One of the biggest obstacles in successful classroom literacy planning today is TIME! Participants in this session will finally have a “gift of time” with an entire professional day of learning about, and creating plans and materials for, real “tried and true” literacy strategies and ideas for successful classrooms and meaningful instruction. By the end of the day, you’ll be able to walk away with a multitude of awesome ideas, created materials, strategic plans, and instructional strategies that can put you “ahead of time” for the new upcoming school year.

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Registration Fee: $75 (non-refundable)     Registration Deadline: July 12, 2010 

In recent years, the circle has gotten smaller in many writing classrooms. We are seeing less choice, less play, less inquiry, less student-directed publishing.  This session will look at ways we can widen the circle by encouraging young writers to be more playful. In fact, real writers play with words every time they sit down at their desks.  We'll take a close look at literature that models this kind of playful, joyful writing. The workshop will include a chunk on how we need to do a better job of engaging boy writers. Ralph will be sharing ideas from his newest book--PYROTECHNICS ON THE PAGE: Playful Craft that Sparks Writing (From Stenhouse - due out in late April/early May, so it will be "hot off the press.”)

 

Registration Fee: $100 (non-refundable)     Registration Deadline: July 12, 2010   

Beginning writers use both pictures and words to making meaning, and likewise, beginning readers use both pictures and words to understand meaning in the books they read. When young children are taught to study illustrations as compositions and think about the decision making of the illustrators, their thinking as readers and writers deepens. This session will explore illustration study as a vital part of the curriculum in a writing workshop. Pulling from her latest research, Katie will demonstrate how illustration study helps children learn about and improve the process of creative work - planning, drafting, revising and editing. Of equal importance is how illustration study helps children improve the products of their work. Katie will demonstrate how to teach specific qualities of good writing - ideas and content, precision and detail, wholeness of text and organization, tone, and layout and design - in the context of illustration study. While most suitable for teachers of grades K-2, the workshop will be of interest to any teacher who wants to support a wider range of composition possibilities with students. 

 

Registration Fee: $100 (non-refundable)      Registration Deadline: July 12, 2010

In this workshop, Karen shares her projects that entice students to read and write more than they ever thought possible. Students deconstruct mentor texts in order to understand genre structures so they can write their own pieces. In the process, students discover text features and literary elements thereby improving comprehension. Through investigating, thinking, talking, recording and writing, comprehension and writing skills improve. Best of all, school is fun and test scores go up in any content area featured by the teacher, even math!

 

Registration Fee: $75 (non-refundable)    Registration Deadline: July 12, 2010