PACKAGE: Reading (20 Hours)

“These courses gave me the tools that I was looking for to help my students who needed me most. Very informative and useful lessons – best ever!”

Reading is an essential component of learning and a crucial educational skill. Often, when students struggle within a specific subject matter, it is because of inadequate reading instruction and underdeveloped reading skills. In this online Reading Package, research-based, classroom proven reading instruction techniques are taught that can be used across all content areas and grade levels, to improve student achievement. Keeping in mind the shift of focus that takes place around 4th grade, where literacy instruction changes from “learning to read” to “reading to learn”, teachers are presented with strategies to give students in grades 4-12 the tools to “tackle tough text” and become successful readers. In today’s classroom, students use and access information from a variety of sources, beyond books, making the skills of evaluating content, collaboration and peer-review an even bigger part of reading. This online professional development course package also introduces teachers to creative strategies, recent advances in technology and techniques which can be used to enhance reading in the classroom.

The Professional Learning Board presents the Reading Package which includes THREE self-study courses adding up to 20 hours of professional development. Scroll down to see more information on the courses in this package.

Reading Across the Curriculum

Reading should be a meaningful activity that is focused on comprehension and that results in understanding. When students struggle with a specific subject matter the underlying reason is nearly also identified as under developed reading skills. The strategies in this course are imperative for all educators to help their students become proficient readers.The Reading Across the Curriculum lesson helps teachers understand how to assess reading skills in the classroom and plan instruction accordingly. When every day teaching is carefully designed around this type of data it means that all students can learn and grow.

Tackling Tough Text

Reading and comprehension are essential skills required for academic growth and professional excellence in all fields. These skills are also vital for smooth functioning in daily life. Developing one’s students to be successful readers is an important goal for an educator. Sometimes, students may find certain text tough to read and comprehend. This is true especially for nonfiction texts.
Students may come across vocabulary, phrases and writing styles that they find difficult to read. As students progress to higher grades, they are exposed to reading material that is of a higher level of difficulty across all subjects.
How can you help your students read and comprehend tough text, developing them into strong readers? This course deals with practical strategies on tackling tough text, with a focus on the Reading Comprehension Checklist. This checklist, to be used with nonfiction texts, integrates research-based reading strategies and is found to be successful across all subject areas.

Reading with Technology in the Classroom

Reading is an essential skill that is central to education. In today’s classroom, students use and access information from a variety of sources, not just books. The skills of evaluating content, collaboration and peer-review become an important part of reading.
This course introduces creative strategies for reading instruction that incorporate technology. It introduces teachers to recent advances in technology and to devices and techniques which can be used to enhance reading in the classroom. The course incorporates activities, strategies, and templates teachers can use in order to enhance students’ reading skills using technology.