top of page

Workshops for Educators

Workshops on Evidence-Based Literacy Teaching, Dyslexia and other Specific Learning
 
Disorders - WORKSHOP 17

23rd January 2024, Adelaide - venue to be confirmed 

AND ON INVITE BY A SCHOOL OR CLUSTER
 

kickstarter logo.JPG

A kickstart for schools wanting revolutionise their teaching of reading and spelling

​

Full day workshop

 

To book this workshop please contact Bill Hansberry

​

​

Downloads

  • 1 Glossary per person

  • 1 Pop Quiz score sheet per 4 people

  • Jan 23 2023 Certificate of Attendance

​

Kickstarter glossary logo.JPG
Pop Quiz logo.JPG

“Participating in a Bill Hansberry training day is always great value! His ability to entertain and engage while teaching such worthwhile content is commendable. At times, my cheeks hurt from laughing so much! Bill included lots of interactive activities to keep us all involved and ‘on our toes’ – a little quiz at different times of the day brought in some competitiveness amongst the staff, which gauged who had been listening the most attentively!  

Zoe Spearman, Year 4 Teacher.

​

​

Before we ask teachers to change the very DNA of how they teach literacy, we need to provide a compelling 'why'! This is what this day is all about. Highly successful South Australia schools have used this 6.5-hour workshop to begin the knowledge-building journey for implementing evidence-based teaching of literacy. The highly engaging format, mixed with an ongoing team-based 'quiz night' and Bill's wicked humour, makes this a training you'll remember!

 

 

MORNING SESSION 9am-11am

 

Why what's happening in Australia is not teachers' fault:

​

  • Teacher training – how it came to lack so much

  • Education's aversion to research

  • Three-cueing systems and how we came to believe that this is how we should teach kids to read

  • Gough and Tunmer's simple View of Reading  - how to explain it at a BBQ!

 

The teaching of reading over the last 30 years – a sordid affair

A Context for literacy teaching in Australia and Why it seems we're All Going Back to basics

​​

  • How we lost our way with teaching literacy in Australia 

  • Whole word / Whole Language / Balanced literacy – made perfect sense before science got in the way!

  • Marie Clay's 3-Cueing theory – disproven, debunked, still doing much damage 

  • Dibels - Diagnostic Indicators of Early Basic  Literacy Skills and the End of Running Records

  • 3 National enquiries into teaching reading all said the same things, so what has stopped the necessary changes?​

 

​

MIDDLE SESSION 11.20 am-1 pm

 

 

The Big 5 of reading with a focus on the first 2!

 

  • Phonological awareness for all if we're serious about kids' learning to read.

  • Structured, Synthetic Phonics – not analytic, not in context

    • What is structured and synthetic phonics, and how it's different to polished turd (analytic/in context) phonics.

  • Fluency – the facts

    • What's a sight word – not what you thought, eh!

    • Orthographic mapping – when reading finally becomes a reading practice

  • Vocabulary – the facts

    • Word Cracking Morphology – getting great bang for the buck in vocabulary

  • Comprehension – the end game

    • Scarborough's reading rope

 

Syllable Types – heaps important

  • why they should be taught to all kids

 

 

​

AFTERNOON SESSION 1.30 pm-3.30 pm

 

Spelling – needs explicit teaching. 

 

  • What's orthography, and why is it as crucial as phonology​

 

  • Orthographic processing – spelling rules, concepts, positional frequency

    • Visual memory vs. orthographic memory

    • Some handy rules to know

    • A visit to IKEA

    • Teaching Long vowel spellings

​

Why some kids struggle to read and what to do about it

 

  • Dyslexia – and where it sits in the scheme of things

  • The Phonological Deficit: how it impacts fluent word recognition

  • Multisensory, Cumulative, Structured Synthetic Phonics unpicked

    • The Playberry Structure

      • Orton-Gillingham programs

      • Controlled exposure to graphemes

 

It's all in the cards: drill and thrill​​

​

  • Why drill and overlearning?

    • Orthographic Mapping: The brain's system for storing whole words

    • As fast as possible, as slow as necessary

 

 

The four key components of an evidence-based literacy intervention (and sound teaching for all)

​​

"Bill's manner...using humour, created a fun learning environment. With Years of knowledge and ongoing expertise Bill used current literature and studies to support his work. As a staff we move forward as a Professional Learning Community ready to tackle our Literacy program with great guidance from Bill."

Luke Buchanan, Wellbeing Coordinator

​

​

"Bill is an engaging and knowledgeable presenter. He kept us entertained for the day whilst effectively delivering evidence-based strategies to help students learn to read."  Lisa Pugliese, Reception Teacher

​

​

"He is an expert in his field and he is a very supportive presenter who helps staff to embrace the Science of Reading and feel comfortable with changes happening in education when teaching Literacy. His presentation was full of fun, enjoyment and energy and helped us to reflect on our practice with a positive mindset." 

Deanna Smith, Reception Teacher.

We have books and resources available.

Check out our SHOP. 

​

bottom of page