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Evidence-Based Comprehension Instruction & Intervention in the Elementary Grades PreK- 5


  • Hampton Conference Center Lower Mountain View Drive Colchester, VT, 05446 United States (map)

Evidence-Based Comprehension Instruction & Intervention in the Elementary Grades PreK- 5

Dr. Sarah Lupo

Target Audience: Literacy and Interventionist Educators, EST, MTSS or Leadership, Teams, Special Educators, Data Teams 

Elementary teachers and reading interventionists will learn about the research behind how children in PK-grade 5 develop comprehension. In particular, teachers will learn about the role of knowledge on readers’ linguistic comprehension skills, and how they can bring knowledge building practices into the literacy block to improve readers’ text understanding and overall literacy skill. Teachers will learn how to:

  • design content-infused literacy writing projects and design quad text sets, 

  • use high-quality curriculum materials as a base, to bolster knowledge and vocabulary.

  • Lastly, teachers will learn how to analyze texts for the challenges they present to elementary readers, and how to scaffold those challenges to support text understanding.

Institute Days

Day 1: October 3, 2024

Teaching Evidence-Based Comprehension: What Elementary Teachers Need to Know to Build Readers’ Linguistic Knowledge .

Elementary teachers and reading interventionists will learn about the research behind how children in PK-grade 5 develop comprehension. In particular, teachers will learn about the role of knowledge on readers’ linguistic comprehension skills, and how they can bring knowledge building practices into the literacy block to improve readers’ text understanding and overall literacy skill. Teachers will learn how to design content-infused literacy writing projects and design quad text sets, using high quality curriculum materials as a base, to bolster knowledge and vocabulary. Lastly, teachers will learn how to analyze texts for the challenges they present to elementary readers, and how to scaffold those challenges to support text understanding. 

Day 2: October 4, 2024

Teaching Evidence-Based Decoding: How Teachers Can Use Reading Stages to Better Teach Elementary Readers to Read Fluently and Accurately   

In this session, elementary teachers and reading interventionists will learn about what the research says about elementary literacy intervention and how to develop word recognition and fluency skills, in particular, automaticity, for elementary-aged readers. 

Participants will learn what reading stages are, in order to understand how automaticity develops across elementary school. We will explore the stages of reading. Additionally, participants will learn how to use their existing assessments to identify a readers’ stage so they can learn to differentiate instruction, texts, phonics, and feedback to best support foundational skills development. Lastly, teachers will learn best practices for interventions designed to support students’ foundational skills development

Cohort Participation 

These are monthly asynchronous 1 hr. modules followed by 45 minute live/virtual follow-up with Dr. Lupo a few weeks later. The live session will be recorded for those who need to watch it at a different time.

Follow-Up Virtual Sessions: Each live session is 2:00 – 2:45 pm

Nov. 12, 2024 Word Recognition/Phonics

Dec. 10, 2024 Small group reading/how to select texts and give feedback

Jan. 7, 2025 Fluency

Feb. 11, 2025 Disciplinary Writing (writing to learn & content-integrated writing projects)

Mar. 4, 2025 Vocabulary and Morphology

Apr. 8, 2025 Comprehension and Discussion

Closing Session: May 9, 2025

Putting it All Together: In this cumulative session, participants will put together all of their knowledge about how to teach comprehension, writing, and decoding while also building readers’ knowledge. This session will include planning for next steps and how to continue the work moving forward.

Hours:   9 -3:30 pm(includes breakfast, lunch and book)

Location: Hampton Conference Center, Colchester, VT

Interventionist Cohorts: Monthly 2 – 2:45: Nov. 12, Dec. 10, Jan. 7, Feb. 11, Mar. 4, Apr. 8      

Cost: CVEDC Members: Day 1 only: $275 Institute – 3 days:  $750 Institute & Cohort: $1500 Non-Members: Day 1 only: $300 Institute – 3 days:  $850 Institute & Cohort: $1650

Book: Lupo, Hardigree, Thacker, Sawyer, Merritt: Teaching Disciplinary Literacy in Grades K-6” Infusing Content with  Reading, Writing, and Language

Sarah Lupo is an Associate Professor at James Madison Univ. who has extensive teaching experience as an ESL teacher, English teacher, reading specialist, and literacy coach in grades K-12 in Washington D.C., Istanbul, Turkey, Phoenix, AZ, and Charlottesville, VA. She has worked with many districts to support literacy instruction across Virginia and nationwide.

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Instructional Coaching Cohort #6

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School Counselor Collaborative Cohort