​The "Science of Reading" is a very hot topic in literacy, and the International Literacy Association has devoted the most recent issue of its September/October magazine Literacy Today, the next two issues of its journal Reading Research Quarterly, and an ILA Intensive to exploring the topic's many angles. 

Part of the offerings include "Making Sense of the Science of Reading," a seminar taking place Thursday, September 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. ET. The registration fee for ILA members is $99 USD.

Be sure to browse through the ILA's Executive Summary of Reading Research Quarterly's special issue on the Science of Reading. The executive summary highlights key findings and provides summaries for the articles that will appear in RRQ. Consider sharing snippets with your colleagues in staff newsletters, staff meetings, and PLC sessions. 

ILA also has a number of free events that explore the science of reading and other timely topics. Their recent webinars have been quite inspirational – check out the free recordings when you have a moment! Check back soon for a post about the recent webinar Literacy Teaching in Turbulent Times with Jonah Edelman, Nell Duke and Ernest Morrell, one that we would highly recommend. 

Finally, there is no in-person ILA meeting this year. Instead, ILA will host "ILA Next," a digital conference that will be held throughout October. ILA recently announced that its members will be able to access the whole conference for a reduced rate of $99 US, which includes access to session recordings. 

The International Literacy Association has moved their professional learning opportunities online. 

Coming up on August 4, 2020 from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. is a session with Jonah Edelman, Ernest Morrell, and Nell K. Duke. From ILA: "Anti-Black racism and the global COVID-19 pandemic are having an unprecedented impact on our students, our schools, and our profession. Please join us as Stand for Children's Jonah Edelman facilitates a frank conversation with Ernest Morrell and Nell K. Duke about the challenges and opportunities of teaching during an unsettling and uncertain time." Registration is free and open to all.

​Previous free webinars open to everyone include Book Access in the Post-COVID Era and How to Raise and Teach Anti-Racist Kids. There are additional webinars available for ILA members – join ILA today to access member benefits including these webinars, lesson plans, journals, and professional book discounts. 

In response to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, the Reading Council of Greater Winnipeg, along with many of its fellow Special Area Groups of Educators of the Manitoba Teachers' Society, has opted to move completely online for MTS PD Day, October 23, 2020.

We are pleased to share that Penny Kittle will be delivering a full-day webinar titled Empowering and Motivating Students to Read and Write. 

Are you ready to empower and motivate your students to read and write? Join Penny Kittle for an amazing day of strategies and tips to take student apathy head on. Learn how to recognize why students don’t read and to create a pathway to satisfying reading that leads to more challenging literature and, ultimately, a love of reading. Discover what makes the single biggest difference to student writers. Learn how to make your writing processes is made visible to your students to demonstrate the power of writing beside mentor texts and emulating those difficult writer’s moves in their own creative text.

For more information, visit our MTS PD Day page. 

The Manitoba Teachers' Society has shared a professional development opportunity with SAGE groups: "Talking About Racism in the Classroom." Canadian high school teachers can register to attend this free online seminar scheduled throughout the summer. The seminar is offered by the Global Centre for Pluralism in partnership with the Canadian Commission for UNESCO. For more information, please visit the Global Centre for Pluralism's website.

In these challenging times, high school students may have many questions about race and racial injustice in Canada and the US, and as teachers, students may turn to you for context and perspective. What will you say and how can you support them? Perhaps you have the same questions? Where do you start? The Global Centre for Pluralism, in partnership with the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, is offering two-hour virtual professional development sessions for Canadian teachers on how to have conversations about race in the classroom. Facilitated by inclusion and anti-racism consultant, Destine Lord, this dialogue-based small group session will provide educators with the key definitions and racial concepts necessary to get these conversations started.

Together, participants will discuss how to create brave spaces, which invite student engagement. Participants will walk away with techniques that help them listen with intent, validate emotion, model empathy and challenge students to question their own bias and assumptions. Leaning into discomfort, with openness and humility, is one of the most important things that a teacher can model for their students. The goal is not to make participants experts in race relations but to provide the tools to facilitate challenging conversations that hold space for emotions. Additional resources will be provided at the end of the session.

The Reading Council of Greater Winnipeg extends congratulations to the newly elected members of the International Literacy Association's Board of Directors. We are very pleased to hear that Rob Tierney, Dean Emeritus and Professor at the University of British Columbia, has been elected Vice President. As a result, Rob will be ILA's president in 2021-2022. Congratulations to all new board members!

The Board of Directors of the Reading Council of Greater Winnipeg invite all members to attend our Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, June 9, 2020 at 4:30 PM. The meeting will be held on Zoom.  Please RSVP to Leslie Dickson or Jackie Parsons to receive the meeting link.