Search Hero
Loading Professional Development
  • This event has passed.

July 12, 2021 @ 9:00 am 3:30 pm

Kids, Books & Anti-Racism Series

KidsBooks&Anti-RacismSeries

Closing the Opportunity Gap: Promoting Access & Equity through Literacy

This series is designed to confront social injustices that contribute to the race- and poverty-related opportunity gap by promoting access and equity for all children through literacy.

Each nationally recognized speaker will challenge your thinking and inspire you to take action to reach all learners.

Join us for powerful, interactive professional development where you will learn practical and actionable ways to help students meaningfully connect reading and writing to their communities, aspirations, and lives.

Registration for this event has closed.

Date(s):
Varies (more details below)
Grade Levels:
PreK-10
Audience:
  • Classroom Teachers, Interventionists & Specialists
  • Literacy Coaches & Teacher Leaders
  • District & School Leaders
Credit:
Non-credit; graduate credit available for Summer Literacy Institute
Format:
Online: Real Time Learning
Cost:
Varies –
  • 4-day Summer Literacy Institute with Kass & Cornelius Minor ($695)
  • Group discounts available! Email CRRLC@lesley.edu to inquire.

Featured Speakers & Series Details

Lester Laminack
Sonja Cherry-Paul
Kass & Cornelius Minor
Registration Policies

Wednesday, March 10, 2021  (This event has passed.)

Reading to Make a Difference: Using Literature to Help Students Speak Freely, Think Deeply, and Take Action with Lester Laminack

Headshot of Lester Laminack

Building off the work of Rudine Sims Bishop we will extend the notion of literature as windows, mirrors, and doors to create more inclusive classrooms. Because identity influences our choices and our perceptions of what we read it is important to broaden students’ view of the world through diverse literature. In our classrooms, shared read aloud experiences can help students find value in their complex identities while honoring new perspectives other than their own.

Participants will examine the presence of mirrors, windows, and doors in a carefully selected collection of literature. Together we will examine our personal identities and reflect on how these influence the selection of texts we make available for students. We will explore an instructional framework that enables you and your students to delve into diverse literature to help students build empathy, speak freely, think deeply and take action.

Participants in this workshop will:

  • Deepen an appreciation for the importance of diverse literature
  • Evaluate their classroom libraries for the inclusion of diverse literature
  • Utilize the provided instructional framework to design future instruction
  • Evaluate a collection of literature for potential mirrors, windows, and doors
  • Consciously examine personal bias and the limitations it places on the selection and use of diverse literature

Registered participants will receive a copy of the professional text, Reading to Make a Difference: Using Literature to Help Students Speak Freely, Think Deeply, and Take Action by Lester Laminack and Katie Kelly.

This workshop will be recorded. Due to the workshop’s interactive structure, we highly recommend that the registrant participates live on March 10, 2021. Access to the recording (30 days) will be sent to all registrants within a week after the live workshop.

You will earn 6 professional development hours for participating in this workshop.

For full details and pricing for this workshop with Lester Laminack, click this link.

Friday, April 9, 2021  (This event has passed.)

Book Clubs for a Better World: Reimagining Reading Instruction as Liberatory Spaces with Sonja Cherry-Paul

The benefits of book clubs extend far beyond reading comprehension and academic gains. Together, we’ll explore the possibilities of book clubs as brave spaces where students reflect on their racial identities, read and discuss books that affirm them, and challenge inequities.

Headshot of Sonja Cherry-PaulWe’ll bring greater clarity around the term “culturally relevant” and construct book clubs as spaces to disrupt normalized models and exclusionary practices of “knowing” in order to honor and affirm the racial and cultural identities of students. Book clubs have an indelible influence on students as they develop as critical thinkers, lifelong readers, and change makers in the world. They have the potential to shift the teacher/student power dynamics and become liberatory spaces where students take ownership over their own reading lives.

Registered participants will receive a copy of the professional text, Breathing New Life into Book Clubs: A Practical Guide for Teachers by Sonja Cherry-Paul and Dana Johansen.

This workshop will be recorded. Due to the workshop’s interactive structure, we highly recommend that the registrant participates live on April 9, 2021. Access to the recording (30 days) will be sent to all registrants within a week after the live workshop.

You will earn 6 professional development hours for participating in this workshop.

For full details and pricing for this workshop with Sonja Cherry-Paul, click this link.

July 12 – 15, 2021 – Summer Literacy Institute
(This event has passed.)

Reaching All Learners: Taking Action for Equity with Kass & Cornelius Minor

As educators, we often wonder how to be responsive to students when their needs, communities, backgrounds, and experiences are different from ours. We strive to provide reading and writing opportunities for all children that are engaging and responsive to them. But too often current reading instruction leaves too many with negative reading identities, complicating the work even further. We know that reading does not happen in isolation. However, because so many people treat it this way, many kids are left out of a positive culture of reading that will contribute to their success.

Participants will leave this institute with concrete ways to think about how to connect reading to students’ lives, communities, and aspirations. We will examine reading identity and how it intersects with racial, gender, and class identity. Throughout the institute, participants will learn how to effectively respond to the students in front of them through exploring student identity; observing students; and conducting authentic assessment. We will consider how powerful reading experiences are the means for both student reading growth and for building and shifting powerful learning communities.

The MinorsThe institute will be led by The Minor Collective, a community-based movement designed to foster sustainable change in schools, established by Kass Minor, an inclusive educator, and Cornelius Minor, literacy leader and author of We Got This. Equity, Access, and the Quest to Be Who Our Students Need Us to Be​​​​​​. Lesley University faculty will also guide you in your thinking around these topics.

Registered participants will receive a copy of the professional text, Being the Change: Lessons and Strategies to Teach Social Comprehension by Sara Ahmed.

Please note that this workshop will not be recorded.

You will earn 24 professional development hours for participating in this institute.

For full details and pricing for the Summer Literacy Institute with Kass and Cornelius Minor, click this link.

 

Cancellation Deadline & Refund Policies

You must cancel in writing two weeks before the start of the course to get a refund, minus a $50 processing fee. Email CRRLC@lesley.edu to cancel. If you are unable to attend, you may send a substitute at any time. Regardless of conditions, if the event is held but you cannot attend, you will be billed for the full amount.

Registration Deadline

We highly recommend registering at least five business days before the the first workshop to allow the minimum amount of time to ship the professional texts.

Independent Learning Policy & Recordings

The workshops with Lester Laminack (March 10, 2021) and Sonja Cherry-Paul (April 9, 2021) will be recorded. Due to each workshop’s interactive structure, we highly recommend that the registrant participates live on the day of the workshop. Access to the recording (30 days) will be sent to all registrants within a week after the live workshop.

The Summer Literacy Institute with Kass & Cornelius Minor (July 12-15, 2021) will not be recorded.

The registrant agrees to access the live session and/or recording for the purpose of independent learning. Access to the live session and/or recording is restricted to the registrant and may not be accessed in a group setting.

Certificates of Attendance

Only registered participants will receive a certificate of attendance for their participation by completing an insight form, which will be provided to participants at the end of the event. Please allow our team at least 1 week to process your certificate.

Share a flyer about the series with your colleagues!