Constructing Reading Comprehension: A Blueprint & Instructional Tools

Date:     February 19, 2025
Time:     9:00am – 3:00pm 
Type:     In-Person

Location: WRESA   
          200 Ridgefield Ct, Suite 206
          Asheville, NC 28806

Fee:      $45  WRESA Members  
          $70  Non-members

**NOTE: We have a No Refund policy for our WRESA courses. However, you
are welcome to send a colleague in your place. Contact LaDonna Sluder at
lsluder@wresa.org or 828-774-5681 (ext 102) if you need to change the 
name of the person attending.

CEUs:     5 Contact Hours 
Audience: K-5 Administrators, Classroom Teachers, and Coaches    

Description:

Comprehension, whether through reading or listening, is a complex and multidimensional
process. It involves the integration of various skills, processes, and sources of knowledge.
A knowledgeable educator understands comprehension and the importance of vocabulary,
sentence structure, and background knowledge. This includes aspects such as text structure,
inference, and comprehension monitoring, all of which contribute to making meaning.

Let’s examine how this understanding can shape an instructional blueprint based on scientific
principles for effective teaching. This framework helps educators identify key literacy skills,
select suitable readings, and implement essential routines and strategies to promote a deep
understanding of the text and enhance knowledge acquisition.

Together, we will discuss the following:

•  The complexity of and contributors to reading comprehension
•  The components of the Blueprint for Reading Comprehension
•  Model unit & lesson plans and instructional routines, strategies & activities for
  each contributor
•  Current practices & possibilities for enriching/differentiating instruction

Presenter: Nancy Hennessy  is an experienced educator who currently works as a literacy
consultant. She has designed and delivered multiple virtual and live professional
learning events on the science of reading, structured literacy & dyslexia. Most recently,
reading comprehension has been her focus.

Nancy is the author of the book, The Reading Comprehension Blueprint: Helping
Students Make Meaning of Text and recently, co-authored a companion text, The
Reading Comprehension Activity Book: A Practice & Planning Guide for Teachers with
Julia Salamone. Nancy has also written the chapter, Working with Word Meaning:
Vocabulary Instruction, in Multisensory Teaching of Basic Skills (4 th edition). While
serving as a national trainer for Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and
Spelling, she co-authored LETRS, Digging for Meaning: Teaching Text Comprehension (2nd
edition) with Louisa Moats.

Nancy is the past president of the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) and has
served as the vice-president of the North Carolina Branch of IDA. In 2011, Nancy
received the International Dyslexia Association’s Margaret Byrd Rawson Lifetime
Achievement Award & was recently honored with the North Carolina Department of
Public Instruction’s 2023 Impact Award.

If you have additional questions, contact Candie Sellers at csellers@wresa.org

If you are unsure whether your school system is a WRESA member, click  WRESA MEMBER List.   

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