PLD

Delivering PLD to Schools

At the heart of effective literacy education is the ability to break down complex concepts into clear, actionable teaching methods. My goal is to partner with schools to deliver professional development that transforms the way teachers approach Structured Literacy.

Professional Learning and Development

Unlock the Power of Effective Teaching

My mission is to provide schools with high-quality, tailored professional development that equips teachers to excel in Structured Literacy instruction. By breaking down the complexities of language into manageable, teachable components, I offer a practical, research-based approach to literacy that benefits every student.

Through personalized coaching sessions, I help educators master key literacy principles such as phonological awareness, vocabulary, morphology, syntax, and comprehension. By modeling effective teaching strategies and offering ongoing support, I ensure that each teacher feels confident in their ability to implement Structured Literacy in their classroom.

Let’s work together to create a customized PD plan that meets the unique needs of your school and transforms literacy outcomes for all learners.

Kia ora Marianne, I wanted to thank you for the outstanding session on Friday. Thank you for the rich, engaging, and insightful presentations on dyslexia, in-class interventions, handwriting, and your modeled "Code" lesson. Each session introduced multiple new learnings, and I appreciated how you challenged our staff’s thinking. Another highlight was hearing about your personal experience as a parent working alongside your son. Your insights gave us a genuine perspective into what parents experience. This allowed our teachers to reflect on how we can better assist parents in this journey. It was clear that you are an explicit and deliberate teacher, ensuring every minute in your classroom counts! Thank you again for such an enriching session. I look forward to working with you again next year.

Amanda Frater – Principal of Wadestown School

Cohort MOE Year 0-3 and Year 4-8 Structured Literacy PLD Workshops

As an MOE accredited and approved facilitator, Marianne is excited to offer Cohort Professional Development to various locations in Cohort 3, starting in Term 1. This comprehensive PLD will consist of three face-to-face workshops combined with eight 1-hour online sessions.

Workshop One: What is a Structured Literacy approach?

• Introduction and background to Structured Literacy, dispelling myths, and explaining the Science of
Learning behind Structured Literacy . We will also explore the elements of Structured Literacy.
• Comparing a Balanced or Whole Language approach to a Structured approach
• The Ladder of Reading
• Cognitive load theory
Vocab of Structured Literacy
• The importance of phonemic awareness – how to assess and how to teach
• Orthographic Mapping
• How to use a scope and sequence – any scope and sequence
• Decodable books
• Lesson plan – whole class, group and individual

Workshop Two: Spelling patterns of the English language

• Building teacher knowledge and confidence
• Learn about the patterns of the English language
• This increased knowledge will provide a pathway to confidently teach it in a structured literacy way
– systematically, cumulatively, explicitly and diagnostically
• Increase teacher knowledge around literacy terms such as syllable type, digraph, schwa,
diphthong, affixes and the alphabetic principle

Workshop Three: Reading Fluency, Morphology and Language Comprehension

• Fluency: what is it? how to teach it, how to assess it, and some practical ways to integrate it into
your classroom
• Language Comprehension: review of two guiding models – Simple View of Reading and
Scarborough’s Rope and explore the Language Comprehension strands (background knowledge,
vocabulary, language structures, verbal reasoning and literary knowledge)
• Gain practical activities you can immediately use in your education setting that covers the
decoding and language comprehension sides of the rope
• Assessment and getting started

You were fab, knowledgeable, warm, and engaging and day flew by with variety in presentation and practical activities. Thanks Marianne, best and most practical course I’ve attended in some time. Thank you

RTLB

Really practical, packed heaps in, no time wasted, ideas I will actually use on my first day back teaching.

Classroom Teacher

I loved how you integrated the theory into the delivery, you had good knowledge and activities to take away for the classroom. The games were excellent, and the presentation was shared with all to reduce the need to write copious notes. It was great that there was time was allowed for questions at the end.

Deputy Principal

Furthered my understanding of how to plan, prepare and run tier 2&3 sessions. Practical, fun but applicable activities. Great presenter, clear speech, easy to follow and good explanations of each area covered.

Intervention Teacher

I love all the practical ideas and user-friendly ideas I can put into practice straight away. I also appreciated the 'a ha' moments when I could see why things happen the way they do when kids are learning.

Classroom Teacher

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