Session I 10:15 – 11:00
Mark Nicolino, all levels
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: Finding the
Detail and Making It Matter and Other Ways
Writers Write
Participants will be invited to use technology to
take pictures, then use those pictures to stimulated
the writing process and generate ideas for creating
details in writing and visual media as writing.
Participants will be encouraged to explore other
writing media (PowerPoint, iMovie, and other
writing apps) as a means to communicate details
generated by those pictures.
Dr. Alexa Sandmann, all levels
Session II 11:15 – 12:00
Anna Panning, Angica Weaver, & Amy Rudd, all
levels
Go Paperless- Blogging with Students!
Journal Writing in the 21st Century! We will share
how we used this technology as the hook to engage
writes as reads through blogging. Teachers will
have the opportunity to learn the what, why, and
how of blogging in the 21st Century classroom.
Petra Moran & Rochelle Berndt, K-3, 4-8
Award-Winning Literature of 2012: Fabulous
Choices for Nurturing All Readers
The Common Core Reading Foundational Skills:
New Thoughts on Teaching Phonics
Book talks will be provided for winners of the
Caldecott, Newbery, Coretta Scott King, Pura
Belpre, Printz, Sibert, and Schneider awards for
2012. Literature/reading is key in supporting the
Common Core standards. Handout provided.
How might instructions change in your classroom as
you prepare young and striving readers to acquire
reading foundational skills? This presentation will
offer a brief overview of these skills as outlined in
the CCSS, a review of the developmental nature of
phonetic and orthographic development. The
presenters will then offer some assessment and
instructional strategies teachers can use with
students to immediately help them target
instruction based on student need.
Michelle DeFabio, Middle School
Katherine Batchelor, Middle & High School
In a Flash: Teaching Flash Fiction through Genre
Study
This session will share a collaborative action
research study with two National Writing Project
teacher candidates who taught a genre study on
flash fiction to ninth graders. Sample lessons will
be shared as well as students’ flash fiction pieces.
Creating a Culture of Reading and Writing!
The session will include ideas and tips on how to
create an environment that cultivated freedom,
choice, and passion for reading and writing.
Session III 2:00 – 2:45
Sarah King-Cooey, K-3, 4-8, and Middle School
Engaging e-Tools for Literacy and Beyond
Participants will learn about three free online
programs which can be used for literacy and crosscurricular learning. Programs include: VoiceThread,
Pixton, and Titanpad. Participants are encouraged
to bring their own technology (BYOT) to follow
along as they learn to use each program and how to
integrate them.
Evangeline Newton, Patricia Espe, Rosemary
Floccari, Jessica Martin, & Ruth Oswald, all levels
Getting to the Root of Word Study: Vocabulary
Instruction with the Common Core
The new common core standards require
systematic instruction in word roots from
kindergarten through high school. This
presentation shares an instructional framework,
materials and the experience of teachers who
implemented a “Root of the Week” vocabulary
program in their buildings.
Dr. Kristine Lynn Still, Middle & High School
Engaging Middle and High School Students by
Using Electronic Reading Devices to Support
Content Area Literacy Skills
One November 2, 2011, over 400 students in the 6th
to 12th grade, teachers, and administrators in
Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s Mound K-8
School and Washington Park High School became
the first in the nation to access all of their textbooks
Terry Benton, K-3, 4-8
Dr. Brandi Noll, K-3, 4-8
Selecting and Using Nonfiction Books
A Successful, Authentic, and Engaging Trifecta:
Integrating Phonics, Reading, and Writing
Instruction
This session will suggest ways to find and use
nonfiction children’s books, with a special focus on
nonfiction picture books.
from their individual electronic reading devices.
This is the Bookshelf Project. At its core, the
project strives to improve the way students learn,
but is doing so much more. Please attend this
session to learn about the ways in which middle
and high school teachers are using these devices to
support content area literacy instruction.
Additionally, hear firsthand, from the students
about the benefits they are gaining through their
involvement in this innovative project.
Denise Kozlina-Deceder, K-3, 4-8
Reading for Meaning- Fluently
Read Naturally combines three research-proven
strategies (teacher modeling, repeated reading, and
progress monitoring) to accelerate the reading
development of students who receive reading
services from Title 1, LS, ELL. This strategy is also
effective for beginning readers. This presentation
explains the part fluency plays in the reading
process.
Dr. Don Martin & Dr. Magy Martin, K-3
Far too often teachers separate phonics instruction
from meaningful and authentic reading and writing
experiences. Through integration of these three
instructional constructs, students are better able to
learn phonics skills that actually contribute to
improved reading and writing. A variety of
instructional techniques will be shared in regard to
how teachers or interventionists who work with
students in grades K-5 can truly integrate phonics in
order to advance the reading and writing abilities of
students.
Karen Brucken, K-3
Childhood Obesity: Helping Children Through
Reading
Simple Solutions to Build Fluency and Vocabulary
in Seconds
“Use it Again”: Strategies for Reading and Writing
using the topic of “Recycling”
The presenters will discuss the dynamics of
childhood obesity. In addition, they will have a new
book they have written which uses a dog to help a
young girl learn healthy behaviors.
The session will provide teachers with research
based activities, which have been modified or
expanded upon, that will increase students’
vocabulary and fluency and can be done quickly.
Activities will include the use of sight words to
improve vocabulary, repeated readings using
poetry, and making words.
Using the topic of “Recycling”, participants will be
introduced to methods that can springboard a
fictional picture book into a non-fictional topic and
assist with understanding the differences in text
formats. Simplistic strategies will be demonstrated
that can promote links between reading and
writing, and help build students’ questioning skills
as they negotiate non-fictional texts.
Susi Turner & Linda Smith, K-3, 4-8
Amy Neral, Middle & High School
Paula Saine, 4-8, Middle School
Brandi Gribble Mathers, Middle & High School
Beyond Books
Using Digital Technology to Inspire Struggling
Readers and Writers in Middle School
Using Café Culture to Motivate Adolescent
Readers
The presenter will share ways digital technologies
inspired middle school students as they approached
reading and writing of varying levels of complexity.
Attendees are invited to bring their own digital
devices to access the Internet and engage in
authentic hands-on learning.
Looking for a way to motivate adolescent readers?
Why not transform your school library into a
literary café? Come hear the story of a local middle
school who is doing just that! This presentation
begins with a review of the literature to support
such an undertaking and concludes with a practical
action plan for transforming your middle or high
school library into a warm, inviting, and lively
literary café.
Kristine Pytash and Kaybeth Calabria, Middle &
High School
Dr. Gail Saunders-Smith, K-3, 4-8, Middle School
Intimidated by ebook downloads? Worried about
how to incorporate all of the new technology into
your classrooms without blowing your budget?
Overwhelmed? Learn where to go for help.
Crystal Ratican, K-3
iPads and Read-Alouds
What We Say Does Matter
2012 Best Books for Young Adults
This session will provide participants with
information on how to effectively use iPads to
create an advantageous read-aloud experience for
elementary students. Participants will leave with
information on the benefits of read-alouds during
the school day and specific websites that they may
use immediately inside their classrooms.
Participants are encouraged to bring their own
iPads to use during the presentation.
This presentation will explore the 2012 best books
for middle school and high school classrooms as
recommended by the American Library Association.
The presentation will highlight the Young Adult
Library Services Association’s Excellence in
Nonfiction. The presentation will also provide
instructional ideas for using the books in middle
and high school classrooms.
Learn about the types of teacher talk we use every
day. Find out about coaching statements,
questions, and prompts for inquiry and meta
cognition by examining teacher-student
interactions.