Registration

In our complex, global world, all of our children must be literate to function and thrive.  If we want truly literate students, reading must be a joyful adventure, not a chore.  Teachers can make the difference by believing in all children’s abilities to learn, slowing down to give time to practice reading, and sharing the magic of the written word.

"Written Responses, Write from the Beginning"
Grades K-3
Susan Zimmermann, Author and Educational Consultant

Writing pushes thinking deeper and plays an important role in developing more avid, thoughtful readers.  Writing reinforces reading.  Reading reinforces writing.  In this breakout session, Susan looks at a variety of written responses, including quick writes, double entry diaries, and poetry and stresses the need to make authentic writing part of our students’ daily routine.

"Literacy Stations for Pre-K to K"
Grades Pre-K to K
Debbie Diller, Author and Educational Consultant

This special session will be geared to literacy stations for our youngest learners in PreK-K. Find out how to add more literacy to "traditional" PreK-K centers, such as housekeeping and blocks, as well as what to put in literacy stations where students will grow as readers and writers.

"Teaching with Technology for the Non-Techie Teacher"
Grades Pre-K to 3
Lori Elliott, Educational Consultant with SDE (Staff Development for Educators)

"Writing Books in the Classroom"
Grades 1-3
Jerry Pallotta, Children’s Author

Jerry's stories model both research and creative writing.  Dory Story reveals the Atlantic Ocean food chain with a fictional twist.  Who Will Guide My Sleigh This Year? and How Will I Get to School This Year? inspire young writers to come up with their own solutions for such yearly dilemmas.  Get reluctant boys (and girls) reading and writing with Guys Read.  Set the ground work for oral or written debate in Jerry's new series, Who Would Win, a nonfiction comparison of two potential rivals.  This session will give you plenty of ideas on how to encourage your students to read and write.

"The Big Picture: Science Information and the Common Core"
Grades 1-3
Glenda McCarty, Culver-Stockton College

Are you pondering how to teach science in the days of the English Language Arts Common Core Standards?  Come to this session and discover ways to engage your students in information, current events, different perspectives, nuances, conversations, confusion, and all those other ways in which we interact with information in science.  Come explore science trade books while brainstorming ideas and lessons that will get your students moving and grooving in science class!

"Writing a Title Wave"
Jerry Pallotta, Speaker

Jerry Pallotta brings together nonfiction subjects with humor and the unexpected to create enthusiasm for learning.  Join Jerry for this twenty-five year review of publishing as he discusses researching, writing, designing, working with illustrators, editing, and publishing his best-selling books.  Learn how he alphabetizes bugs, skulls, and trucks.  Take a math literacy tour through his Math=Fun series.  Enjoy a dose of fiction in his imaginative holiday books, Who Will Guide My Sleigh Tonight?, Who Will Carve the Turkey This Year?, and Who Will Be My Valentine This Year?  See Jerry's newest reluctant reader boy series, Who Would Win: Great White Shark vs. Killer Whale, Lion vs. Tiger, Polar Bear vs. Grizzly Bear, and Velociraptor vs. Tyrannosaurus Rex.  Get tips on how to encourage students to read and write a zillion books!

"The Think Aloud: The Bread and Butter of a Reader’s Workshop"
Grades K-3
Susan Zimmermann, Author and Educational Consultant

How do we make sure children understand that reading isn't simply an exercise in decoding, but is all about making meaning?  The think aloud is key.  With it we model the thought processes that great readers use when they read.  In this breakout session, you will warm up by using the comprehension strategies with an adult piece, then practice think alouds using picture books.

"Literacy Stations for Pre-K to K"  (Repeat of Session #2)
Pre-K to K
Debbie Diller, Author and Educational Consultant

This special session will be geared to literacy stations for our youngest learners in PreK-K. Find out how to add more literacy to “traditional PreK-K centers,” such as housekeeping and blocks as well as what to put in literacy stations where students will grow as readers and writers.

"25 Ways to Engage the Digital Native"
Grades Pre-K to 3
Lori Elliott, Nixa R-II School District, Educational Consultant with SDE (Staff Development for Educators)

Today's students are digital natives.  How can teachers engage such learners and increase student achievement?  Attend this session and gather 25 easy to use but research-based instructional strategies that will hook your learners and motivate them in the classroom.

"Writing to the Core"
Grades K-3
Glenda Nugent, Literacy Consultant

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) place a tremendous emphasis on writing, focusing on student proficiency at all levels.  Learn what the CCSS are for writing at your level and how to effectively implement the standards in your classroom.  The three types of writing emphasized in the Standards (narrative, argument/opinion, and informational) will be addressed through hands-on activities that integrate reading and writing and incorporate research and media.  Glenda will also provide sample lessons.

"Developing a Strong Writing Reflection Classroom through Response Notebooks"
Grades 2-3
Susan Kendrick, Trainer, Missouri Reading Initiative

Have you ever wondered how to integrate written reflection throughout the entire day?  Come to this session and discover how to connect the Missouri Core Academic Standards and develop a reading response notebook that will support and guide written reflection throughout the content areas.  You are invited to bring a three-ring binder that will serve as a model for the next Reading Workshop.

"Math Work Stations"
Grades K-3
Debbie Diller, Author and Educational Consultant

Debbie will share her newest work on math stations from her book, Math Work Stations: Independent Learning You Can Count On.  Get practical suggestions for establishing, managing, and using math work stations in K-3 classrooms.  Learn how to take what you’re already teaching in math and "recycle" it into math stations.

"Using Technology to Encourage Early Readers and Writers"
Grades Pre-K to 3
Lori Elliott, Nixa R-II School District, Educational Consultant with SDE (Staff Development for Educators)

Technology can be a great motivator for literacy.  Join Lori and investigate ways to use free online resources, podcasting, videos, digital photos, and interactive websites to encourage your young readers and writers.

"Take a Tour of the Alphabet"
Grades Pre-K to 1
Jerry Pallotta, Children's Author

Jerry Pallotta’s alphabet series is an excellent model for student writing.  Using the alphabet as an organizational plan, students can explore unlimited topics and utilize expository writing.  Take a closer look at Jerry’s creative process as he leads a page by page tour of his books.  Be involved in a current project and get tips on how to encourage kids to read and write a zillion books.

"Weaving Together the Threads of Literacy and Content Area Learning"
Grades 1-3
Sarah Valter, Sappington Elementary, Lindbergh School District

"Opening the Door to the Literacy Club with Shared Reading"
Pre-K
Erin Baker, Trainer, Missouri Reading Initiative

Shared reading should be a part of daily Pre-K classroom life.  In this session, you will learn how to make effective teaching decisions during shared reading based on the kindergarten Missouri Core Academic Standards (Common Core State Standards) and the Fountas and Pinnell Literacy Continuum.  Erin will also discuss characteristics of good shared reading texts for Pre-K and the rationale for repeating the shared reading text over an extended period of time.  In addition, Erin will model a shared reading lesson using Holdaway’s Shared Reading model.  You will leave ready to incorporate shared reading into your daily classroom life.

Keynote Address: "Nurturing Young Writers"
Matt Glover

Young children are capable of incredible thinking, which can be seen in their writing when they see themselves as writers and when adults honor their approximations of writing.  Using video clips and writing samples, Matt will guide you in an examination of key beliefs about young writers.  This session will provide practical, developmentally appropriate strategies that support young children as writers.  In addition, you will learn how beliefs about young writers translate into instructional practices in the classroom.

"Sparking Writing: Invitations and Entry Points for Young Writers"
Grades Pre-K to 1
Matt Glover, Author and Educational Consultant

How do teachers invite young children to write?  How can teachers match entry points into writing with children so that energy for writing is maximized?  These questions are related to issues of motivation for writing.  In this session, you will examine five possible entry points that, when matched with individual children, tap into their motivation to write.  Through the use of numerous authentic writing samples, Matt will provide you with invitations and strategies that will nurture your students’ dispositions towards writing.

"Math Work Stations" (Repeat of Session #11)
Grades K-3
Debbie Diller, Author and Educational Consultant

Debbie will share her newest work on math stations from her book, Math Work Stations: Independent Learning You Can Count On.  Get practical suggestions for establishing, managing, and using math work stations in K-3 classrooms.  Learn how to take what you’re already teaching in math and "recycle" it into math stations.

"Clap, Chant, Laugh, and Learn"
Grades Pre-K to 1
Brod Bagert, Children's Poet

Make learning effortless with real poetry rock solid on common core standards and richly entertaining to your students.  Join Brod and see how easy it can be to incorporate poetry into your classroom!

"'You Can't Make Me!'  Building School Families Where Even the Most Difficult Children Become Helpful and Caring"
Grades Pre-K to 3
Jill Molli, Educational Consultant

Everyone's classroom has one or more children that require additional resources.  Come to this session and learn strategies to help these most defiant and aggressive children learn to be helpful. You will learn how to maintain self-control in order to teach children self-control; the three types of aggression; and effective strategies to change these behaviors in children.

"Immersion, Inquiry, Informational Text"
Grades K-3
Kathy Heitmeyer, Trainer, Missouri Reading Initiative

What does an Informational Unit of Study look like in a classroom?  Come explore the five purposes of informational writing while creating an appreciation of mentor text.  Learn how to incorporate R.A.N. charts and Power Writes into a topic unit and examine the crafting of informational text through an author unit.  You will leave with an understanding of how to enhance student inquiry through units of study.

"The Poetry Revolution and the Classroom Teacher"
Brod Bagert, Speaker

Does the golden age of poetry in English lie in our past or in our future?  Have the great poems of the English language been written already, or are they stewing in the creative juices of your very own students?  And what do the answers to these questions have to do with "powerful teaching" and "engaged learning"?  Join Brod for this engaging keynote and get the answers to these questions and more.

"Writing Conferences: Responsive Interactions that Foster Composition Development in Young Writers"
Grades Pre-K to 1      
Matt Glover, Author and Educational Consultant

Writing conferences are your most powerful moments of the teaching day because they are focused on the skills and strategies that a particular child needs.  Writing conferences, by their very nature, represent highly differentiated instruction.  Yet writing conferences can also be the most challenging moments of the teaching day because they require responsive, in-the-moment teaching decisions.  This session will support you in examining and refining your skills as a conferrer.

"Literacy Stations for Grades 1-3"
Grades 1-3
Debbie Diller, Author and Educational Consultant

Learn how to make literacy stations in grade 1-3 classrooms purposeful and connected to instruction and Common Core State Standards.  This session will answer the question, "What does the rest of my class do while I'm working with a small reading group?" and includes practical suggestions for establishing, managing, and using literacy work stations. 

"Free Choice Poetry: Easy, Fun, and Enormously Powerful"
Grades 1-3
Brod Bagert, Children's Poet

Poetry can be frustrating.  For teachers, librarians, and students alike, it is often like opening a can of sardines without a key.  Then, when you finally get it open, what you find is the pickled bodies of headless fish.  Enter Free Choice Poetry, a ridiculously simple technique that not only opens the can, but turns the pickled-poems into the silvery, sleek living beings poems and fish were always intended to be.  In classroom or library, using the natural power of voice, Free Choice Poetry supercharges the language experience by bridging the gap between oral and written language.  Join Brod to open this very exciting can of fish!

"'Sit Still, Pay Attention, Look at Me': Understanding and Developing Attention Skills in All Children"
Grades Pre-K to 3
Jill Molli, Educational Consultant

The ability to filter out distractions and sustain attention to tasks that may have little or no personal meaning is a difficult skill for many of us.  Often, out of lack of knowledge and frustration, we resort to demanding a child’s attention ("Sit still and look at me!").  Sometimes we fall into the belief that if we can have them sit still and pay attention in circle time for ten minutes when they are two years old that they will be prepared for a 20 minute circle time at age four.  Attention is a complex skill that does not develop through stamina training.  In this session, you will learn how attention develops; interventions for the "fidgeting, impulsive, I can’t wait" children; and fun activities and games that will optimize the development of attention for all the children in your classroom.

"Science and the MELS: Making Science Matter"
Grades Pre-K to K
Debbie Wood, Columbia 93 School District and Janet Rinehart, Project Construct

Why does science matter in a child's life?  Come and find out the answer to this question and perform experiments with Janet and Debbie that you can reproduce in your classroom.  You will also learn how to use the Missouri Early Learning Standards to document your students' learning.

"Spaces and Places for K-3"
Grades K-3
Debbie Diller, Author and Educational Consultant

A well-organized classroom is a more productive classroom!  Step-by-step processes for how to set up a classroom to maximize space (and ultimately, time) are included, along with many "before and after" examples from K-3 classrooms.  You will look at essential spaces (including your walls), essential furniture, and making a classroom "student-centered" rather than teacher-centered.

"'S/he Hit Me First!': Dealing With Personal Loss and Healing the Need to Get Even"
Grades Pre-K to 3
Jill Molli, Educational Consultant

Take daily conflicts with children and between children (hitting, tattling, name calling) and turn these moments into opportunities to teach missing social and emotional skills.  Teachers and caregivers report encountering more and more children with lowered abilities to self-regulate, tolerate frustration, and interact well with others.  The amount of aggression ending in retaliation and revenge in many programs and homes is on the rise.  In this workshop, you will explore the relationship between personal loss and aggression/violence/revenge in the classroom and home and learn proactive solutions to start implementing immediately.

"Movement and the Brain: Why the Children in Your Classroom Need to Move"
Grades Pre-K to 3
Debbie Wood, Columbia 93 School District and Janet Rinehart, Project Construct

We all know that children are active learners.  Join Debbie and Janet to find out the research behind this statement.  You will learn new activities that increase brain power as well as burn energy!  Be prepared to Move it, Move it!

"Reading and Mathematics: The Dynamic Duo in Early Learning”
Grades 1-3
Betty Porter Walls, Harris-Stowe State University

In this interactive session, you will explore the interrelatedness and similarities between reading and mathematics.  With information and instructional strategies aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and standards for the National Association for Education of Young Children (NAEYC), you will engage in reading and writing activities to help young students analyze, interpret, and communicate mathematical ideas and concepts essential for academic growth.  Betty will share ideas that will help you (and your students) see that math is not just a school subject, but a life subject.  She will also feature strategies to utilize math-related children’s literature in your classroom.  Come and learn ways this dynamic duo—reading and math—can enhance teaching and learning in grades 1-3.