Language & Literacy

News & Events

Lectures/Discussions

Language Enrichment & Comprehension through use of Read Alouds (LECTURA) in Spanish and English: Kindergarten evaluation results and 1st grade follow-up.

Speaker: Maria Carlo, Assistant Professor, University of Miami
March 14, 1-2pm
Jeanne Chall Reading Lab (Larsen Basement-level)

From Research to the Classroom: A Publisher's Perspective
Monday, March 6
Speaker: Margery Mayer, President, Scholastic Education

Seminar 3 - 5 pm and reception 5 - 6:30 pm in Eliot Lyman Room, Longfellow Hall

Scholastic, the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books, has created some of the most successful and well-researched learning programs now in use in schools. Margery Mayer, the President of Scholastic Education, oversees all of Scholastic's classroom-oriented products, including curriculum materials for students, teacher materials, and teacher professional development. Mayer will describe how she works with leading academic figures to translate literacy research into commercial print and media products. She promises a revealing glimpse into the educational publishing industry.
Technology, Innovation and Education seminar, co-sponsored with the Language and Literacy program. Read about it.

Knowledge to Support the Teaching of Reading
March 1, 1-2pm, Eliot Lyman (Longfellow)
Speaker: Catherine Snow
ABSTRACT: Improving reading outcomes will require BOTH teachers with more and better information about literacy development AND better organizational structures for teachers to work in. I will present conclusions from the book Knowledge to Support the Teaching of Reading, produced by a National Academy of Education Committee, that address the literacy knowledge base teachers need, possible ways of staging access to that knowledge, and alternative ways of thinking about teacher careers so that knowledge they have is most helpful to students.

It was a packed house on November 1st for the first REAL (Reading, Education, and Language) Research "Language Lunch", featuring Professor Nonie Lesaux and her research "Making it Make Sense: Investigating the Reading Development of English Language Learners."

ABSTRACT:
Educators and researchers alike pose multiple questions about effective literacy instruction for ELLs. By and large, many of the questions about this growing population remain unanswered by empirical research. For many districts across the nation, attention to the development of effective instructional practices is a priority given that a significant proportion of this population is characterized by low academic achievement, high rates of grade retention, and school dropout. At the root of these problems are the literacy attainment levels that are well below those of monolingual English speakers.

This session addressed - via research findings - issues and questions related to the development of reading for English Language Learners, the extent and conditions in which bilingualism may be considered an asset as opposed to a risk factor in relation to reading development, the sources of reading difficulties for these learners, and the impact of characteristics such as program type and instructional methods on reading ability.

View Orientation Week 2005 photo gallery