Literacy Instruction

Let’s Collaborate!

Together, we can tailor professional learning experiences to meet the goals and needs of the educators in your school or district. We can explore the instructional strategies on this page through any of the following learning contexts:

• Collaborative Planning and Co-Teaching

• Demonstration Lessons in Classrooms

• Full or Half-Day Workshops

• Virtual Visits

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Ramp Up Your Read Alouds:
Connect, Converse, and Extend

Audience: K-5

Join Maria as she shares the inner workings of an interactive read aloud. Discover a consistent read-aloud structure that will increase engagement, joy, and language comprehension. Learn tips for meaningful collaborative conversations that will spark high-level thinking and authentic writing experiences. Your library cart will be overflowing after this workshop!

Shake Up Shared Reading:
Texts, Tips, and Teaching Strategies

Audience: PK-3

Get ready to shake up your shared reading interactions. Discover sensible strategies to engage learners in short bursts of shared reading that are connected to and planned as a follow-up to a read-aloud experience. Learn how to find picture books that reflect your students’ lived experiences and build their reading power. Leave with a list of books and actionable ideas.

The Literacy Workshop:
An Innovative Approach to Integrated Reading and Writing Instruction

Audience: K-5

You’ve heard it said many times, reading and writing go hand-in-hand. It’s true, but how do you meaningfully connect the two in everyday classroom practice? In this idea-packed, forward-thinking workshop, Maria will help you save valuable classroom time while empowering students to uncover exciting connections in their learning—leading to stronger, more motivated readers and writers. Leave with a collection of literacy workshop mentor texts and demonstration lessons to try out in your classroom.

Nurturing a Joyful Classroom Community:
Strengthening Students’ Social and Emotional Awareness

Audience: K-2

Learn sensible strategies for nurturing an intellectually and emotionally healthy classroom culture. By creating an environment where young children take risks, think flexibly, ponder, and power through challenges you can nudge ALL students toward becoming self-directed, independent literacy learners. In this session, Maria will share classroom structures, learning experiences, picture book titles, and much more!

Explore the W.O.R.L.D. and S.T.E.A.M. Time:
What the Other Kids Are Doing While You’re Teaching Small Groups

Audience: K-2

Learn two easy-to-implement structures for supporting young children as they independently apply their literacy and math-related learning. Maria will share her classroom-tested center ideas, management tips, and much more!