First Team Education can assist your school or district in obtaining first-rate speakers
for your professional days. Contact us with your needs and we will put you in touch with
the correct speaker. If you are interested in having a Stenhouse or Scholastic Teaching
Resources author speak to your district, please call Brenda at 317-834-1652 or email.
Linda Morgason
Linda Morgason earned her BS and MA in Education from Ball State University. She has taught
kindergarten through fifth grade during her 38 years as an educator. Linda received extensive
training at The Ohio State University in 1999-2000 to become a Primary Literacy Coordinator to train
teachers in Literacy Collaborative, a research-based literacy framework. She served as a Literacy
Coordinator in Richmond Schools for 7 years. Linda has authored several literacy idea books for
teachers through The Education Center. She has presented at numerous national and state conferences
including: The International Reading Conference, The National Reading Recovery Conference, Indiana Association
for the Education of Young Children, and The Indiana State Reading Conference. Linda has done many
literacy workshops for teachers and has done literacy consulting for school districts. In 2000, Linda
was named Teacher of the Year for Richmond Community Schools and was among the top ten finalists for Indiana
Teacher of the Year. She now serves as the Preschool Literacy Coach for Wayne County.
Nancy Spurlock
Nancy Spurlock earned her B.S. at Indiana University. She earned her M.A.
in elementary education and did her administrative coursework at Ball State
University. During her career in education, she has taught first through fourth
Grade. Also, in 1998 Nancy received Reading Recovery Training and was a Reading
Recovery teacher and Title I coordinator at the building level at Maplewood
School for five years. Nancy then received extensive training at Purdue University
in 2003 to become a Primary Literacy Coordinator to train teachers in Literacy
Collaborative, a research-based literacy framework. She was a Literacy
Coordinator from 2003 to 2005 at Maplewood School in Connersville, Indiana.
In 2006 she became a Literacy Coordinator in four elementaries in Fayette
County. Nancy has presented at the Indiana State Reading Conference and
the National Reading Recovery Conference. She has also presented at Butler
University and Ball State Reading Conferences, as well as in other school
corporations in Indiana. Her present position is Literacy Coordinator in four
elementary schools in Fayette County.
Lynne Ecenbarger
Lynne has dedicated her career to improving literacy in her roles as a teacher, administrator,
literacy specialist, and education consultant. She has consulted with over 200 schools
throughout Indiana as well as schools across the nation. Lynne has served as an adjunct
faculty member of the Teacher’s college at Purdue University. And, she is the author of
Method Mania: Activities to Teach Comprehension Skills and
Strategies and Method Mania: Activities to Teach Phonological Awareness Skills and Strategies.
Neal Brewer
Neil Brewer spent the first twenty years of his teaching career in 5th and 6th grade classrooms,
and has drawn from that journey with students on many occasions in various written forms. Now
in his 5th year as a full time instructor of Graduate and Undergraduate Education an Indiana
University Southeast, Neil enjoys sharing his passion for writing and expressive reading with
new, as well as with highly experienced teachers, and he performs for audiences of all ages
as often as possible. Neil enjoys playing a variety of instruments, has written hundreds of
poems related to personal experiences, and performs the very best of the ‘school ones’ in his
current presentation. All of us can relate to the poetic observations and music of
The 8 O’Clock Bell.
Dr. Timothy Rasinski
Timothy Rasinski is a professor of education in the Department of Teaching, Leadership,
and Curriculum Studies. Dr. Rasinski teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in
literacy education. His major interests include working with children who find reading
difficult, phonics and reading fluency instruction, and teacher development in literacy
education. He has published over 100 articles and 10 books on various aspects of reading
education.
A past editor of The Reading Teacher, the most widely read journal in reading education
in the world, Dr. Rasinski is currently an editor for the Journal of Literacy Research.
Rasinski has served as president of the College Reading Association and he currently serves
on the Board of Directors of the International Reading Association. He earned bachelor
degrees in economics and education at the University of Akron and the University of
Nebraska at Omaha. His master's degree in special education also comes from the
University of Nebraska at Omaha. Dr. Rasinski was awarded the Ph.D. from The Ohio State
University.
Workshop Topics Covered
Linda Morgason and Nancy Spurlock
- Overview of Comprehensive Literacy Framework
- Components of Reading Workshop
- Shared Reading
- Guided Reading
- Interactive Read Aloud
- Independent Reading/Conferences
- Components of Writing Workshop
- Shared Writing/Interactive Writing
- Writing Mini-lessons
- Independent Writing/Conferences
- Integrating Content into Comprehensive Literacy Framework
- Word Study
- Connecting Reading and Writing
- Using Read Alouds Across the Curriculum
- Fluency
- Comprehension Strategies
- Standards-Based Instruction within a Comprehensive Literacy Framework
