AGENDA

“Why Handwriting Matters: The Hidden Connection Between Letter Formation and Reading Growth”
Early handwriting is more than neat penmanship — it is a pathway to stronger reading and spelling. In this session, Amie Burkholder breaks down the powerful research behind letter formation and why accurate, automatic handwriting plays a critical role in orthographic mapping, decoding, and long-term reading success. Teachers will explore the developmental sequence of handwriting, high-impact routines for teaching letter formation, and simple daily practices that increase student automaticity without adding more to their plate. Amie will share practical classroom strategies, common pitfalls to avoid, and ways to integrate handwriting seamlessly into the existing literacy block. Participants will leave with research-aligned techniques they can use immediately to support young learners — especially those who struggle with reading, writing, and working memory.

Amie Burkholder

“Active Learning for Active Minds: Increasing the Explicitness of WORD READING Instruction” (K-8)
In this session, we will cover what explicit instruction is and look specifically at opportunities to respond when teaching word reading. When teachers increase opportunities to respond, they increase engagement, practice opportunities, and the overall effectiveness of their lessons.

Kacey Sterne & Amy Wolford

“SPARKING MINDS: Motivating Student Authors: Using Positive Feedback Strategies” (4-8)
This session will share examples of research and strategies to support teachers in using powerful and purposeful methods for implementing feedback. Often, teachers struggle with assigning writing tasks, students struggle with writing apathy, and it becomes a no-win situation for everyone. Providing feedback has been shown to foster stronger student motivation and confidence for independent writing. By utilizing the research on student writing self-efficacy, along with studies on writing feedback, participants will have the opportunity to apply practical and easy-to-implement ways to impact their classroom and hopefully their students' future attitudes toward writing. Participants will leave this session with hands-on experience in providing purposeful feedback for their writing classrooms.

Michelle Papenfus, Sarah Skeen, Donna Fortune & Mason Engelhardt

“Tier 2 Vocabulary and Strategies to Improve Testing Equity” (K-6)
This session will focus on the role of vocabulary in testing equity, particularly for students who struggle with reading. By examining the role of vocabulary in assessments, participants will learn about strategies to help identify ambiguous language, thus helping ensure a fairer testing environment. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles will be discussed as a framework for guiding this discussion.

Courtneay Kelly

“Utilizing VALLSS 4-8 to Inform Instruction” (4-8)
The session will provide an overview of the VALLSS 4-8 screener, including its purpose, structure, and the areas of literacy it measures. Participants will learn how the assessment identifies students' relative strengths and areas for growth in both word recognition and language comprehension. We will focus on practical ways teachers and reading specialists can use this information to guide instruction, design interventions, and implement evidence-based practices that support students across all content areas.

Julie Young & Lori Keister

“Sprints and Marathons: From Quick Writes to Multi-Part Compositions in All Genres”
Part of becoming a skilled writer involves mastery of multiple genres and composition of writing products that vary in structure and content. For many, developing a specific strategy based on the demands of the writing task is difficult and some students attempt to attack multiple writing tasks in the same manner. However, depending on the topic, genre, and composition complexity and length, the way in which writers approach different writing tasks varies. In this session, we will focus on the use of quick writes (sprints) to build student confidence and experience before progressing to extended compositions (marathons) that require stamina. 

Rebecca Harper

Virginia Reader’s Choice Session
Come to the Virginia Reader's Choice session that will reveal the Primary, Elementary, Middle School and High School titles for the 2026-27 school year.

Susan La Paro, Valerie Robnolt, Roxanne Spencer, Christine Hebert and Kristina Chilian

“Every Word Tells a Story: Teaching Morphology Early and Often Across ALL Grades”
It’s time to retire the myth that morphology belongs only in the upper grades. What if we told you that some of the most powerful leverage for vocabulary growth, spelling, decoding, and comprehension can begin as early as Kindergarten? Grounded in the most current research and firmly aligned with the Science of Reading, this session challenges traditional timelines for literacy instruction and repositions morphology as an essential—not optional—component from the very start. Drawing on the work of Dr. Reid Lyon and other leading researchers, participants will explore why waiting to teach morphology leaves instructional potential untapped and students underserved. This presentation pairs a compelling, research-driven case with high-impact, hands-on classroom experiences that teachers can use immediately—equipping educators to unlock meaning, build word consciousness, and change the trajectory of literacy instruction across grades. When we teach children how words carry meaning, we give them more than strategies—we give them access.

Garrett Blane Ivey