2011 National Reading Recovery & K-6 Classroom Literacy Conference

February 5-8  ●  Columbus, Ohio

Preconference Speakers
Janice Almasi and Susan King Fullerton

Session Title
Teaching Strategic Processes in Reading

Description
Students often have difficulty using strategies independently. This session will examine critical elements needed in the learning environment to foster independent strategy use. Participants will examine and discuss learners’ strategy use and development in sample lessons.  Techniques for designing lessons that gradually release responsibility for strategy use from teachers to students will also be shared.

Janice Almasi
Dr. Almasi joined the faculty of the University of Kentucky in 2004 and is the Carol Lee Robertson Endowed Professor of Literacy Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Dr. Almasi also works in the Collaborative Center for Literacy Development. She teaches courses in elementary reading methods, reading theory, and reading research design. Her career began as an elementary school teacher and reading specialist in Maryland. Dr. Almasi earned her doctoral degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Maryland and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh. She was the recipient of the International Reading Association's Outstanding Dissertation of the Year Award in 1994 and the National Reading Conference's Outstanding Student Research Award in 1993. Her pedagogical and research endeavors have critically examined the contexts in which children learn from text. Her research focuses on patterns of social interaction, discourse, engagement, and cognitive processing during peer discussions of literature. She is currently working toward a developmental model of peer discussion.

Susan King Fullerton
Susan King Fullerton, Ph.D. is an associate professor at Clemson University where she teaches courses in reading methods, theory, roles of the reading specialist/coach, and instruction for struggling readers. She is a former teacher of the deaf, reading specialist, staff developer, and literacy coach. Her research interests and publications have focused on struggling readers, motivation, strategic processes in reading, comprehension, literature discussion, and literacy instruction for children who are deaf.