Professional Development

Shifting from Word Walls to Sound Walls 

Are you hearing more about sound walls and ready to make the transition in your own classroom? Do you know the differences between sound walls and word walls? Come to this session to learn more about the research behind sound walls and how to make a shift from using traditional word walls.

Shifting from Sight Words to Heart Words

What is the difference between sight words and heart words? This session will do away with rote memorization and move toward orthographic mapping. Attendees will use a scope and sequence to identify the difference between temporary and permanent irregular words.

How to Move From a Read-Aloud to

Implementing Multimodal Instruction

How can a read aloud lead to multimodal instruction? In this session, we will read sections of a children’s fiction book and incorporate multimodal instruction. Attendees will be provided with a visual, concrete way to “build” each piece of the text as they comprehend and explain it, build words, and explore phonetic patterns. They will have graphic organizers for each skill and be able to demonstrate their understanding by writing or drawing their responses. We will also discuss all four of the modalities and strategies to address those in your daily instruction in all content areas.

Beyond the Wall

Have you implemented a sound wall and now wonder how to extend the lesson beyond the wall? In this session we will begin with constructing a sound on the sound wall and move to instruction involving a center approach with several other sound wall resources and toolkits.

What is All the Schwa About?

What is the schwa sound? How do you teach schwa? Are these questions that you would like to have answered? Attend this exciting session to learn more about the schwa sound and a fun way to teach it to your students. In this session we will walk through an introductory schwa lesson, learn how to introduce schwa on a sound wall, and listen to a fun read aloud all about The Not-So-Lazy Schwa.

How to Build a Sound Wall Using a Scope and Sequence or Informal Assessments

Are you wanting to implement a sound wall but you are unsure where to start? In this session, we will use a scope and sequence to build a sound wall. The scope and sequence will cover K-2 and we will identify the sounds addressed at each grade level. We will also look at informal assessments and how those can be used in upper elementary to middle school to identify sounds that aren’t yet mastered. We will use the assessments to identify sounds that need to be explicitly taught and added to the sound wall.