Reading Comprehension Strategies and Tools for Teachers of MTB-MLE Classrooms!

The Reading Comprehension Interest Group is excited to share with you our latest guidance, developed by Reading Comprehension Interest Group members from a range of different organizations and institutions. Our guide, Reading Comprehension Strategies and Tools for Teachers of MTB-MLE Classrooms, aims to support teachers to build children’s reading comprehension skills and strategies. Knowing how complex teaching for understanding can be especially in Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) environments, this guide provides MTB-MLE adaptation tips for the teaching of 14 reading comprehension skills and strategies, and it provides teachers with overall guidance on useful reading comprehension strategies, such as Read Alouds and Think Alouds.

During the webinar, Patience Sowa, PhD, and Heidi Schubert will walk you through the guidance and its intended users and uses. You will also have the chance to experience what it’s like to participate in one or more of the reading comprehension games/activities described in the guide.

A little background on our presenters:

Dr. Patience Sowa is a language and literacy expert at RTI International who has over 25 years of experience in teacher preparation and international education. Dr. Sowa spearheaded RTI International Education Division’s initiative for the upper primary grades in low and middle-income countries. She is particularly interested in researching and developing forms of bilingual teaching and learning for school children in low and middle-income countries, specifically as they transition from mother tongue education in the early grades to postcolonial languages of teaching and learning in the upper primary grades.

Heidi Schubert, as Save the Children’s Quality Learning Advisor, coordinates strategic initiatives around Save the Children’s Literacy Boost and Numeracy Boost programs, including supporting staff learning of these approaches. Her interest in the science of reading and reading comprehension is what brought her into the education sector and has driven her work through her years of teaching at the elementary level in the US, S. Korea, and Guatemala and through her years of supporting education research and international education programs.