Learn and Grow with EP

Extending the independent reader: Literature Circles and Reciprocal Reading - Kate Birch

$52 - delivered online (via Zoom)

About the workshop:

Every day, teachers take small groups of students for an instructional reading lesson, while the rest of the class work independently. The most common approach used is the guided reading approach, which is the bread and butter of an effective instructional reading lesson. But not every lesson has to use this approach: highly effective teachers will change and adapt approaches to motivate and sustain their students’ enjoyment of learning to read. Join our workshops to learn more about approaches and strategies that you can use to rev up your reading programmes.

In each of these workshops, we will explore what this approach is about and make sure we understand when and why we use it. Then we will see what it looks like in practice, having a go with some texts and teacher prompts and tips, so that you are ready to give them a try back in your classroom.

About our facilitator – Kate Birch

Kate is a highly skilled and experienced educator with extensive experience in literacy, assessment and professional development programmes for teachers and leaders. She has extensive classroom experience in both the primary and secondary sectors.

On completion of her Master’s degree in 2001 she lectured for Massey University in the Teaching of Reading, and has been a literacy consultant since 2004.  She is also well known throughout NZ schools for her ‘Chunk, Check, Cheer’ strategy and approach to reading and spelling.

She was a facilitator in the New Zealand Literacy Professional Development Project (LPDP) working in schools across Auckland. She was the moderator for Literacy Online tki in 2012-13 and has facilitated e-asTTle workshops around NZ supporting teachers to use e-asTTle as a formative assessment tool for reading and writing.

Kate is also a Visible Learning Plus consultant, both in New Zealand and internationally, and has been part of the programme development team which has supported schools to embed the principles of the Visible Learning research. Her book, Evidence into Action, co-written with John Hattie, showcases 15 schools around the world who have implemented the VL programmes.  Kate has relocated to the South Island and is an independent contractor to schools throughout New Zealand to support and promote improved literacy for learning.