ONABSE 2019 Provincial Conference and AGM

In this session, educators will be introduced to a research-based teaching sequence which can empower teachers to teach at the level they want their students to reach. This teaching framework can be used to scaffold and accelerate literacy learning for ‘underachieving’ students, especially English language learners. This presentation will be grounded in the belief that all students have the potential to meet curriculum standards and that a teacher’s mindset coupled with purposeful planning have a significant impact on student achievement. The presenters, Chantel Smith and Sharan Samagh, will share their experiences as English as a Second Language (ESL) and English Literacy Development (ELD) teachers and learning acquired from several years of action research working with diverse populations. Participants of this session will explore: how to accelerate literacy learning for English language learner (ELLs) by providing a “high support/ high challenge curriculum” guided by ongoing assessment, the importance of teaching underserved students to think of themselves as readers and writers, and strategies to support ELLs to be successful at authentic grade level writing tasks.