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08. The Syntax Attuned Educator: Supporting Students’ Ability to Comprehend and Write Sentences

Syntactic knowledge, the ability to understand a variety of grammatical structures within the context of a sentence, supports students’ comprehension of text. This session presents research on syntax and explains its critical role in comprehending complex text. Armed with this understanding, educators learn how to teach their students the functions of sentence parts—words, phrases, and clauses—in order to show them how to unpack the meaning of sentences they encounter in text.

Margie B. Gillis, Ed.D is a nationally recognized literacy expert and a Certified Academic Language Therapist who has taught children and adults to read for over 45 years. In 2009, Margie founded Literacy How, Inc. to provide professional development opportunities and coaching for teachers on how best to implement evidencebased reading practices in the classroom. Margie has worked at the policy level through the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE). She was instrumental in Connecticut’s adoption of a universal screening test for K3 students, implementing the Connecticut Foundations of Reading Test as part of the certification process for preservice teachers, and is a member of the Connecticut K4 Reading Model management team. Margie is an academic advisor for ReadWorks.org and Understood.org. She is on the Editorial Board of the International Dyslexia Association, Perspectives and The Reading League Journal. In her capacity as Research Affiliate at Haskins Laboratories, Margie explores opportunities to empower teaching excellence. In 2010, Margie founded the Anne E. Fowler Foundation to support scholarships for teachers for graduate work in reading and language development.