Enhance Your Writing Instruction: Practical Applications of the SCIENCE OF WRITING (Grades K-2)

Presented by Mark Weakland
Outstanding Teacher, Author and National Presenter

Specifically Designed for Grades K-2: Classroom Teachers, Literacy Specialists, Literacy Coaches, Title I Staff, Special Education Staff, Instructional Assistants, Interventionists, and Administrators

Practical takeaways for literacy instruction – no matter your curriculum – based on key Science of Writing and Science of Reading research
Practical, research-based activities and suggestions to strengthen and accelerate the writing, spelling, and reading achievement of ALL students
Specific writing lesson routines and ideas to boost your students' success with spelling, phonics, phonemic awareness, and language comprehension
Receive an extensive Science of Writing digital resource handbook filled with dozens of practical strategies

Practical Ideas and Strategies

Writing – an important aspect of any effective literacy program – is often overlooked and underutilized. Over the years, the Science of Reading has focused teachers on effective ways to teach children essential literacy skills. Now, this Science of Writing seminar provides another powerful way to teach young students foundational skills, connecting best practice components of early writing instruction to reading instruction and showing how to weave dozens of practical, science-based writing activities and strategies into your existing literacy program. In this NEW seminar, outstanding literacy specialist and national author and presenter Mark Weakland will share not only HOW children best learn to write, spell, and read but also WHAT you can specifically do to ensure their success as beginning writers. These classroom-tested, research-based practices will enhance and strengthen your classroom instruction – no matter what literacy program you use. Mark will show you how to make the most of writing lessons and seamlessly implement powerful practices into your teaching the very next day.

Join Mark for a fast-paced day jam-packed with practical, use-tomorrow ideas. You'll leave with dozens of practical, ready-to-use Science of Writing activities, routines, and strategies!

Ten Key Benefits of Attending

Learn Practical Engagement Strategies That Hook Young Students on Writing
Explore classroom-tested ideas for engaging students in writing, especially those who might be reluctant writers … Learn how to teach writing so your students come away saying, "I love to write!"
Build Foundational Skills of Reading Through Writing
Learn what reading researcher Linnea Ehri meant when she said encoding and decoding are "two sides of the same coin" … Explore research-based insights for teaching spelling and phonics through writing instruction
Use Writing Instruction to Teach the Sound-Letter Associations That Are the Building Blocks of Reading
Learn dozens of activities to teach all aspects of sound-letter associations, including phonemic awareness, letter ID, letter formation, basic phonics, and spelling patterns … Boost student learning in writing, reading, and spelling
Foster and Support Strong Writing Growth
Learn dozens of instructional techniques, materials, and activities that help students write more fluently, organize their thinking, build their language comprehension, acquire vocabulary and grammar, and develop well-constructed sentences
Learn the Key Components of an Effective Program That Teaches Writing, Spelling and Phonics
Discover what spelling-phonics is, what the research says should be included in every spelling-phonics program and how this content can be easily linked to writing … Use this information to align or strengthen your own program
Boost Writing and Reading Engagement and Success With Time-Tested Lesson Ideas
Move beyond "fill in the blank" teacher-driven writing tasks to child-centered authentic writing that engages students through choice, authenticity, and lived experiences … Help young students develop a culture and love of writing
Strengthen Whole Group, Small Group, and Independent Writing
Explore a multitude of practical ideas for teaching and practicing writing in whole group, small group, and independent settings … Strengthen writing instruction regardless of the current program or approach you are using
Gain Explicit Teaching Techniques to Help Students Avoid Writing Difficulties
Learn direct and explicit teaching techniques you can use immediately to help ALL students … Gain preventative, preemptive strategies for helping students avoid writing difficulties (and reading difficulties, too)
Acquire Lesson Tools to Boost the Effectiveness of Your K-2 Literacy Program
Explore letter introduction and spelling pattern sequences, lists of common phonograms, phoneme-grapheme frequency charts and other tools you can use immediately to help ALL students and make your teaching more effective
Receive a Comprehensive Science of Writing Digital Resource Handbook
Return to your school with the latest research from the field of writing and reading … This digital resource handbook is full of ready-to-use, easy-to-implement activities, strategies, and ideas you can use tomorrow with ALL your students

Outstanding Strategies You Can Use Immediately

Here's what you'll learn:

What the Science of Writing is, how it connects to the Science of Reading, and how to practically apply decades of research findings in your classroom – beginning TOMORROW
Small shifts in your daily literacy routines that will make a big impact on students' writing, reading, and spelling success
Strategies for teaching phonemic awareness, spelling, phonics, automatic word recognition, and language comprehension, backed by decades of research
Practical and engaging instructional strategies for teaching high frequency writing words – that are also useful for reading
Effective writing routines that help students build their language, organize their thinking, spell without anxiety, and better communicate through writing
Powerful strategies that encourage young students to write and spell words they don't yet know
Dozens of fun, effective strategies and activities for teaching vitally important phonemic awareness, letter formation, word decoding, and sentence writing skills
Strategies that address classroom writing issues, such as reluctant writers, "broken record writers," and anxious and dependent spellers
Strategies that move struggling writers, readers, and spellers from "guessing" to a laser-sharp focus on words and the letters and patterns that form them
Practical and impactful routines you can easily incorporate into your existing literacy instruction – no matter what curriculum you use
Engaging ways to boost students' writing fluency and their ability to compose more sophisticated sentences with minimal teacher support
Activities that strengthen brain pathways critical to early writing, spelling, and reading success, based on the latest research

A Message From Your Seminar Leader

Dear Colleague:

Did you know that writing instruction can help you lead your students to reading and spelling fluency? It can! As an elementary school reading specialist, classroom teacher, and special education teacher, I have lived this truth, teaching countless writing lessons over the years. I also know that when you teach writing in ways that scaffold learning, provide choice, and harness authentic language and background knowledge, then students will leave your classroom saying, "I love to write!"

I have designed this dynamic day to equip you with practical tips and ideas to sharpen and enhance the instructional techniques, learning strategies and activities already present in your current literacy program. Using them, you can better support your young students who are beginning writers. Even better, every practice I share will help students build more strongly connected neural pathways, establishing the foundational literacy skills they need now and in the future.

The knowledge, strategies, and activities you gather in this seminar will help you teach and empower young students to be more successful writers, readers and spellers. And because I know firsthand that teachers are some of the busiest people in the world, everything I present is practical and time efficient.

I look forward to spending the day with you, exploring how to maximize your instruction so it supports children who need extra help, strengthens the learning of typically developing students, and offers enrichment and challenge to any high flyers. Now, more than ever, science has shown us how to help young children learn to write, read, and spell. New understandings about how the brain works have given us a chance to reexamine literacy and its component parts. How fortunate we are to have this opportunity.

I look forward to meeting you at my seminar!

Sincerely,
Mark Weakland

P.S. The job you do is so very important. Investing a day with me will give you knowledge, strategies and activities that can make a real difference in the writing, reading and spelling lives of your young students.

Who Should Attend

Grades K-2: Classroom Teachers, Literacy Specialists, Literacy Coaches, Title I Staff, Special Education Staff, Instructional Assistants, Interventionists, and Administrators

Special Benefits of Attending

Extensive Science of Writing Digital Resource Handbook
You will receive an extensive digital resource handbook specifically designed for this seminar. Included in the handbook are:

Practical, ready-to-use Science of Writing strategies and techniques to strengthen student writing
Dozens of easy-to-implement classroom strategies and activities that support the necessary components of K-2 writing, such as language comprehension, phonemic awareness, letter ID, phonics, spelling, and grammar
A summary of research that aligns with this seminar and links to more in-depth information and resources
Motivational, engaging strategies to increase writing participation and stamina
Letter introduction sequences, a list of the 37 most common phonograms, a phoneme/grapheme frequency chart, sample sight word posters, and more
Tools for teaching research-based K-2 writing lessons that focus on phonemic awareness, sound-letter associations, and language comprehension

For in-person seminars, registrants will also receive a printed copy of the resource handbook as long as their registration is received in the BER office at least 15 calendar days before the event.

Share Ideas
This seminar provides a wonderful opportunity for participants to share ideas with other educators interested in practical ways to apply Science of Writing to enhance writing instruction.

Consultation Available
Mark Weakland will be available for consultation regarding your questions and the unique needs of your own writing instruction.

On-Site Training Guarantee

BER is not a booking agency that just finds a presenter who presents on the topic you requested. Rather, we only recommend highly experienced BER presenters who have consistently received outstanding evaluations from educators attending their trainings.

Consequently, we provide a strong program guarantee.

We guarantee you'll be fully satisfied or you'll owe us nothing after your on-site training event.