Sessions
Reading for the Love of It 2026
Reading for the Love of It 2026 Sessions PDF →
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“Bustin’ Loose”: Directing and Differentiating Time + Space
Would you like to enhance and super-charge the learning experiences and engagement in your classroom? The focus of this session is the meaningful and deliberate… Read More →
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25 Books Students Love
Make the match between individual readers and 25 books that will keep them turning pages late into the night. This session will focus on strategies… Read More →
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Agiindaasodaa – Indigenous storytelling through classroom sharing circles
This workshop is a joint presentation from 2 perspectives, that of an Indigenous Educator and of a School Librarian, both from TCDSB. This workshop will… Read More →
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AI Literacy Begins with Critical Thinking!
AI is shaping the way we live, learn, and work—but how well do we really understand it? This session will equip you with essential knowledge… Read More →
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AI Literacy within the Language Curriculum
AI is all around us. “AI Literacy represents the technical knowledge, skills and attitudes required to thrive in a world influenced by AI and enables… Read More →
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AI pocalypse?
News media and pundits holler that GenAIs’ effects are apocalyptic; but are they? How might students and teachers understand and use GenAI collaboratively to support… Read More →
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Assessment that Inspires and Empowers Student Learning
The primary purpose of assessment is not to generate marks – it is an act of kindness designed to altruistically cultivate agency in learners that… Read More →
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Autonomous Learning: A student-centred approach to thematic and inquiry-based learning
In our ever-changing world of education, engaging students with relevant curriculum that will heighten thinking skills is needed to increase achievement and interest. As thematic… Read More →
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“Best Class Ever!” – The Top 10 Activities for the English / Language Arts Classroom
Gathered, collected, honed, and refined over the course of two decades in secondary and post secondary education, the activities presented in this workshop are guaranteed… Read More →
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Back to Basics: Independent Reading Matters
The research on the positive impact of instruction in the areas of fluency, decoding, phonemic awareness, vocabulary and comprehension is well established. The research on… Read More →
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Balancing “All the Things”: Literacy Learning in Kindergarten
You may be feeling inundated with what seem to be competing messages: Teach reading in a systematic and explicit way! Focus on phonological awareness! Embed… Read More →
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Best Books for JK-Primary
Maria will present the best picture books, early novels and nonfiction for grades K-3. Come hear about the best new books that link to selfregulation,… Read More →
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Beyond the Binary: Celebrating Gender Diversity Through Text
Gender identity and expression is a topic that is relevant to every student, and to ourselves. Norms, stereotypes and expectations of gender limit and confine… Read More →
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Beyond the Click: Deepening Digital Literacy Through Critical Media Engagement
Building on foundational digital literacy skills, this session takes educators deeper into teaching students how to critically engage with the complex digital landscape they navigate… Read More →
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Beyond the Page: Using Text Sets to Spark Critical Thinking and Dialogue
What if your text sets could do more than support comprehension—what if they could spark transformative conversations? In this session, junior/intermediate educators will learn how… Read More →
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Big Ideas in Small Packages: Using Picture Books to Build Knowledge in Science and Social Studies in the Primary Grades
Discover the power of picture books as rich, engaging tools for building students’ knowledge and vocabulary in social studies and science. This session will guide… Read More →
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Bind a Community of Writers with Story
You have stories to tell that no one can tell but you. The crafting of narrative in history, memoir, and in fiction leans on decision-making,… Read More →
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Book Clubs in the Classroom: A Spotlight on Equity
This interactive workshop will engage participants in a mini Book Club where they will experience all 4 stages of a Reading Club Cycle: Read-Write -… Read More →
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Books to DEI For: Choosing Children’s literature to deepen understanding of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
How do you choose literature to share with your students? What are some important criteria to consider using books in your reading program? This session… Read More →
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Building Confidence Through the Art of Spoken Word
What is a spoken word performance? It’s a rhythmic mix of poetry that intersects public speaking and theatre. In this session, you will learn how… Read More →
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Building Your Canadian Classroom Bookshelf: Where to Find and Why to Choose Canadian Books
Ready to discover why Canadian voices can enrich your teaching? Wondering where to find the best Canadian books that will captivate young minds? Want to… Read More →
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Catching Readers, Sparking Joy
Joyful readers are capable and confident, eager to read and engage with challenging texts as they become fluent and proficient in literacy skills. How can… Read More →
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Creativity is a Superpower: Cultivating Voice Through Imagination & Intuition
We’ll explore creativity not as a rare gift, but as a powerful, inherent force available to everyone—especially writers. Far from being something we find outside… Read More →
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Cultivating an Ethic of Care—rooted in Knowledge, Unity, and Love through African-Centered Pedagogy
With an explicit focus on equity, anti-oppression, anti-racist, and anti- colonial pedagogy, this workshop is for educators who are critically reflective of their pedagogical practices.… Read More →
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Culturally Relevant and Responsive Teaching in the Primary Classroom
Many in education are talking about CRRT and how essential it is to learners. But what does it actually look like, and sound like in… Read More →
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Delight Beginners with the Journey from Decoding to Prosody and Writing: Give time and practice with a few decodable words to help them expect the magic of comprehension and creativity
Reading an author’s words ignites an imaginary adventure between reader and author – a partnership. In this session, Eileen White OCT, teacher, tutor and resource… Read More →
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Developing a Sense of Place in the Early Years: Sparking Curiosity and Wonder with Mentor Texts
Come join us as we explore the possibilities and power of using mentor texts as sparks for inquiry and learning with students in the Early… Read More →
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Developing JETS – From Getting Started to Taking Next Steps: How we can Help our Students Soar
JETS (Joy, Empathy, Thinking and Strategies), the destreaming model that has successfully been implemented in classrooms across the province, aims to create an individualized experience… Read More →
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Does Reading Even Matter Anymore?
In a world of endless scrolling through Tik Tok, X, Instagram, YouTube videos, websites, sound bites and images, does reading even matter anymore? In this… Read More →
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Effective Writing Instruction in the Early Years
Your early primary students might not all be able to PRINT when they start school in September, but they can all WRITE! Join B.C. author… Read More →
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Embedding Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Canadian Classrooms through Black History Using ‘The Kids Book of Black History in Canada’
This session explores how to meaningfully embed diversity, equity, and inclusion in Canadian classrooms using The Kids Book of Black History in Canada as a… Read More →
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Empowering Emerging Writers
Do you have reluctant writers in your midst? Any perfectionists? Learn how to engage and empower your emerging writers with various forms of low-stakes writing.… Read More →
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Enrich Your Read Aloud
Not all read aloud lessons are created equal! Some invite the reader to explore hidden meanings and think critically both within, and beyond, the boundaries… Read More →
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Equitable Assessment: Challenging Our Assumptions
How we assess and evaluate student work says much about our philosophy of education. This workshop seeks to challenge some of our preconceived notions of… Read More →
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Escape the Seminar!
You can come to this seminar, but can you escape? Kevin and Basil Sylvester have co-written two award-winning books AND they also design kid-friendly escape… Read More →
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Exploring Water Through Story Drama
In this workshop, educators will participate in a story drama session, exactly as their students would, using the book “The Lost Drop” by Grégoire Laforce… Read More →
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Fail-safe Literacy Strategies & Thinking Routines for Science
Join us as we explore classroom activities that engage students in thinking, exploring, and making sense of the world using an integrated literacy and science… Read More →
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From CEFR to Clarity: Assessing K-3 Language Skills / Du CECR à la Clarté: Évaluer les Compétences Linguistiques M-3
Unlock the potential of your K-3 language learners! In this dynamic, hands-on workshop, French immersion, core French, and ESL teachers will demystify the CEFR (common… Read More →
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Graphemes, Phonemes, and a Splash of Schwa!
Join us and delve into the fascinating world of graphemes and phonemes. We will cover practical definitions, “big ideas”, and engaging, hands-on activities to try… Read More →
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Independent Reading: Why and How?
Should we use valuable instructional time asking our students to read independently? Yes! If our students aren’t reading in our classrooms, many of them aren’t… Read More →
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Indigenous Knowledge Connections to the Belonging and Contributing Frame (Kindergarten) and Across the Grade 1 & 2 Curriculum
Come and hear some UGDSB educators share a resource that connects picture books by First Nations, Métis and Inuit authors to expectations in the Belonging… Read More →
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Inoculating Minds Against Misinformation… By Creating It!
Fighting misinformation can feel like a never-ending battle. Instead of trying to debunk every false claim, prebunk! By exposing minds to weakened forms of misinformation… Read More →
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Inside the ADHD Mind: Where it wanders, why it wanders, and how to help it, along with the rest of the classroom, to WANT to read
Multi-award-winning children’s author and reading motivation expert, Jeff Nathan, provides unique ADHD insight, delving into why the inattentive mind wanders (and to where) and why… Read More →
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KICKOFF. From the Magnus effect to the Magnificent Maradona
The World Cup of soccer is coming to North America. Sports writer and former sportscaster Kevin Sylvester will have some recommendations for stocking your library,… Read More →
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KPop Demon Hunters for the Love of It
KPop Demon Hunters is the summer 2025 blockbuster movie. Our students have seen it, talked about it, sung the songs, done the dances, worn the… Read More →
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Learning is Fun in ELP 1: The importance of play-based learning
Immerse yourself into a world of wonder and curiosity, where teachable moments are endless and learning is fuelled by our littlest learners. Together we will… Read More →
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Literacy in Bloom: Intentional Design for Kindergarten
This interactive workshop “Literacy in Bloom: Intentional Design for Kindergarten,” will dive into the powerful intersection of environmental design, play-based learning, and literacy instruction, all… Read More →
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Look Before You Leap: Testing the GenAI Waters in Elementary Schools
There’s a buzz about educators using Artificial Intelligence in their classrooms. Do you have FOMO (a fear of missing out)? This introductory session will highlight… Read More →
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MISSION POSSIBLE: Encourager la lecture autonome et soutenir l’enseignement avec le CECRL
Dans les contextes d’immersion française et d’enseignement du français langue seconde/additionnelle, trouver des textes attrayants et adaptés au niveau linguistique des élèves constitue un défi.… Read More →
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Morphemes Matter: Simple Steps for Building Morphological Awareness
Are you interested in building morphology instruction into your Kindergarten or Grade 1 Classroom, but don’t know where to start? Join us for this step-by-step… Read More →
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Moving Beyond a Booklist: Critical Book Selection with an Equity Lens
As educators we have the platform to help our students feel ‘seen’ and represented through the books we choose to intentionally share and teach through… Read More →
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Navigating the Information Landscape: A Practical Guide to Media Literacy
Feeling overwhelmed by the constant deluge of information and unsure of what to believe? You’re not alone. Most of us aren’t prepared to navigate this… Read More →
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Nonfiction Reading and Writing: From proposal to book launch!
This workshop focuses on how to teach your students to write nonfiction. You will see the process authors go through to publish a nonfiction book,… Read More →
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Once Upon a Robot: Bringing STEM to Life Through Picture Books and Hands-On Robotics
Discover how picture books can launch powerful STEM and robotics explorations in the classroom! In this interactive workshop, educators will learn how to use storytelling… Read More →
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Poetry in Motion: Integrating drama, movement, and music into language learning
This interactive workshop explores how integrating drama, movement, music, and poetry can enhance students’ literacy skills while supporting social-emotional development. Grounded in research on multimodal… Read More →
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Powerful Thinking Across the Curriculum
Join BC teacher and author, Adrienne Gear, as she shares key concepts and ideas from her newest book, Powerful Thinking. She will begin with the… Read More →
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Prove it! Exploring Effective Approaches to Infusing Argumentation in K-5 Mathematics
There is a strong connection between persuasive writing in language arts and argumentation in mathematics. Argumentation is a key foundation to all mathematical learning. Like… Read More →
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Provoking with Purpose: Supporting Literacy Development Using Loose Parts and Invitations for Learning
“Provoking with Purpose” will provide Early Years educators with practical strategies and tools to engage children in authentic learning experiences in a French and English… Read More →
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Queer Books and Straight Talk
Are you looking for support and resources to begin or expand your 2SLGBTQI+ inclusion practices? From emergent to experienced, this workshop will empower you to… Read More →
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Reader Self-Perception Matters: Teaching All Students to be Confident and Competent
Self-perception refers to a student’s sense of self as a reader and their belief in their own capabilities. Students with positive self-perceptions see themselves as… Read More →
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Reimagine Your Teaching Toolbox: Practical AI for the Classroom
As the push towards AI increases, teachers are starting to see the benefits of its uses in the classroom. As this world is relatively new… Read More →
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Rethinking Play: How Play Lowers Aggression and Anxiety While Building Resilience in Children
After this session, you may never look at play the same way again. Today’s culture has increasingly replaced play with passive entertainment, and the consequences… Read More →
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Spoken Word’s Golden Worth
This workshop will explore the impact that reading, writing and reciting spoken word poetry has on students’ literacy and confidence as a learner. Read More →
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Sunday School Dropout: A Life Built on Failures
Ali Hassan delivers a hilarious and memorable keynote about the lessons he’s learned from all the insurmountable obstacles and outright failures in his life. Ali… Read More →
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Teaching Holocaust History in Grade 6: To Hope and Back, the Journey of the St. Louis
With a new initiative in place to begin Holocaust education in grade 6, To Hope and Back is a valuable resource in the classroom. Educators… Read More →
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The Art and Science of Joyful Reading in the Junior Grades: The Five Pillars in Practice
As readers grow, so does the complexity of the texts and the opportunity to deepen both skill and joy. In this session, we explore how… Read More →
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The Art and Science of Joyful Reading in the Primary Classroom: The Five Pillars in Practice
In the early years, building a strong foundation in reading is critical, but it doesn’t have to come at the expense of joy. This session… Read More →
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The Essay Re-imagined
The essay has long held sway as a dominant intellectual exercise for high school students. The pre-eminence of the essay is for good reason as… Read More →
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The Literacy Coaches Corner: Supporting Literacy Capacity Builders
Behind almost every confident reader is a teacher and behind many of those teachers is a colleague educator who quietly encourages, questions, and helps to… Read More →
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The Performance Text
Drama can be a powerful tool for social change. It allows students to call attention to injustice and to envision a scene in which injustice… Read More →
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The Role of Morphological Awareness in Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension
The workshop focuses on the role of morphological awareness in vocabulary and reading comprehension. We begin with a definition of morphological awareness and then discuss… Read More →
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The Science of Resilience: Understanding Aggression and Supporting Lasting Change
Where does resilience come from? We can’t make a kid change and we certainly can’t force growth. Consequences only work for the students that care… Read More →
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The Subject of this Sentence
The Foundations of Language strand in the recently revised Language and English curriculum has created opportunities (and challenges) for teachers. This interactive workshop will explore… Read More →
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The Whole Story: From Information to Influence
During the session, participants will engage in a process that invites students to recognize perspectives and ideologies in media news texts and how to critically… Read More →
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Think Like a Machine, Learn Like a Human: AI tools that turn ideas into action
Ready to supercharge your inquiry-based classroom with the power of AI? This dynamic session will explore how artificial intelligence can empower students as creators, problem-solvers,… Read More →
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Unboxing Creativity
Eric and Devin Fan will discuss their creative process, from initial inspiration, to working on the final book. Their latest book, “Barnaby Unboxed!”, is Terry… Read More →
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Unearthing the Read Aloud
In this engaging and practical workshop, participants will explore the essential role of the read-aloud within a comprehensive daily language program. Educators will learn how… Read More →
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Unplugged Coding in the Early Years Using Picture Books!
In this session, Melissa & Lesley will explore picture books that promote coding in the early years classroom. Educators will have the opportunity to explore… Read More →
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Using Concept Circle Thinking Routines (CCTRs) to Facilitate Mathematical Discourse and Empower Students to become Insightful Visualizers of Mathematics
Many students hold the believe that mathematics is very rigid; that math is just numbers and not a rich language that describes our world. This… Read More →
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Using the Total Physical Response Method in the ESL Classroom and Beyond
Total Physical Response, or TPR for short, is a method of teaching language acquisition using a combination of words and actions. By including kinesthetic reinforcement… Read More →
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What can a Read Aloud do? Fostering Identity, Belonging and Community with Interactive Read Alouds
Read alouds are often a daily activity in the elementary classroom. They are also a foundational cornerstone used to promote a love of reading, model… Read More →
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What’s Missing In Math Instruction
Discover four simple shifts in instruction that will help students demonstrate what they know in the classroom and on any test. Each shift is supported… Read More →
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Windows, Mirrors and Sliding Doors – Using Literature to Create Culturally Responsive and Relevant Classrooms
This session will provide the “how” to engage your literacy classroom and meet the Ministry of Education expectation that students read, listen to and view… Read More →
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Write to Read
This practical session invites participants to consider the reading/writing connection. Using recent examples of literature as springboards, we will experience some meaningful accessible strategies for… Read More →
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Writing as Social Activism
The road to reconciliation is paved with Story. The phrase “Truth & Reconciliation” means the two are inextricably linked. While the definition and understanding of… Read More →
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You are an Author! Let’s get your work Published in the Journal of Classroom Research in Literacy!
Since 2008, the Journal of Classroom Research in Literacy (JCRL) has been championing the work of teachers and teacher candidates doing classroom-based research in literacy.… Read More →
