Common Core literacy standards emphasize teaching students the skills they need to successfully read and comprehend multiple sources related to the same topic, and then integrate information from those sources to answer a written prompt. This session will present instructional strategies for explicitly teaching students the comprehension skills they need to complete the first component of source writing: understanding the sources. Participants will learn how to teach and use scaffolds for text annotation, identifying main ideas, general note taking, and summarizing information from written sources. A sample practice activity will be completed during the session. Participants may attend just this session, or combine it with the related afternoon session.

Joan Sedita is the founder of Keys to Literacy, a literacy professional development organization based in MA. For more than 35 years, she has been an experienced educator and nationally recognized teacher trainer. Sedita has authored multiple literacy professional development programs, including The Key Comprehension Routine, The Key Vocabulary Routine, Keys to Content Writing, Keys to Early Writing, and Keys to Close Reading. Beginning in 1975, she worked for 23 years at the Landmark School, a pioneer in the development of literacy intervention programs. As a teacher, principal, and director of the Outreach Teacher Training Program at Landmark, Sedita developed expertise, methods, and instructional programs that address the literacy needs of students in grades K-12. She was one of the three lead trainers in MA for the Reading First Program and is a LETRS author and trainer. She is also an adjunct instructor at Endicott College. Sedita received her M.Ed. in Reading from Harvard University and her B.A. from Boston College.