Fostering a Healthy Book Diet
How to nourish learning for all readers with a wide variety of texts.
Discover how a well-rounded “book diet” can fuel literacy growth, including comprehension, foundational skills, and a love of reading! This one-day professional learning will support you in selecting the texts that match students’ needs, interests, and reading abilities, creating an engaging, effective reading experiences for all learners.
- Classroom Teachers K-3
Just as a balanced diet is essential for physical health, a “healthy book diet” is critical for nurturing confident, competent readers. This professional learning will explore the diverse “nutrients” provided by a multi-text approach within a high-quality literacy instructional program. You will learn how to make expert text decisions that support every learner, build content knowledge, and reading competency. We will examine and define the characteristics of complex texts, grade level texts, and controlled texts including leveled and decodable books. By understanding the characteristics and purposes of various texts, you can ensure all children have access to a rich and balanced “book diet” that fosters growth, engagement, and a lifelong love of reading.
Topics will include:
- Characteristics of complex and controlled texts including decodable books and leveled texts
- Diverse text types and their role in fostering motivation and engagement
- Selecting texts that align with student interests and needs
- Complex, age-appropriate texts for read-aloud and shared reading
- Supporting choice for independent reading
Wendy Vaulton, Associate Director for Reading Recovery & Early Interventions 
Wendy Vaulton is the Associate Director for Reading Recovery and Early Interventions at Lesley University’s Center for Reading Recovery and Literacy Collaborative. Wendy serves as the Center’s Reading Recovery trainer, supporting teacher leaders in five states. She has experience as an educational researcher, professional developer, and teacher of Reading Recovery. Wendy’s recent research interests include the capacity of improvement science to support systematic, data-informed decision-making for all levels of educational improvement.
Cancellation Deadline & Refund Policies
You have until one week before the first day of this offering to cancel your registration. The cancellation deadline is Monday, June 23, 2025 and you will be charged a $50 processing fee. Email CRRLC@lesley.edu if you have a cancellation or substitution request. Regardless of weather conditions, if the event is held but you cannot attend, you will be billed for the full amount.
Registration Deadline
The registration deadline is 5pm on June 29, 2025.
Requirements for Participation
After the training, you will receive a certificate of attendance for your participation. To receive a complete certificate, participation during the specified times is required. Additional work may be assigned to meet the professional development hours.
In-Person at Lesley University or Virtual Attendance
You may choose to attend this training in-person at Lesley University or virtually in real time. Should any of the conditions change and it is determined the training will be offered virtually only, you will be notified as soon as possible. We recommend that you contact us before reserving travel and lodging.
If you choose to attend in-person, the training room will have Lesley University’s HyFlex Classroom Technology to support an engaging learning environment for in-person and virtual participants. If you have questions about in-person or virtual attendance, please email us at CRRLC@lesley.edu.
In-person participants are required to follow the Lesley safety protocols.
Interested in professional learning at your school or district? Schedule a meeting with one of our faculty trainers.
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