First Day to Test Day: A Road Map for ELA Success

Presented by Kristina Smekens, President and Lead Consultant, Smekens Education

Sponsored by Smekens Education

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If students are going to succeed on test day, preparation needs to begin on day one. By following a road map of instruction rooted in explicit teaching of priority reading and writing standards, educators can accelerate learning and move students toward test success.

During this practical and engaging edWebinar, educators in grades 3-12 learn to apply a yearlong scaffold of write-about-reading skills to help students be test-day ready. Viewers:

• Dissect the expectations of the multi-text performance task typically administered as part of ELA state tests
• Receive a comprehensive list of the essential reading comprehension skills and genre-specific writing skills to target across the year
• Learn how to marry reading and writing instruction to advance students from writing brief, constructed responses to long, extended responses

This recorded edWebinar is of interest to teachers and school and district leaders of grades 3-12.

About the Presenter

Kristina Smekens has built a reputation for using enthusiasm, humor, and common sense to equip K-12 educators with practical, demystifying strategies for teaching reading and writing. As President and Lead Consultant for Smekens Education, she is a leader in developing new strategies to help teachers meet the demands of today’s College- and Career-Ready Standards. She and her associates share those strategies with teachers across the United States and beyond through on-site professional development, virtual and in-person seminars, and an always-growing pool of print, digital, and video resources. Kristina has authored more than 50 books, guides, and classroom tools designed to help teachers implement best-practice literacy strategies. The Comprehension Playbook; Launching the Writer’s Workshop: Grades K-2; and Launching the Writer’s Workshop: Grades 3-12 are among the most popular titles.

Learn more about viewing the live presentation and the recording, earning your CE certificate, and using our new accessibility features.

Join the ELA Today community to network with educators, participate in online discussions, receive invitations to upcoming edWebinars, and view recordings of previous programs to earn CE certificates.

Smekens Education helps K-12 schools improve achievement in reading and writing by providing educators with practical and engaging professional learning. The team at Smekens specializes in inspiring teachers with simple, best-practice literacy strategies that can be implemented right away. Schools around the globe rely on Smekens to provide powerful PD, whether it occurs in-person, virtually, or on-demand.