2025 Emma Eccles Jones Early Childhood Symposium

June 24 and 25
9:00 am to 10:30 am each day
Held Virtually Via Zoom

Read-Aloud Strategies for Structured Early Literacy that Support Language, Listening Comprehension, and Social and Emotional Communication and Competencies

First 100 registrations are FREE with limited availability!

Register today or with the QR code below.




Please join this teacher-friendly Symposium about Project GROW. This evidence-based read-aloud intervention helps to “grow” young students’ knowledge of language and literacy, including children with or at-risk for learning disabilities in early inclusive settings. 

Teachers who have implemented GROW have found their students learn important vocabulary and have improved behavioral self-regulation. Teachers also report GROW lessons and vocabulary supported their classroom management routines. 

The presenters will share materials (lessons, vocabulary cards, student activities) and suggest appropriate books for class-wide dialogic reading that focuses on five SEL theme-units.  

Hands-on resources for pre-k through third grade classrooms will be provided. These resources include lessons and objectives for teachers as well as ideas for supporting volunteers and parents/care-givers in using dialogic reading approaches with young children.

 

 

Dr. Stephanie Al Otaiba is a Centennial Chair in Teaching and Learning at Southern Methodist University and is a Faculty Affiliate of the Florida Center for Reading Research. She is a former early childhood special education teacher, who received her doctorate in special education from Vanderbilt University. Her research focuses on early literacy interventions for students with or at-risk for disabilities and students who are English language learners, response to intervention, multi-tiered systems of support, and teacher training. She led the design of Project GROW as well as several other early literacy instructional programs. She is the author or coauthor of over 160 journal articles and book chapters. She is the editor of the Journal of Learning Disabilities.

 

Dr. Wilhelmina van Dijk is an assistant professor in the Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling at Utah State University and is a faculty affiliate of the University of Florida Literacy Institute. A former teacher, she received her doctoral training at the University of Florida working with Dr. Holly Lane at the University of Florida Literacy Institute and postdoctoral training at the Florida Center for Reading Research. Dr. van Dijk has published numerous articles and chapters related to her research interests on reading, teacher training and research methods. She has collaborated closely with Dr. Al Otaiba in the development and testing for Project GROW.