Literacy professional development is provided by the TCNJ Literacy Advancement Project. It provides support for students, families, and educators to enhance the literacy development and success of all students.
What We Do | TCNJ Literacy Advancement Project
Teaching about Climate Change in the Early Years- A literacy-integrated approach to science learning: K-3 Teachers
March 13, 1pm-3pm
This session is focused on sharing ideas for teaching literacy from the context of climate change. We’ll begin by unpacking the NJSLS and connections to climate change. Next, we’ll explore strategies for planning interdisciplinary climate change lessons grounded in literacy. We’ll discuss a variety of ideas for classroom implementation including outdoor learning and partnering with school librarians.
Instructor: Dr. Lauren Madden is a Professor of Elementary Science Education at The College of New Jersey. She holds a BA in Earth Sciences-Oceanography, MS in Marine Science and PhD in Science Education. Dr. Madden’s work advocates for scientific literacy and the health of our planet through teaching and learning. Her research has been supported by grants from the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium, National Science Foundation, and US Environmental Protection Agency. She has written a textbook on Elementary Science Teaching Methods along with more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. She was named the 2021 Outstanding Science Teacher Educator of the Year by the Association for Science Teacher Education and served as the inaugural iCAN STEM Role Model Award by the New Jersey STEM Pathways Network. In recent years, her work has focused directly on K-5 climate change education, and she was the lead author on the New Jersey School Boards’ Association & Sustainable Jersey For Schools’ Report on K-Noon Climate Change Education Needs in New Jersey. Her expertise in climate change education in New Jersey has been featured prominently in many media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, NPR, and the Star Ledger.
Fee: $125.00
An Introduction to Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) – Educators who work with students in grades K-12
March 19, 1pm – 3pm
Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) is a discussion-based teaching method where students analyze an image and answer open-ended questions that promote close reading of the image. While VTS began in art education and museum studies, VTS benefits all K–Noon classrooms by strengthening critical thinking, language skills, attention to detail, and inclusive participation. It can be applied to any subject area that requires students to notice and interpret what they are examining. Participants will learn about VTS and how to facilitate VTS discussions with their own students. Applications in subject areas like language arts, science, history, and math will be examined as well as considerations for using VTS with English Language Learners.
Instructors:
Heather Osowski has over 20 years of experience in Deaf Education and holds a B.S. in Psychology, an M.A.T. in Deaf Education, and an Educational Leadership Certificate from The College of New Jersey. She is certified in Elementary Education, Teacher of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing, and Supervision. Her background includes serving as a high school Instructor: and transition coordinator at the state school for the Deaf and later as Project Director for the New Jersey Center on Deaf blindness (NJCDB). She now works as Project Coordinator for the Campaign for Language & Literacy Excellence (CLLE), supporting statewide initiatives in partnership with TCNJ and the NJ Division of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. A fluent ASL user, Heather is also an adjunct professor and clinical supervisor in TCNJ’s Teacher of the Deaf program and serves on the Katzenbach Parent and Staff Education Foundation board
Matthew Hall received his Ph.D. in Teaching and Learning with a focus on Literacy Instruction from New York University in 2013. His research examines how youth make meaning when interacting with multimodal texts, shifting relationships between writers and audiences in digital, networked spaces, and how to best integrate these new practices in educational settings. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses focused on literacy instruction with a particular emphasis on elementary and middle school. Prior to pursuing his doctorate, Matthew Hall worked as a literacy coach and a public-school teacher in New Jersey. He holds certifications in General Education, Special Education, Education for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and as a Reading Specialist.
Fee: $125.00
Children and Young Adult (YA) Literature for K-12 lifelong readers
March 20, Noon – 2pm
Join TCNJ’s Education Librarian, Ewa, to learn about the latest Children and YA literary trends. Learn about the tools that help keep up with kid lit and find new ways to bring literacy to your classroom
Instructor: Ewa Dziedzic-Elliott serves as the subject librarian for all departments in the School of Education at The College of New Jersey. She has 10 years of experience as a K-Noon librarian, including work in both elementary and high school settings. She holds an MLIS from Rutgers University and an MA in Polish Language and Literature with a minor in Speech Pathology from Jan Kochanowski University, Poland, EU. She is an editor and coauthor of the book We Can Teach That Information Literacy for School Librarians, as well as articles in the Journal of Academic Librarianship, Political Librarian, and Library Connections. She served on the executive board for New Jersey Association of School Librarians (NJASL) and currently is a part of an editorial team for the Political Librarian Journal.
Fee: $125.00
Book Banning and Censorship in NJ schools – K-12 Educators
March 27 Noon – 2pm
Book Banning doesn’t happen in NJ, right? Wrong, it happens everywhere. Join TCNJ’s Education Librarian, Ewa, to learn about the latest trends around the subject of censorship in NJ.
Instructor: Ewa Dziedzic-Elliott serves as the subject librarian for all departments in the School of Education at The College of New Jersey. She has 10 years of experience as a K-Noon librarian, including work in both elementary and high school settings. She holds an MLIS from Rutgers University and an MA in Polish Language and Literature with a minor in Speech Pathology from Jan Kochanowski University, Poland, EU. She is an editor and coauthor of the book We Can Teach That Information Literacy for School Librarians, as well as articles in the Journal of Academic Librarianship, Political Librarian, and Library Connections. She served on the executive board for New Jersey Association of School Librarians (NJASL) and currently is a part of an editorial team for the Political Librarian Journal.
Fee: $125.00
Refresh Your Read-aloud with Literacy Apprenticeship: Teachers in elementary and middle grades
April 17 Lunch and Learn 11am – 2pm
This session will introduce teachers to a wide variety of award-winning and highly regarded picture books that have been published in the past ten years to help you up and refresh your read-aloud choices and classroom library. The participants will have an opportunity to read sample inquiry text sets designed to help young people explore issues like finding a sense of belonging, building resilience, and understanding the rewards of risk-taking. The facilitator will model read-aloud teaching techniques that scaffold students’ critical comprehension skills, especially students who have difficulty making meaning from text. This session will be most useful to teachers who are looking for ways to engage and support students with differing abilities in hard-to-learn literacy skills like inferential thinking, metacognitive awareness, and critical analysis.
Instructor: Anne Peel is an Associate Professor of Literacy Education in the Special Education, Language & Literacy Department of the TCNJ School of Education. She teaches a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses that focus on the foundations of reading instruction and assessment, disciplinary literacy in secondary schools, writing instruction in inclusive classrooms, and children’s literature. As a former high school English teacher, she continues to maintain collaborations with multiple districts across New Jersey, providing professional development support in literacy instruction. Her scholarship has been published in English Journal, Journal of Language and Literacy Education, Literacy, and The Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy among others; she has presented her research at numerous national and international conferences.
Fee: $225.00 – Lunch provided