Workshops

Did you see us at these recent conference presentations and workshops?

• Math Buddies: Effective Peer Tutoring, August 4, 2020, Build Math Minds Virtual Summit: https://mathematicallyminded.lpages.co/2020-vms-speaker-kateri-thunder/ 
• 2020 Math+Literacy Summer Series Institute, July 7, 14, 21, 28, 2020:
• • Workshop Models for Math & Literacy, K-5
  • Differentiated Math & Literacy Instruction, K-5
  • Academic Discourse in the Math & Literacy Classrooms, K-5
  • Writing in Math & Literacy: Journaling & Effective Interactive Notebooks, K-5
• Motivation in Mathematics: Using Student-Centered Learning for Math Achievement, May 7, 2020, Learning & the Brain Virtual Workshop.
• Student-Centered Assessment: Goal Setting in Math, December 5, 2019, Learning & the Brain Workshop in White Plains, NY.

The following are descriptions of workshops we’ve offered for schools, school divisions, and conferences across the nation. We can make each workshop focused on any grade band PreK-12 and on just math or just literacy or both:

Using Literacy Strategies to Gain Deep Mathematical Understanding

In both literacy and mathematics, students need to make inferences, synthesize, and reflect on their thinking in order to build conceptual and procedural knowledge. In this workshop, participants will examine strategies for developing conceptual understanding and procedural knowledge in mathematics: comprehension strategies, vocabulary instruction, and self-monitoring strategies. A particular focus will be on how mathematical and literacy processes for problem-solving and metacognitive reflection support each other.  Workshop participants will actively engage in and reflect on rich mathematics activities that can be used with students. Through problem-solving with manipulatives, games, and truly problematic contexts, participants will analyze the mathematical and literacy processes they used as well as the mathematical concepts and procedures they learned.

Workshop Models for Mathematics & Literacy

How can we find enough time to do it all? In a workshop model of instruction, there are three typical components: First, the teacher leads a mini lesson. Then students work independently, with partners, or in small groups while the teacher confers with students and meets with needs-based strategy groups. Finally, the teacher selects students to share and bring closure to the lesson. We will explore these components of workshop models for math and literacy as well as variations of these components. We will share and analyze examples of teachers breaking free from rotations and lectures and implementing strategies for maximizing students’ instructional time, especially independent work time. Participants will leave with plans for workshop structures and routines that will enable students to grow as readers, writers, and mathematicians.

Student-Centered Assessment: Goal Setting in Math & Literacy

Learners are more engaged and make more academic growth when they get to set their own learning goals and evaluate their growth. Come explore how to facilitate students’ goal setting, choice of learning tasks, and self-monitoring. See students purposefully practice executive functioning and metacognition skills while engaging in developmentally appropriate and rigorous learning tasks in math and literacy. Participants will explore the process of engaging students in setting their own goals for learning and monitoring their progress towards meeting these goals. Participants will leave with a wealth of instructional strategies they can implement in their own classrooms or use when coaching teachers.

Differentiated Math & Literacy Instruction

How do we select the right task at the right moment to meet a specific student’s needs? As teachers, we are constantly making decisions as we select math problems, books, mentor texts, and other tasks to use in our instruction. Math and literacy can be differentiated based on readiness or interest. There are three parts of a lesson that could be differentiated: content, process, and product. In this workshop, participants will unpack the foundational ideas for differentiation and then examine strategies for differentiating the three parts of lessons based on readiness and interest. Applying relevant learning trajectories, participants will analyze instructional strategies for differentiation such as menus, centers, choice boards, tiered problems, parallel tasks, open questions, and anchor problems.

Academic Discourse in the Math & Literacy Classroom

Classroom discussion has an effect size of 0.82. But how do we engage students in meaningful classroom discussion in math and literacy? In this workshop, we will examine five academic discussion skills, why they are important, and the instructional strategies to explicitly teach these. We will experience strategies for engaging students in accountable talk, including self-talk, partner, small group, and whole group discussions.

The CRA Model: Building Fluency from Conceptual Understanding

Research across grade levels and with all populations of students (including students with special needs and English Language Learners) has demonstrated that CRA is an effective teaching strategy for developing procedural fluency built on conceptual understanding in math. CRA is a three-phase instructional approach moving from use of manipulatives to visual representations to symbols. In this workshop, we will examine each phase across math content strands and parallel ways to use CRA in literacy. We will unpack strategies for engaging students in the CRA model to explain concepts, to fluently apply strategies, to comprehend story structures, text features and new vocabulary, and to develop language and craft elements for writing. 

Writing in Literacy & Math: Journals and Effective Interactive Notebooks

Effective journals engage learners in the authentic work of readers, writers and mathematicians, develop metacognition, make meaning about the content, and serve as assessments for, as, and of learning. Participants will experience and explore multiple formats and purposes for journals as well as the teacher-made and student-made materials that make writing in literacy and math effective for increasing student achievement. Participants will also try a variety of types of journaling while engaging in authentic and rigorous math and literacy tasks. 

The following is a list of professional development workshops we have designed and implemented for school divisions and schools based on their specific areas of need:

The Math Diet

2017 Math+Literacy Summer Institute. July 26 & 27, 9am-3pm.  CitySpace, Charlottesville, VA.

The Math Diet: An Instructional Framework for Effective Mathematics Instruction (Grades PreK-5). (November 2014; November 2015). Virginia School/University Partnership. Charlottesville, VA.

The Math Diet for Grades 3 & 4, Part 2: Conceptual Understanding and Strategic Competence. (November 2015). Charlottesville City Public Schools. Charlottesville, VA.

The Math Diet for Grades PreK & K, Part 2: Conceptual Understanding and Strategic Competence. (November 2015). Charlottesville City Public Schools. Charlottesville, VA.

The Math Diet for Grades 1 & 2, Part 2: Conceptual Understanding and Strategic Competence. (September 2015). Charlottesville City Public Schools. Charlottesville, VA.

Implementing the Math Diet (Grades PreK-5). (Ongoing professional development throughout 2015-2016). Tye River Elementary School, Nelson County Public Schools, Lovingston, VA.

The Math Diet for Grade 4, Part 1: Counting, Subitizing, and Procedural Fluency. (August 2015). Charlottesville City Public Schools. Charlottesville, VA.

The Math Diet for Grades 2 & 3, Part 1: Counting, Subitizing, and Procedural Fluency. (August 2015). Charlottesville City Public Schools. Charlottesville, VA.

The Math Diet for Grades PreK through 1, Part 1: Counting, Subitizing, and Procedural Fluency. (August 2015). Charlottesville City Public Schools. Charlottesville, VA.

The Math Diet: An Instructional Framework for Effective Mathematics Instruction (Grades PreK-5). (August 2015). Nelson County Public Schools. Lovingston, VA.

A Kindergarten Math Diet. (January 2013). Greer Elementary School. Charlottesville, VA.

Effective Assessment in Math and Literacy

Data-Driven Mathematics Instruction. (February 2017). Charlottesville City Schools. Charlottesville, VA.

Assessment As, For, and Of Learning. (November 2015). Tye River Elementary School, Nelson County Public Schools, Lovingston, VA.

Aligning District Assessments with Number Sense Standards. (April 2013). Greer Elementary School. Charlottesville, VA.

Effective Intervention in Math and Literacy

Effective Tier 2 and Tier 3 Mathematics Intervention. (November 2016). Charlottesville City Schools. Charlottesville, VA.

Effective Tier 2 and Tier 3 Mathematics Intervention. (January 2016). Tye River Elementary School, Nelson County Public Schools, Lovingston, VA.

Differentiation in Math and Literacy

Differentiation in Literacy and Math, Grades PreK-2. (November 2016). Virginia School/University Partnership. Charlottesville, VA.

Differentiated Instruction: Differentiation in Math and Across the Curriculum. (December 2015). Tye River Elementary School, Nelson County Public Schools, Lovingston, VA.

Integrating Math and Literacy

Using Literacy Strategies to Gain Deep Mathematical Understanding in Grades 2-5. (October 2016). Virginia School/University Partnership. Charlottesville, VA.

Integrating Literacy and Math in Early Childhood Classrooms (PreSchool-K). (March 2016). Virginia School/University Partnership. Charlottesville, VA.

Integrating Math and Literacy in the PreK Classroom. (February 2015). Training Event for Region 5 T/TAC, Waynesboro, VA.

Eliciting Conceptual Understanding and Responses Across the Curriculum. (November 2014). Ruckersville Elementary School, Greene County Public Schools, Ruckersville, VA.

Using Literacy Strategies to Gain Deep Mathematical Understanding in Grades PreK-5. (October 2014; October 2013; November 2012). Virginia School/University Partnership. Charlottesville, VA & Roanoke, VA.

Using Literacy Practices to Inform Mathematics Instructional Decisions. (July 2012). Greer Elementary School. Charlottesville, VA.

Writing Across the Curriculum In PreK-2nd Grade. (March 2011). Virginia School University Partnership, Charlottesville, VA.

Early Childhood Math and Literacy

Integrating Literacy and Mathematics, Birth to PreK. (January 2017). Orange County Public Schools. Orange, VA.

Integrating Literacy and Math in Early Childhood Classrooms (PreSchool-K). (March 2016). Virginia School/University Partnership. Charlottesville, VA.

Inclusive Early Childhood Mathematics. (Ongoing professional development throughout 2015-2016). Louisa County Public Schools. Louisa, VA.

Algebraic Thinking in Early Childhood Mathematics. (October 2012). Virginia School/University Partnership.

Writing Across the Curriculum In PreK-2nd Grade. (March 2011). Virginia School University Partnership, Charlottesville, VA.

The Workshop Model

Workshop Models for Literacy and Math, Grades 1-4. (December 2017). Virginia School/University Partnership, Charlottesville, VA.

The Workshop Model Across the Curriculum. (Ongoing professional development throughout 2013-2015). Ruckersville Elementary School, Greene County Public Schools, Ruckersville, VA.

Eliciting Conceptual Understanding and Responses Across the Curriculum. (November 2014). Ruckersville Elementary School, Greene County Public Schools, Ruckersville, VA.

Implementing a Mathematics Workshop. (August 2009). Mary Walter Elementary School, Fauquier County Public Schools. Bealeton, VA.

What Is Student-Centered Mathematics? Bridging Middle School and Beyond. (February 2012). Staunton City Schools. Staunton, VA.

High-Leverage Math Content

Number Talks. (Ongoing professional development throughout 2016-2017). Charlottesville City Public Schools. Charlottesville, VA.

Developmentally Appropriate Math Instruction in PreK and Kindergarten. (October 2016). Orange County Public Schools. Orange, VA.

Vertically Significant Mathematical Concepts and Skills. (Ongoing professional development throughout 2015-2016). Burnley-Moran Elementary School, Charlottesville City Public Schools. Charlottesville, VA.

High Cognitive Demand Mathematics Tasks. (October 2015). Peabody School: An independent school for academically-advanced children. Charlottesville, VA.

Applying the NCTM Process Standards: Increasing the Level of Cognitive Demand. (February 2012). Staunton City Schools. Staunton, VA.

Student-Centered Mathematics: Number Strings. (October 2011). Staunton City Schools. Staunton, VA.

Student-Centered Mathematics: Gallery Walks. (September 2011). Staunton City Schools. Staunton, VA.

High-Leverage Literacy Content

Effective Read Alouds. (February 2012). Charlottesville City Schools. Charlottesville, VA

Word Study 101 for Instructional Assistants. (August 2011). Charlottesville City Schools. Charlottesville, VA.

Coach the Coach and the Instructional Assistant

Supporting Developmentally Appropriate Math Instruction in PreK and Kindergarten: For Coaches, Mentors, and Administrators. (October 2016). Orange County Public Schools. Orange, VA.

From Reading to Math: Reading and Mathematics Specialists Collaborating to Coach. (October 2011). Charlottesville City Schools, Charlottesville, VA.

Enhancing Instruction in the Primary Classroom: Professional Development for Instructional Assistants. (August 2015). Charlottesville City Public Schools. Charlottesville, VA.

Word Study 101 for Instructional Assistants. (August 2011). Charlottesville City Schools. Charlottesville, VA.

Effective Bilingual Instructional Practices

Bilingual Mathematics Instruction: Teaching Elementary Math in Spanish. (May 2016). Charlottesville City Schools. Charlottesville, VA.