A Hands-on Approach for Struggling Readers

Today I presented at the Council for Exceptional Children conference in National Harbor, Maryland (right outside of Washington, D.C.). The presentation went well, even though it was the last presentation of the day.  In fact, it was so well-attended that I ran out of handouts!

Receiving the Practitioner Presentation Award at the Business Meeting

The presentation was entitled, "A Hands-on Approach for Struggling Readers." It won the Practitioner Presentation Award for the Division of Autism and Developmental Disabilities (DADD).

The objectives of the presentation were as follows:                    
--Establish rationale for using decoding and encoding strategies to improve literacy.
--Share a framework of specific decoding and encoding strategies for application.
--Present classroom activities that can be used to reinforce these learned strategies.
--Provide take-home application to be used in your classrooms.

Attendees demonstrating "Act a Word"

The presentation required audience participation. I was pleased by how willing and eager the attendees were to participate. They did great! :) 

After the presentation, I was pleased to have met a new colleague from Staff Development for Educators (SDE). Perhaps there will be opportunities to share this presentation, or similar ones, at professional development conferences in the future. Stay tuned!


The handout can be accessed here.