The literacy pendulum has often swung from science of reading to whole reading. The recent shift back to the science of reading is essential, but the OHRC’s Right to Read Literacy Report talks about more than just the building blocks of words – it talks about words as building blocks for identity, equity, and access to critical literacy. CODE developed Turning the Page resources to support educators to encompass both of these goals. This webinar will highlight the creative pedagogy used to create access to literacy and reading while engaging the whole human, and provides educators with tools to better meet the needs of students with diverse needs.

Summary Notes

Webinar: Turning the Page – Highlighting Key Resources from the Right to Read Writing Project
Presenter: Cheri-Anne Byrne
Context: Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) Right to Read Inquiry

This webinar presents the Turning the Page resource series developed by the Council of Ontario Drama and Dance Educators (CODE) in response to the OHRC’s Right to Read Literacy Report. The session reframes literacy as not only a set of technical reading skills aligned with the science of reading, but also as a foundation for identity, equity, access, and critical literacy.
Cheri-Anne Byrne outlines the intentional, equity-centred development process behind the resources, including community consultation, racialized and Indigenous voices in roundtables, province-wide calls for writers, and layered review processes. The resources integrate drama and dance pedagogy to support literacy development through embodied learning, oral language, movement, improvisation, and creative expression.

The webinar sequentially highlights each resource in the series, demonstrating:
● How embodied and arts-based practices support vocabulary development, comprehension, and meaning-making.
● How literacy instruction can be responsive to student identity, culture, and lived experience.
● How drama and dance create accessible entry points for diverse learners, including multilingual learners and students historically marginalized by traditional literacy instruction.
Participants also experience live, sample activities (e.g., habitat tableau creation, gibberish word-making) to illustrate how these strategies function in classrooms across grade levels and subject areas. The session concludes by emphasizing cross-curricular literacy responsibility and the alignment of these resources with board-level literacy strategic plans shaped by Right to Read.
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Key Concepts
Literacy & Pedagogy
● Literacy as identity, equity, and access (beyond decoding)
● Critical literacy and criticality (influenced by Dr. Gholdy Muhammad)
● Science of reading alongside creative, meaning-based approaches
● Oral language development
● Vocabulary acquisition through movement and play
● Multimodal literacy (verbal, non-verbal, embodied)

Drama & Dance Education
● Embodied learning
● Tableau, improvisation, and movement vocabulary
● Drama conventions as literacy tools
● Dance as historical, cultural, and political expression
● Process-based learning vs. product-based performance

Equity, Identity & Social Justice
● Anti-oppressive and anti-colonial pedagogy
● Representation and voice in curriculum
● Examination of whose knowledge is centered or excluded
● Language as a tool that can reinforce or dismantle barriers
● Student lived experience as a source of meaning-making

Curriculum & Instructional Design
● Cross-curricular literacy integration
● Primary to senior differentiation
● Safe and inclusive learning spaces
● Student choice in modes of participation
● Reflection journals and formative assessment
● Alignment with Ontario curriculum expectations
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