Monday AM General Session
Talented Readers
Little research has been conducted on talented readers. Recently, researchers at The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented conducted two studies on this important topic. This session will address issues related to talented readers and provide information about what currently happens to them in American classrooms. Attention will be focused on the special needs of this group as well as the specific differentiated strategies necessary to help them continue to progress in reading. The results of these studies will be presented in this session, as will suggestions for helping talented readers make continuous progress in reading both in school and at home.

Monday PM General Session/Tuesday AM General Session
The Schoolwide Enrichment Model Reading Framework
This session will provide an overview of a new reading framework, The Schoolwide Enrichment Model Reading Framework (SEMR). This approach is based on the Enrichment Triad Model (Renzulli, 1977) and was developed to enhance enjoyment in reading, while subsequently increasing student achievement. The SEMR has three distinct goals, to increase enjoyment in reading, to encourage students to pursue independent reading and to improve reading fluency and comprehension. The SEMR involves three phases of reading instruction. Phase 1 involves selections designed to stimulate reading interest and follow-up through the selection of high interest read-aloud by classroom teachers accompanied by higher level questioning. Phase 2 of the SEMR includes opportunities for silent reading and guided instruction in silent reading by the teacher of self-selected high interest reading materials. Phase 3 of the SEMR involves opportunities for self-selected work in a variety of enrichment opportunities in reading.

Tuesday PM General Session
Increasing Self-Regulation in Reading
What is self-regulation and how does it affect talented readers? In what ways can we help students learn to increase their ability to read for extended periods of time and read more challenging material? This session will report on several years of research related to increasing self-regulation in reading.

Wednesday General Session
Teachers Who Write, Writers Who Teach: Differentiation through Writing Instruction
Writing is one of the best ways to differentiate at every level and in every content area. Yet in far too many classrooms, writing instruction is left to worksheet answers and journal prompts that leave the vast opportunities for differentiation untapped. When teachers make best practices for writing instruction the foundation of their classroom, differentiation naturally follows.

Morning Session: This discussion will focus on the fundamentals for differentiation through writing instruction and will end with a practical look at how two teachers make it work. We will examine questions such as: What are the best practices for writing instruction? What are the road blocks that teachers face in implementing them? How can these roadblocks be overcome in both the elementary and secondary classroom?

Afternoon Session: Essentially, every teacher is a writing teacher, regardless of level or content area. We will continue our discussion by examining practical ways teachers can make more time for writing in the content areas. We will also look at issues in writing conferencing—a vital part of differentiation and yet probably the most difficult to implement. What do experts in this field suggest for making this work? We will end by exploring ways teachers can boost their own confidence as writing role models and instructors.