News

December 4, 2020

Let’s Chat About Early Language and Literacy

Join the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) and Early Intervention Technical Assistance (EITA) from January through March 2021 for their 30-minute “Let’s Chat About Early Language and Literacy” webinars.

About

These 30-minute webinars will be offered at no cost to participants. Each session will be offered at 8:30 a.m. and repeated at 1:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Fridays of each month. This series runs from January through March 2021. Chat topics will include the following:

Registration

To register, visit the event webpage. Registration closes the Wednesday prior to each session at 4:30 p.m.

More Information

PQAS, Infant/Toddler, and Act 48 hours are available. Participants must attend two sessions in order to get one credit hour. For questions, contact Jodie Holmberg at jholmberg@pattan.net.

News

September 9, 2020

Feelings Behind the Mask: Building Emotion Vocabulary

Are you interested in learning strategies to expand children’s feeling and emotion vocabulary? Join Trying Together on September 30 for our online session, “Connections and Conversations: Feelings Behind the Mask: Building Emotion Vocabulary.”

About

Connections and Conversations Virtual Check-Ins are biweekly interactive sessions that highlight topics of interest to the field of early childhood education. Participants engage in virtual discussions with child development experts while interacting with early learning practitioners to share questions, experiences, and expertise about the highlighted topic. Sessions offer one hour of PQAS credit. Act 48 credit will not be provided.

In this session, participants will learn about strategies to expand children’s feeling vocabulary in order to support their abilities to correctly perceive and respond to feelings in themselves and others. Identifying and expressing emotions are key skills in a child’s development. Children need a large and complex feeling vocabulary to make finer discriminations between feelings, to better communicate with others about their internal affective states, and to engage in discussions about their personal experiences with the world.

Session Details

    • Session Date: Wednesday, September 30  |  6 – 7 p.m
    • Instructor: Nancy Loughead
    • CKC: Curriculum and Learning Experiences
    • CDA Subject Area: Social & Emotional Development
    • Registration Deadline: Monday, September 28

Registration

To register, visit the course PD Registry page. Space is limited.

Participants will receive the course Zoom link via email within 24 hours before the start date for the course. For questions, contact Jasmine Davis at jasmine@tryingtogether.org.

Session Rules and Guidelines

These virtual discussions are designed to provide educators the opportunity to grow professionally and share knowledge on early childhood topics. During the meeting, participants should follow the guidelines below to ensure a successful virtual meeting for all participants.

    • Please allow all participants a chance to speak. Listen respectfully and actively.
    • Commit to learning about each other, not to debating the topic.
    • Embrace differences of opinion as healthy and support each person’s authentic self-expression.
    • Participants will be muted for the beginning portion of the session.
    • Participants may use the “Raise Hand” feature in Zoom to request an opportunity to comment or ask a question. Individuals will be temporarily unmuted by the moderator.
    • Participants may type a comment or question in the Chat or may send comments or questions directly to the moderator for them to share.
    • To receive PQAS credit, you must complete an evaluation at the end of the session and include your PD Registry number.
    • Have fun, make connections, and engage in the conversations!

More Information

For questions or more information, please contact Jasmine Davis at jasmine@tryingtogether.org.

News

December 2, 2019

The Vocabulary Edge for English Learners | Webinar

How do we best support the vocabulary, comprehension, and knowledge-building of our English Learners (ELs)? By building on their strengths! Join Dr. Elfrieda Hiebert on December 11 for her webinar exploring opportunities to better support ELs.

About

Developing a solid foundation in core vocabulary, which represents the key ideas about the world which ELs already have, is fundamental to supporting ELs in accessing their existing knowledge. By following Dr. Hiebert’s research-based principles, ELs become equipped with both the context and fluency required to understand the majority of text that they read—allowing them to later learn more difficult and rarer words with greater ease.

This session will be of interest to pre-k through elementary teachers, librarians, and school and district leaders. Time for questions will be provided.

Registration

To register and learn more, visit the edWeb website.

*Information provided by edWeb.net

News

October 16, 2019

Buzzword Talk & Play Series #6

Join Buzzword Pittsburgh on Wednesdays from November 6 to December 11 for Talk & Play Series 6! All events are free for learners ages five and under, with their caregivers, and will include activities that enhance vocabulary and literacy skills.  A light dinner will be provided.

Program Schedule

The schedule of events is as follows:

More Information

For more information, contact Jan Jones at jan@tryingtogether.org.

Click here to view the Facebook event page.

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July 2, 2019

Buzzword: Talk & Play Series 4

Join Buzzword Pittsburgh every Wednesday from July 10 to August 7 for Talk & Play Series 4! All events are free for learners ages five and under, with their caregivers, and will include activities that enhance vocabulary and literacy skills.  A light dinner will be provided.

Program Schedule

The schedule of events is as follows:

    • Wednesday, July 10 • Word of the Day: SECRET

      with Carnegie Science Center and Pittsburgh Festival Opera

    • Wednesday, July 17 • Word of the Day: INFESTED

      with Carnegie Science Center and Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy

    • Wednesday, July 24 • Word of the Day: PROTECT

      with Carnegie Science Center and Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh

    • Wednesday, July 31 • Word of the Day: ERUPT

      with Carnegie Science Center and Pittsburgh Cultural Trust

    • Wednesday, August 7 • Word of the Day: SOAR

      with Carnegie Science Center and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre

More Information

For more information, contact Jan Jones at jan@tryingtogether.org.

Click here to view the Facebook event page.

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June 3, 2019

Buzzword Pittsburgh: Talk & Play in Hazelwood

Join Buzzword Pittsburgh on Wednesday, June 19 for Talk & Play in Hazelwood! This event is free for learners ages five and under, with their caregivers, and will include activities that enhance vocabulary and literacy skills.  Dinner will be provided.

More Information

For more information, contact Jan Jones at jan@tryingtogether.org.

Share this flyer with your network.

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May 23, 2019

Buzzword: Talk & Play Series 3

Join Buzzword every Wednesday from May 15 to June 12 for Talk & Play Series 3! All events are free for learners ages five and under, with their caregivers, and will include activities that enhance vocabulary and literacy skills.  A light dinner will be provided.

Program Schedule

The schedule of events is as follows:

    • Wednesday, May 15 • Word of the Day: DECOMPOSE
      with Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and Carnegie Science Center
    • Wednesday, May 22 • Word of the Day: TOPSOIL
      with Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre
    • Wednesday, May 29 • Word of the Day: COLONY
      with Pittsburgh Parks Conservatory and Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
    • Wednesday, June 5 • Word of the Day: LAVA
      with Pittsburgh Parks Conservatory and Pittsburgh Festival Opera
    • Wednesday, June 12 • Word of the Day: FOSSIL
      with Pittsburgh Parks Conservatory and Pittsburgh Cultural Trust

More Information

For more information, contact Jan Jones at jan@tryingtogether.org.

News

December 20, 2018

Let’s Chat About Early Language and Literacy

The PA Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) and Early Intervention Technical Assistance (EITA) are hosting chat sessions during the winter months to discuss early language and literacy development topics.

Join these 30-minute online chat sessions, offered at 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., to discover resources to share with families and implement in your classroom or center. These sessions will take place on the second and fourth Friday of every month from January through March 2019.

Chat Sessions

  • Disconnecting to Connect | January 11, 2019
  • Building Vocabulary | January 25, 2019
  • Storybook Reading | February 8, 2019
  • Print in the Environment | February 22, 2019
  • Playing with Sounds | March 8, 2019
  • Supporting Dual Language Learners | March 22, 2019

More Information

Visit their event website to learn more about the topics, credits, and registration.

PQAS credit hours and Infant/Toddler hours available.