We enjoyed listening to Kate, Nellie and Leigh at the 2023 Literacy & Learning Conference! Attend their workshop for another great learning session.
Session: Unlocking Word Power: Practical Classroom Strategies for Explicit Vocabulary Instruction
Join teachers Kate Winn, Nellie Caruso, and Leigh Fettes as they delve into the transformative power of effective vocabulary instruction across all grades. Discover evidence-based, “use it tomorrow” strategies in this session that will provide the tools and knowledge needed to teach this critical component of proficient reading and writing. Don’t miss this opportunity to maximize the power of vocabulary instruction to support equitable educational outcomes for all students.
Kate Winn has been teaching since 2000 with the PVNCCDSB, and is currently in a kindergarten classroom. She is a passionate advocate for evidence-based literacy instruction for all students, and her IDA Ontario webinar “Structured Literacy in Kindergarten: 5 Changes That Made All My Students Readers” has been viewed by more than 12,000 educators worldwide. She is the host and coproducer of IDA Ontario’s hit podcast, Reading Road Trip. Kate has presented to the Minister of Education, OCSOA (Ontario Catholic Supervisory Officers Association) and teacher federation representatives, and presented on Fluency with Nellie Caruso and Leigh Fettes at last year’s Literacy Learning Conference. A trained Acadience Reading K-6 Mentor, she was a panelist for the IDA Ontario Literacy Leaders series on assessment. Kate is a Content Lead with ONlit and has facilitated professional development at PVNC and for Ontario boards such as NCDSB, TBCDSB, PDSB, ADSB and HPCDSB.
Leigh Fettes is a Teaching and Learning Coach in Muskoka, and a part-time MEd student in Reading Development and Instruction. She advocates for the use of evidence-based structured literacy instruction in French Immersion (and all) classrooms. Leigh has completed LETRS, Orton-Gillingham for the Classroom Educator, and Reading Teachers Top 10 Tools. In the fall of 2022, Leigh was a teacher panelist for the IDA Literacy Leaders series on assessment and screening, and co-presented with Nellie Caruso and Kate Winn at the IDA Literacy and Learning Conference in 2023. She believes strongly in the power of universal screening and is an Acadience Mentor. She is also trained in and uses IDAPEL/Acadience French. Leigh presented to the Minister of Education on two separate occasions with IDA Ontario about the Right to Read and Early Screening. She is a proud member of the Onlit team!
Nellie Caruso has been a French Immersion teacher since 1999. In addition to teaching in various elementary grades, she also spent several years working as a Literacy Coach. Nellie has completed the Orton-Gillingham course at the Classroom Educator level. In her current role, Nellie not only provides French structured literacy instruction in her classroom, but she is also actively focused on disseminating knowledge and building teacher capacity in her school and beyond. With a Masters degree in French, Nellie is passionate about the intersection of reading science research and FSL instruction. Nellie has a particular interest in using universal screening to inform instruction in the immersion context; she is trained to administer and interpret the data from IDAPEL and Acadience K-6 measures. She is currently a volunteer for IDA Ontario, showcasing her own journey with universal screening in the Literacy Leaders webinar series, and is in the process of completing LETRS training.