KEYNOTE
SPEAKERS:
Friday, February 8th - 8:15 - 9:30 -
Multnomah/Holladay Room
Title:
"Active Literacy: Reading, Writing, Talking, Listening and Investigating"
Presenter: Dr.
Stephanie Harvey, Consultant, Co-Author of Strategies That Work (Second edition published 2007), Author of Nonfiction Matters and a DVD entitled "Read Write and Talk."
Literacy is a social act. Active literacy is not about answering those end-of-chapter“comprehension” questions. Active reading involves an ongoing process of evolving thinking. When active readers read, they carry on an inner conversation with the text. They respond with delight, wonder, even outrage. They take their thinking public, talking and writing about it to understand and learn. Reading, writing, talking, listening and investigating are the hallmarks of active literacy. Interaction with text, teachers and each other is the goal.
International Reading Association Welcome by Sarah Womble
Presentation of ORA Exemplary Reading Award
Saturday,
February 9th - 8:15 - 9:30 - Multnomah/Holladay
Room
Title: "Getting Students Into Words: Vocabulary Instruction that Strengthens Comprehension and Achievement"
Presenter: Dr.
Shira Lubliner, Associate Professor of Teacher Education at California State University, East Bay and Author of Getting Into Words: Vocabulary Instruction That Strengthens Comprehension.
Current policies dictate that students be provided with a literacy curriculum narrowly focused on mechanical reading skills. A large percentage of children, particularly those who enter school with limited vocabulary, fail to thrive, falling further behind each year that they are in school. This address focuses on powerful, multifaceted vocabulary instruction designed to strengthen comprehension and to narrow the achievement gap.
IRA Welcome by Sarah Womble
Presentation of ORA Lifetime Literacy Award
LUNCHEON
SPEAKERS:
Friday,
February 8th - 12:30 - 2:00 -
Multnomah/Holladay Room
Lunch will
be Columbia River Gorge Salad ~ Crisp Greens with Oven-Fried Chicken. Served with Bakery Fresh Rolls and Butter. Dessert of brownies and cookies
Title: "Words and Pictures for Lunch! Eat Up!"
Presenter: Debra Frasier, Author and Illustrator
If you love the taste of words, the sound of words, and the meaning of words, you will eat your fill in Debra Frasier’s slide program that describes how her picture books are created. This award-winning and best-selling author/illustrator is renown for her intimate look at the creative process, as well as her extensive classroom curriculum support for each of her books. Debra’s book, Miss Alaineus, A Vocabulary Disaster, has inspired Vocabulary Parades across the country. This session will include the companion to Miss Alaineus: The Incredible Water Show, where the kids from Mrs. Page’s class bring their science fair project to the neighborhood stage, as well as her newest book, A Birthday Cake Is No Ordinary Cake. Just bring an appetite for words and a notepad for ideas for the classroom.
Saturday,
February 9th - 12:30 - 2:00 -
Multnomah/Holladay Room
Lunch will
be Turkey Cranberry Croissant Sandwich, Dilled Redskin Potato Salad and Fresh Seasonal Fruit. Dessert of brownies and cookies.
Title: "An Author's Life: Stranger Than Fiction"
Presenter: Ben Mikaelsen, Author of Novels for Grades 4-8
Turning kids on to reading and writing means finding what’s relevant to their lives. During this presentation, author Ben Mikaelsen shares some of the poignant and often humorous experiences he has had while visiting schools and corresponding with students. “The students have changed me more than I’ve ever changed them,” Ben insists. “Students are the ones who have created the precious moments that have given me the insights that allow me to pen my novels.”
FEATURED
SPEAKERS:
Friday, February 8th - 2:15 - 3:30 pm
Title: "Hooked on Humor"
Presenter: Mike Artell, Author of Petite Rouge, A Cajun Red Riding Hood and Three Little Cajun Pigs as well as books on writing, cartooning, science books, and joke books.
Pacific Northwest Ballroom
All Levels
In this session, I talk about how important a healthy sense of humor is to everyone’s personal and professional success. I’ll cite examples of how I use humor in my children’s books and I’ll close with an inspiring story of a teacher who made a big difference in my life.
Title: "Better to Light a Candle Than Curse the Darkness"
Presenter: Alan Lawrence Sitomer, California's 2007 Teacher of the Year.
Willamette Ballroom
Secondary
Grasp reluctant readers, raise test scores and meet Language Arts standards, all in a manner students greatly enjoy. High school English teacher Alan Sitomer (an inner-city educator with a track record of delivering academic success in a historically underachieving school) shows how to create lively, energetic lesson plans, make literature accessible, and build bridges to lifelong literacy by explicating the methodologies and insights which resulted in his being named California’s Teacher of the Year 2007. Become educated about tools that are available while commensurately being inspired to go out and give your best to the kids sitting in the chairs of your classrooms. For those who want to laugh, learn and partake in a conversation about the love of teaching.
Title: "The Reading Workshop: Why It Works"
Presenter: Sharon Taberski, Nationally recognized educator, author, and presenter
Cascade Ballroom
Elementary, Middle School
This session will examine the reading workshop as the most practical and effective way to address a wide range of student needs and interests. By exploring mini lessons, conferences, guided reading, and independent reading, participants will learn how a workshop model can help them to differentiate and balance instruction. Comprehension will be the focus.
Saturday,
February 9th - 2:15 - 3:30
Title: "Fostering the Literacy Learning of English Learners: The Case of Deng"
Presenters: Cynthia Brock, Associate Professor in Literacy Studies in the Department of Educational Specialties at the University of Nevada in Reno
Willamette
Ballroom
All Levels
How can teachers foster the literacy learning of English learners? This presentation focuses on the case of a Hmong child named Deng to explore some of the needs of English learners as well as ways that teachers can foster the literacy learning of the English learners in their classrooms. The primary focus of this talk will be English learners at the upper elementary level.
Title: "Transforming Reluctant Writers into Eager Writers"
Presenter: Vicki Hannah Lein, International Inspirational Speaker
Cascade Ballroom
Upper Elementary, MS, HS
In this session we will transform reluctant writers by affirming their experience and giving them a way to shift out of that bad habit of staring at a blank sheet of paper. As they seek to express their experience, metaphors and images emerge effortlessly, creating rich, engaging writing. Their attitude about themselves as writers is changed forever.
Title: "Reading and Writing with the Caldecotts"
Presenter: Kathryn Matthew, Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of Houston, Clear Lake
Pacific Northwest Ballroom
All Levels
Immersing children in quality literature assures that they assimilate the structure, sound, and patterns of language, which provides them with a storehouse of resources to draw upon when they write. Picture books contain appealing illustrations, concise texts, wonderful writing, and sophisticated ideas (Henry and Simpson, 2001). Books provide models for writing, inspiration for topics, and an understanding of the craft of writing (Johnson and Giorgis, 1999). Rather than just using literature to present the craft lessons, educators demonstrate to students how the author has used the technique to enhance their understanding (Thomason, and York, 2000). Participants will listen to selected Caldecott winner and honor books and explore the literary devices they contain. They will learn how to use the text as a model for their own writing and discuss ways to use the text as a model for their students’ writing. Through explorations, writing, and discussion the participants will learn how to use children’s literature as models for writing in their classrooms.
