with dozens of hands on ideas that really work! Make the "hard parts" fun!

Interactive Think Aloud Lessons: 25 Surefire Ways to Engage Students and Improve Comprehension
Are you looking for ways to actively engage learners while dramatically improving the comprehension of ALL of your students? Then come and learn exciting and practical lessons from Lori's exciting NEW book and DVD published by Scholastic "Interactive Think Alouds: 25 Sure-Fire Ways to Engage Students and Improve Comprehension."

We will focus on powerful ideas for differentiating instruction in whole class and small group lessons using fiction or nonfiction. Lori will share first hand "sure fire" lessons for effectively teaching the most challenging strategies such as clarifying, inferring, and synthesizing in hands on activities, DVD clips, and a handout. You'll walk away with dozens of refreshing lessons that really work!

Help Your Child Succeed in Reading: Practical Ideas Workshop
Whether your child loves to read or is a reluctant, or struggling reader this workshop is for you! Come and learn practical ideas that busy parents like you can use to help strengthen your child's success in reading in grades K-6. Lori Oczkus, nationally recognized author, speaker, and teacher trainer, and most importantly, parent, works with thousands of teachers every year across the US and Canada. Lori puts these ideas to work with her own three children and knows the challenges of busy parents.

In this popular hands-on workshop, Lori will demonstrate dozens of easy to use at home "teacher tips" that promote success for all children and in just minutes per day!

Practical ideas include:

• new, innovative ways to read aloud while building comprehension skills
• exciting titles to share with each age child
• practical techniques to assist your child when he/she reads aloud to you
• a powerful, research-based 5 minute per day idea for increasing reading level and fluency, in just 12 weeks
• easy tricks for motivating your child to choose to read on his or her own!
• as a bonus Lori will share a powerful technique for helping improve your child's spelling scores on tests and in writing assignments.

Help Your Child Succeed in Writing: Practical Ideas Workshop
Come and learn practical ideas for helping your child with writing and spelling at home. Parents and children often become frustrated when it comes time to work on school writing assignments at home. In this hands on workshop Lori will demonstrate how to best support you child while he/she is writing stories, poetry, reports, and other assignments. Practical techniques for helping your child to generate ideas, add details, and stay on topic will be shared. Great strategies and games for studying for spelling tests throughout the week will also be demonstrated. Writing doesn't have to be frustrating. Learn to help your child feel comfortable writing.

Come and learn how to help your child:

• improve his/her spelling
• write better and more detailed stories
• research and write reports
• use the writing process schools use which includes prewriting or generating ideas, writing, revising for content, and editing spelling/grammar and publishing and polishing
• what to do when your child is "stuck" and can't think of what to write