Broadcast on October 25, 2025

The Book is Not the Destination: Escalating Literacy for High Ability Learners with Literature
Susannah Richards
Eastern Connecticut University

Description 

This webinar featured strategies and approaches to support high ability learners to develop their expressive (speaking and writing) and receptive (listening and speaking) skills using recently published and classic texts. The goal is to move beyond the book report to ignite and cultivate lifelong literacy environments where students focus on thinking and building knowledge and ideas to understand the past, present, and future. Many diverse books including picture books, nonfiction, graphic novels, and novels for youth are featured. Teaching approaches include focusing on organizing literary discussions on big ideas, book graffiti, and how to expand student schema in all content areas.

About the presenter

Susannah Richards is an associate professor of Education at Eastern Connecticut State University where she teaches courses on literacy and literature. She has a PhD in Gifted Education from the University of Connecticut where she studied talented readers. She has served on the Newbery, Geisel, Connecticut Book Award, Malka Penn Award for Human Rights in Children’s Literature, and other award committees for children’s literature. She actively reads and presents on books for youth and how to use them at international, national, and local conferences. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @SussingOutBooks.