New England educators gathered in Heinemann's hometown of Portsmouth, New Hampshire last week to learn from author Tanny McGregor at her workshop Reading Connections: Teaching Abstract Concepts in Concrete Ways. 

Providing sensory and concrete experiences to teach the abstract layers of comprehension is at the heart of Tanny's work. Participants had opportunities to try some of her approaches such as using talk and objects to socially construct meaning.

You can read the thoughts, learning and links from the day in the Storify below! Be sure to follow Tanny on Twitter at @TannyMcG.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

​Tanny McGregor has been teaching and learning in Cincinnati for more than two decades. She is a staff developer, a nationally-known keynote speaker and workshop presenter, and a member of Heinemann Professional Development Services. In addition to Comprehension Connections and Genre Connections, she is a coauthor of the Heinemann title Comprehension Going Forward.