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The following prekindergarten teacher trainings have been scheduled for spring/summer:

   Summer Prekindergarten Workshop: Phonological Awareness &  Creating an Effective Classroom Environment: June 19, 2019, Houston.

The following infant and toddler teacher trainings have been scheduled for spring/summer:

   Talk With Me: Promoting Early Language Development: June 25, 2019, Houston.

   Read With Me: Promoting Early Literacy Development: June 26, 2019, Houston.

   Connect With Me: Promoting Social and Emotional Development: June 27, 2019, Houston.

The Systematic Assessment of Book Reading SABR (2.0) examines qualities of teacher and child talk through observation of classroom shared book reading. There are two forms of the assessment that can be used to support observations.

• The short form is designed for reviewing video-recorded read-alouds or live observations, and allows educators and researchers to capture 17 focal aspects of classroom discourse during book reading that are most closely related to growth in young children’s language and literacy skills.
• The long form is designed for researchers to capture more detailed qualities of classroom discourse and includes 40 codes; this includes codes of theoretical importance as well as codes that closely relate to growth in children’s skills. The long form is designed for use with transcribed read-alouds.

To support accurate and consistent implementation, training is recommended.

Short-form Training: During this 5 hours training, participants will learn how to identify texts and follow administration protocols for using the SABR. As well, participants will learn to navigate their way through the SABR manual as they engage in practice activities using the coding forms. This training is recommended for prekindergarten and kindergarten teachers, school leaders, and intervention specialists.

Long-form Training: This training is 8 hours in length. Participants will learn to implement the coding scheme which has been designed for ease of use to quickly prepare teams to reliably observe and measure qualities of classroom discourse. Participants will each receive the SABR manual and they will have opportunities to engage in practice activities using the coding forms.

For more information and to request training, please contact CLI Solutions Group.

This engaging series of trainings dive into content from the eCIRCLE Infant & Toddler Teacher Training: Play with Me! courses. Sessions in the series provide specific instructional strategies targeting infant and toddler development. In these face-to-face trainings, teachers experience strategies in action through video examples of real caregivers and children. Teachers participate in interactive exercises related to infant and toddler language, literacy, and social-emotional development, as well as best practices in responsive caregiving and using developmental checklists.

Trainings in this series are available individually or in combination. Session titles and descriptions include:

• Talk with Me: Promoting Early Language Development: Session includes language-building and eliciting strategies such as labeling, describing, narrating, and encouraging conversation.
• Read with Me: Promoting Early Literacy Development: Session includes strategies for promoting interest in books and a motivation to read, as well as using rhyme, rhythm, and props to enrich literacy experiences.
• Connect with Me: Supporting Early Social-Emotional Skills and Self-Regulation: Session includes strategies for promoting early emotion recognition, self-regulation, and relationships with others.

Accessing Face-to-Face Training & Support
Infant and toddler services offered by CLI Solutions Group include training, instructional coaching, consultation, and custom services to strengthen a wide variety of programs. Our services can be used in combination or individually. Our staff is available to provide additional information, answer questions, and customize solutions to meet your program’s unique needs. Please contact us to discuss training options and how we can help improve your infant and toddler program.

The CLI Solutions Group team of experts can create custom training to meet your needs. Our training developers can work with you to customize an existing training to fit your district’s or school’s approach to instruction, or, we can create a whole new training for you.

Contact us today to discuss your training needs.

In each Unlocking Understanding session, registered participants receive an Interactive Notebook as well as all of the supporting instructional materials necessary for successful implementation of what’s covered in the session. This includes, the Cognitive Strategy Routine card, instructional posters, Cognitive Strategy posters, scaffold posters, graphic organizers, blackline masters, sample lesson plans, planning tools, and more!

The Cognitive Strategy Routine: During this interactive and engaging overview session, participants will explore a routine that is designed to be used at every grade level, in both English-language and Spanish-language classrooms to enhance comprehension instruction. This consistent, explicit eight-step routine will change the way educators view their own reading and how they teach students to comprehend across the content areas! (1.5 hours, Grades K-12)

Instructional Routines for Enhancing Comprehension: In this powerful session, participants will learn how to effectively implement 2 highly supportive instructional routines for enhancing comprehension. A Comprehension Purpose Question (CPQ) provides a scaffold for students as it links to strategies that good readers use. It also aids in increasing student motivation to read. In this training module, participants explore CPQs, practice a process for planning a CPQ, and evaluate and select quality CPQs. The Think-Turn-Talk routine provides students with opportunities to think and participate in deep discussions about text. Well planned questions during reading support deeper comprehension and engagement with text. Participants will leave the session with lessons they will be able to teach in their class the next day. (3 hours, Grades K-12)

Making Connections: During Making Connections, participants will explore ways to effectively build background knowledge and how to help students activate existing background knowledge necessary for comprehension. This foundational session addresses how to teach the strategy of Making Connections across content areas using the eight-step Cognitive Strategy Routine. Participants will experience lessons, and will work together to plan lessons they can implement in their classrooms immediately. (This full day session can be delivered in 2 half-day sessions. Grades K-2, 3-5, 6-12)

Creating Mental Images: Creating mental images may seem like a natural part of reading, but many students require explicit instruction to use this strategy successfully. In this session, participants will examine ways to teach this strategy effectively. Participants will experience lessons, and will work together to plan lessons they can implement in their classrooms immediately.
(This full day session can be delivered in 2 half-day sessions. Grades K-2, 3-5)

Making Inferences, Part 1: Do your students struggle to make inferences while reading? Making inferences is a complex strategy necessary for effective reading comprehension. This session provides a routine for explicitly teaching students to make inferences and effective predictions. Participants will use a powerful scaffold that supports students as they learn the difference between implicit and explicit text information. Participants will view lessons, and will work together to plan lessons they can implement in their classrooms immediately. (This full day session can be delivered in 2 half-day sessions. Grades K-2, 3-5, 6-12)

Making Inferences, Part 2: Do your students struggle to make inferences while reading? Making inferences is a complex strategy necessary for effective reading comprehension. This session provides a routine for explicitly teaching students to make inferences.  Participants will use a powerful scaffold that supports students as they learn the difference between implicit and explicit text information. Participants will view lessons, and will work together to plan lessons they can implement in their classrooms immediately. (It is recommended that participants attend Making Inferences & Predictions, Part 1 before attending Part 2 of this training. This full day session can be delivered in 2 half-day sessions. Grades 6-12 only.)

Determining Importance & Summarizing Literary Text: Although good readers determine importance and summarize all kind of text, in this training we are going to specifically look at how we determine importance and summarize literary text. With literary text, we depend on story structure to help us determine what information is most important. This session focuses on laying a strong foundation in the primary grades by using scaffolds that support students in reading literary text in kindergarten and beyond. During the session, participants will experience a lesson, and will work together to plan lessons they can implement in their classrooms immediately. (This full day session can be delivered in 2 half-day sessions. Grades K-2, 3-5)

Determining Importance & Summarizing Informational Text: Do your students struggle deciding what’s most important versus what is interesting when they read informational texts?  Determining importance and summarizing is a challenging task for many young readers. This session focuses on laying a strong foundation in the primary grades by using scaffolds that support students in reading informational text in kindergarten and beyond. During the session, participants will experience a lesson, and will work together to plan lessons they can implement in their classrooms immediately. (This full day session can be delivered in 2 half-day sessions. This session is best suited for Grades K-2.)

Determining Importance & Summarizing Informational Text, Part 1: Do your students struggle to determine the most important information or main idea of text? Do they tend to produce summaries that miss the mark? Determining importance and summarizing is a complicated task. This session focuses on laying a strong foundation by using scaffolds to help students identify the topic and main ideas in content area texts. Participants will learn to support students in creating clear summaries of descriptive texts. These summaries will help students better understand and engage with texts, and will help them to answer test questions correctly. During the session, participants will experience a lesson, and will work together to plan lessons they can implement in their classrooms immediately. (This full day session can be delivered in 2 half-day sessions. This session is designed for Grades 3-5, 6-12.)

Determining Importance & Summarizing Informational Text, Part 2: Do your students struggle to determine the most important information or main idea of sequential, compare and contrast, cause and effect, or problem and solution texts? Do they struggle to write clear summaries of these types of texts? Participants will learn to support students in creating clear summaries of various text structures. These summaries will help students better understand and engage with texts, and will help them to answer test questions correctly. During the session, participants will experience a lesson, and will work together to plan lessons they can implement in their classrooms immediately. (It is recommended that participants attend Determining Importance & Summarizing, Part 1 before attending Part 2 of this training. This full day session can be delivered in 2 half-day sessions. This session is designed for Grades 3-5, 6-12.)

Asking & Answering Questions: Helping students to be aware of the questions they think about while reading helps to increase comprehension. Teaching students how to successfully answer questions about text can often be more challenging. In this session, we address the research behind asking and answering questions, and we discuss ways to help students understand how questions help them as they are reading. During the session, participants will experience a lesson, and will work together to plan lessons they can implement in their classrooms immediately. (3 hours, Grades 1-3)

Listening Comprehension: Listening comprehension is one of the best predictors of reading comprehension. It is essential that students have opportunities to participate in good comprehension instruction prior to focusing on decoding. During the Listening Comprehension session, teachers will experience and learn how to plan an engaging, interactive read-alouds to develop foundation skills in comprehension. (3 hours, Grades PK-2)

To learn more or schedule on-site training, please contact the CLI Solutions Group or reach out to one of our Unlocking Understanding development team members by calling 713-500-8248 or email us at unlockingunderstanding@uth.tmc.edu.

Fluency is a critical component of reading and it is something educators focus on as soon as students can begin to recognize letters and high-frequency words. Fluency involves decoding words effortlessly; recognizing irregular and high-frequency words automatically; yet it is more than word-reading accuracy. Fluency involves reading at an appropriate rate—neither too quickly nor too slowly. It involves paying attention not only to punctuation marks, but determining suitable interpretation of the passage through inflection, intonation, and voice to effectively communicate the meaning of the words on the page.

Students who lack fluency or who are considered dysfluent, often struggle to decode, impeding comprehension. The opposite might also be true. Some students read quickly but with little or no expression, and therefore do not comprehend well.

Fluency can and should be taught in the classroom. Helping teachers to understand how to effectively monitor, teach, and provide practice opportunities, is the goal of our training.

Center time provides critical learning opportunities in an early childhood classroom. This time of independent or cooperative play allows students to practice skills and concepts taught during direct instruction using engaging hands-on activities.  It is also a time for students to build language skills and practice new vocabulary.  During this training, teachers will learn how to impact this time of learning and vocabulary development using three key components.

Prekindergarten students often lack vocabulary and background knowledge about many topics. Themes allow students to experience a topic and not just hear about it. When a theme is planned well, children are able to use new vocabulary in authentic, memorable ways. Teachers will be shown how to thoughtfully plan and prepare centers based on a theme.

Center choices should connect to the theme and skills taught during direct instruction. Choice and sufficient time allows students to connect new learning to what they already know and can do successfully. During this training, teachers will be provided several examples for each center to ensure they understand how to thoughtfully plan and design purposeful choices in advance so they support language and the mastery of content.

Thoughtful conversations support students use of new language and they prompt and guide student’s thinking and processing.  Teachers will learn the importance of engaging their students in conversations during play.