This presentation will provide direct instruction in Structured Word Inquiry (SWI) to help all students, including dyslexics, improve comprehension, vocabulary, spelling, fluency and grammar.  Participants will learn about our English writing system to discover the interrelationship of morphology, etymology and phonology.  

Teachers from kindergarten to junior high will participate in practical, hands-on activities that can be embedded into their classrooms. Participants will explore content area vocabulary to deepen students’ subject matter understanding. This workshop is designed to complement, expand and enrich any literacy program already in place.   

Highlights of the workshop: 

· Learn how to make sense of teaching “sight words” by using SWI.  

· Use morphology to teach affixes in kindergarten and beyond.  

· Expand your knowledge and teaching skills in grapheme-phoneme correspondence. 

· Understand how etymology drives grapheme choices. 

· Participate in hands-on activities at your grade level.  

Classroom teachers, resource and reading specialists as well as administrators will benefit from discussions about English orthography for improved reading, vocabulary, fluency and grammar.

Attendees will receive 7 CEU hours

Co-Speaker #1: Mary McBride

LanguageInsights founding partner, has taught in the US and overseas in Singapore, Dubai and Japan. She has worked as a reading specialist, special education resource and classroom teacher and private tutor. Mary has home-schooled both gifted and challenged students. Currently, she is a trainer with LanguageInsights, private tutor and literacy coach in a public school. She has two adult children and resides in a Chicago suburb.

Mary has provided teacher training workshops, classroom model lessons and has developed curricula. She holds an advanced Orton-Gillingham certification and an MA in Special Education in Learning Disabilities.

Co-Speaker #2: Ellen Meyer 

Ellen is a founding partner at LanguageInsights LLC, spent her early career working in public policy on Capitol Hill, in the Illinois Senate and for national trade associations.  A life-long lover of words, she became interested in how children acquire literacy when one of her children was diagnosed dyslexic. Ellen holds an advanced certification in Orton-Gillingham and has presented numerous workshops for administrators, teachers and parents. Currently, she is a trainer and consultant in a Chicago suburb.

Ellen excels in working with dyslexic students through her many years of hands on experience and tutoring. She is currently serving her third term on the board of directors for Everyone Reading Illinois.