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Spotlight on Schema, Strategy, and the Language of Reading in Improving Literacy Outcomes!

MILE is excited to present May’s Lunch & Learn webinar “Is Skimming Cheating? How about Scanning?: Spotlight on Schema, Strategy, and the Language of Reading in Improving Literacy Outcomes!” with Dr. Anita Pandey. This talk includes insights beneficial to pre-K-3 instructors (including dual language and ESL personnel and instructional aides) and program administrators.

Attendees will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Zoom meeting after registering using the link below.

Objectives

  • Demonstrate that everyday reading for most P-12 students is multimodal, especially today

  • Argue and demonstrate that decoding language (verbal, visual, kinesic, textual) is key to reading success

  • Demonstrate that the language of reading differs

  • Argue that a focus on the language of a reading must look at more than vocabulary, and multimodal readings, instructional approaches, and tools could improve reading outcomes significantly

  • Propose strategies to make readings more representative of students' literacy practices, and the act and process of reading, as well as assessments of reading more linguistically and culturally inclusive

About the Speaker

Anita Pandey is a professor of applied linguistics, writing, and teacher education at Morgan State University, and the Interim Director of The Writing Center.  She earned her doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and holds a B.A. (honors) in English--with a minor in African literature--from Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria.  Anita was born and raised in Africa, and spent time primarily in Zambia (her birth place), Nigeria, and Cameroon.  She acquired Hindi from her parents and picked up Hindi, some Yoruba, Hausa, and Nigerian Pidgin in her childhood.  She learned French and Spanish as a teenager--primarily from children, as documented in her first book, The Child Language Teacher: Intergenerational Language and Literary Enhancement, which chronicles how she taught her mother English in her childhood, and how this empowering experience enhanced her academic and social skills.  Her latest book is titled Language Building Blocks (Language Building Blocks 9780807753552 | Teachers College Press).

Anita chairs the Early Childhood SIG at the National Association for Bilingual Education.  She served as U.S. Liaison for Childhood Education International from 2017 to 2020, and on the Board of the National Association for Bilingual Education from 2014 to 2017.  She directed the Howard County African American History Project, part of the Historical Society, and was a featured speaker for the Howard County Office of Human Rights and Equity: Howard County's Unsung (S)heroes - YouTube.  She is a proud parent and an advocate for family engagement, alternative testing (e.g., portfolio and multimodal assessments), and performative reading and writing instruction or what she calls "performative literacies." She can be reached at anita.pandey@morgan.edu and she welcomes opportunities to engage on matters pertaining to dual language learners and families, in particular.

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