How do we move beyond the script while still honoring our district’s adopted curriculum? Join two dynamic educators—one seasoned and one newer to the profession—as we share how we integrated Project GLAD® strategies, specifically SQ3R and the Cognitive Content Dictionary (CCD), into our boxed language arts program to elevate student engagement, vocabulary development, and depth of understanding. Through two distinct teaching styles, we’ll show how these strategies transformed rigid lessons into rich, student-centered learning experiences. You’ll see authentic student work, explore our rubrics and proficiency scales, and walk away with adaptable tools you can use right away. Whether you're just starting your Project GLAD® journey or looking for fresh ideas to enhance your classroom, this session will leave you inspired, energized, and equipped with practical strategies to take your teaching—and your students’ learning—*beyond the box*!

Participants will understand how to use GLAD® Strategies to move students from oracy to literacy, understand the power of fun when playing with language and begin writing a chant to use in future classrooms.

Transform how students approach writing with the Cooperative Strip Paragraph! Applicable to any curriculum, this Project GLAD® strategy guides learners from sentence formation to final revision using grade-level content and academic language. Participants will co-create a class paragraph from a Pictorial Input Chart and discover how structured support, collaboration, and connections to reading and oral language foster a sense of capability and success for all students.

In this session, we will explore how using Focus and Motivation can start your math units off on the right foot! We will look at using literature, songs, chants, projects, and so much more to build shared knowledge, activate interests, make real world connections, and gather formative data.