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Thursday, February 6, 2025 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm EST
Presented by Dr. Michael Hebert, Professor and Associate Dean of Teacher Education in the School of Education, University of California, Irvine, and Director of the UCI Writing Project
Moderated by Pam Austin, Director of Instructional Technology, Voyager Sopris Learning
Sponsored by Voyager Sopris Learning
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Join us for the third edWebinar in The Science of Writing Lunch and Learn Week and learn the strategies for writing instruction that will help teachers understand how writing can be used to support reading and learning. Dr. Michael Hebert will incorporate hands-on activities that help attendees understand how and why writing supports reading and learning. Principles and strategies will be centered around three recommendations grounded in research:
- Have students write about text to improve reading comprehension
- Teach writing skills to improve reading skills
- Have students write more (and more often)
As a former teacher and reading specialist, Dr. Hebert will provide practical strategies that teachers can use immediately, and across different levels of schooling (i.e., elementary, middle, and high school). He will also share strategies for using writing as a learning tool for both narrative and informational text (including support for learning in science, mathematics, and social studies). The presentation will also include considerations for supporting students with or at risk for disabilities in the use of writing-to-read and writing-to-learn strategies within a Multi-Tiered Systems of Support framework. Attendees will learn:
- Theoretical and practical reasons for how and why writing supports reading and learning (with practical examples)
- Specific writing activities and instructional approaches for writing that can be used to facilitate reading and learning
- How to flexibly use these writing activities to support learners with different needs and abilities, including students with and at risk for disabilities
- How these approaches fit with content from the prior two edWebinars in this series
This edWebinar will be of interest to elementary through high school teachers, school leaders, and district leaders. There will be time for questions at the end of the presentation.
This edWebinar is part of Voyager Sopris Learning’s Science of Writing Week.
About the Presenter
Dr. Michael Hebert is a Professor and Associate Dean of Teacher Education in the School of Education at the University of California, Irvine and the Director of the UCI Writing Project. His primary research interests include writing instruction, writing assessment, the development of writing interventions, the impacts of writing on reading, reading, special education, and teacher professional development. He is particularly interested in research on reading and writing for students, especially those with and at risk for disabilities. He is the co-author of two influential Carnegie Corporation reports, Writing to Read and Informing Writing. He is also the co-editor of the third edition of Best Practices in Writing Instruction.
Dr. Hebert has received more than $13 million in grant funding, including a 2022 Pandemic Recovery grant from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) to test the effectiveness of the Workshops on Reading Development (WORDS) project, a professional development intervention to enhance reading achievement for students in grades K-3. He is also the Primary Investigator on an IES-funded meta-analysis to identify effective practices for improving college-level writing, as well as Primary Investigator for Project VIEW (Visual Impairments Education in Writing), an exploratory project supported by the Institute of Education Sciences. He also received one of the first Early Career and Mentoring Program awards from the National Center for Special Education Research in 2013. He currently serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Educational Psychology.
Dr. Hebert received his M.Ed. in language and literacy from Harvard University and his Ph.D. in special education from Vanderbilt University. He was previously a classroom teacher and reading specialist in schools in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, California, and the Navajo Nation.
About the Moderator
Pam Austin, Director of Instructional Technology for Voyager Sopris Learning, has over 35 years of experience as an educator. She has worked as a Professional Learning Facilitator Manager with over 17 years of experience in training and supporting districts in various literacy and numeracy interventions for Voyager Sopris Learning in addition to delivering LETRS professional development sessions. She has also shared her love of proven VSL solutions as a Product Marketing Manager when she began her role as an EDVIEW360 podcast host in 2019 and continues to this day. Her goal is to aid teachers in changing the lives of students so that they not only become proficient and successful learners, but also, individuals confident in pursuing personal and professional life goals. She previously held the role of Literacy Specialist at the Center for Development and Learning (CDL) now the Center for Literacy and Learning. As an educator in the New Orleans Public Schools for 14 years, she served as an elementary teacher, a reading interventionist, a school-based reading coach, and a central office field literacy facilitator. These varying roles allowed her to gain a myriad of experiences that has enhanced her ability to work in collaboration with other educators, schools, and districts for impactful professional learning. Pam’s first steps into a lifelong career as an educator began as a fourth-grade teacher in a small school in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. And the journey continues…
Learn more about viewing the live presentation and the recording, earning your CE certificate, and using our new accessibility features.
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Voyager Sopris Learning® is the specialist in reading, writing, and math intervention. Fully focused on intervention, we have established four decades of results that demonstrate the efficacy of our solutions. Providing a holistic offering of reading, writing, and math interventions and assessments, our solutions help educators create strong, sustainable foundations to ensure academic success for all students.
