The Role of Language in Reading: From Word Meaning to Inference-Making
- Certificate of Attendance: If you registered for this webinar by 1/18/26 at 4:30 pm ET, you will be invited to fill out the Knowledge Check form to receive a Certificate of Attendance. The link to that form will be emailed to you on Sunday, January 18 or Monday, January 19. The submission deadline is 11:59 PM on Sunday, February 1 to receive your COA on Monday, February 2.COAs will not be sent before February 2.
Slide Deck (199 slides to explore!)
Thank you to Dr. Elleman for providing the slides covered in this webinar, as well as many more packed with information for learners to explore.
Resources Mentioned During the Webinar:
- Promoting Adolescents’ Comprehension of Text (PACT) – Vaughn et al. (2013)
https://www.meadowscenter.org/projects/detail/promoting-adolescents-comprehension-of-text-pact
FREE Materials – Lessons, student workbooks, graphic organizers, texts, videos, podcasts - Word Generation – SEE WWC – Snow et al. (2009)
https://www.serpinstitute.org/wordgen-weekly
A weekly curricular unit organized around a civic, moral or philosophical dilemma implemented by cross-content teacher teams - Robust Academic Vocabulary Encounters (RAVE) McKeown et al. (2018)
- Academic Language Instruction for All Students (ALIAS) Lesaux et al. (2010)
- WordSift.org https://wordsift.org/
- Visuwords (We have noticed this website tends to have many intrusive pop-up ads prompting viewers to download extensions, etc. This source may be best used by a teacher, not the student.)
- See pages 146-156 of Dr. Elleman’s slide deck for MANY more resources to explore.
The Spotlight on Structured Literacy series is an annual, free webinar series offered by IDA Georgia and The Reading League Georgia. The series features experts in the field, and the one-hour webinars include live Q&A and the option to earn a Certificate of Attendance.
Learn about the 2026 Series: https://ga.dyslexiaida.org/2026-spotlight-on-structured-literacy-webinar-series/
In this first webinar in the IDA-GA/TRL-GA 2026 Spotlight on Structured Literacy series, Dr. Amy Elleman will explore how language processes such as vocabulary, syntax, and inference-making work together to support listening and reading comprehension. We will review key research in comprehension and discuss instructional practices that help students connect ideas, fill in gaps, and construct meaning across contexts. Participants will gain research-based insights and classroom-ready strategies for fostering language development and strengthening comprehension skills across grade levels.
Amy M. Elleman, Ph.D., is a Professor of Literacy Studies and Director of the Literacy Studies Ph.D. Program at Middle Tennessee State University. She earned her B.S. in Psychology from the University of Maryland in Heidelberg, Germany, and her Ph.D. in Special Education from Vanderbilt University. Her research focuses on key factors in reading comprehension including vocabulary, inference generation, and knowledge acquisition. She is an expert in meta-analysis and evaluating reading comprehension interventions. As a former teacher and administrator, she is dedicated to translating literacy research into practical tools for educators.
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