Teacher helps a student in an elementary classroom.

Overview

Reading Comprehension and Executive Functioning

Demystifying the Inner Workings of the Mind

This workshop will focus on the role of executive function in decoding and comprehension. Students need to be able to utilize metacognitive skills and strategies to be able to monitor their own understanding when reading, but this is easier said than done. What can we do to help our students comprehend text when they might struggle with executive functioning, or the ability to plan ahead, achieve goals, exercise self-control, follow multiple-step directions, and maintain focus when distracted, among other things? In this workshop, participants will learn about what processes comprise executive function, how these are measured, and how they relate to reading.

Who is this course for?

This workshop is for all educators, including, but not limited to classroom teachers, literacy coaches, special educators, school psychologists, and reading specialists/interventionists.

Course description

Teaching reading is rocket science! Teaching reading comprehension requires a broad knowledge not only of phonological processing, decoding, and language, but it also requires an understanding of the underlying skills that, at a very fundamental level, make learning and problem-solving possible.

This workshop will focus on the role of executive function in decoding and comprehension. Not only do students have to be able to decode the words on the page and understand the meaning of those words, they also need to be able to utilize metacognitive skills and their working memory to be able to interpret, connect with, and deeply understand any given text. Participants will learn about the processes that comprise executive function, how they are measured, and how they relate to reading comprehension.

We will examine the roles of attention and memory, as well as the skills that enable our ability to evaluate, plan, shift, and monitor our understanding so that we are able to achieve goals and act productively. Establishing this understanding of the inner workings of our minds will help ensure that we are able to help our students understand how their brains work, too, and that we are equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to best help all of our students make progress. Come and learn how to use your knowledge of executive function to help your students increase their ability to comprehend what they are reading.

This workshop counts toward OGA CEU requirements.

NUMBER OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT HOURS:
2.5 hours

Dates

May 20 | 3:30–6:00 PM EST

Course Number(s)

1516

Location and Format

Online (synchronous)

Cost

$125

Grade Level

K-12+

Audience

All Educators, ELL Educators, Literacy Coaches, Parents, Reading Specialists / Interventionists, School Administrators, School Psychologists, Special Educators, Speech Language Pathologists

Melissa Farrall, Ph.D., SAIF

Affiliated Distinguished Scholar

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What Teachers Have to Say

I’m a special ed teacher here in VT and we use the Stern Center for students with more complex reading disabilities. They do an amazing job and will give you a more accurate and precise evaluation and diagnosis than most public schools. Their evals are also very expensive but also worth it.

Expect a lengthy evaluation report with detailed cognitive and academic scores. They also offer excellent suggestions for accommodations and tools to help a student who is struggling with reading. I find their evals to be invaluable when working with students and writing their IEPs.

As an educator myself and a learning disability teacher consultant, I knew my child had specific learning needs. Having Stern assess my daughter gave me a feeling of relief. The report was well written and justified support and services from our school district. Now I can continue to advocate for my daughter. Thank you for helping our family.