Register Today! www.wsra.org/wsra-2020

Table of Contents

Welcome 3

Wisconsin State Reading Association Membership 3

From the WSRA President 4

Check-In at the Conference - Wisconsin Center - 400 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee 4

Schedule for Thursday and Friday at WSRA 2020 5

First Come, First Seated 5

WSRA 2020 Conference Mobile App 5

Facilities and American Disabilities Act Notification 5

Hotel Room Block and Information About Milwaukee 5

All About WSRA 2020 Unconference 5

Exhibits 6

Read the Way WSRA #readthewaywsra Project 6

WSRA Awards and Honors Celebrations 7

WSRA’s Online Literacy Learning Academy 7

Meals 8

Thursday, February 6, 2020 9

Thursday Keynote by Cornelius Minor 9

At-A-Glance Th-A Sessions 9

9:30 – 10:45 Th-A Session Descriptions 10

At-A-Glance Th-B Sessions 18

11:00 - 12:15 Th-B Session Descriptions 18

Thursday Lunch 12:30 - 1:30 28

At-A-Glance Th-C Sessions 28

1:45 - 3:00 Th-C Session Descriptions 29

At-A-Glance Th-D Unconference 39

3:15 - 4:30 Th-D Unconference Information 39

Friday, February 7, 2020 39

Friday Keynote by Donalyn Miller 39

9:30 – 10:45 F-A Session Descriptions 40

At-A-Glance F-A Sessions 40

At-A-Glance F-B Sessions 50

11:00 – 12:30 F-B Session Descriptions 50

Friday Lunch 12:30 to 1:30 59

At-A-Glance F-C Sessions 59

2:00 – 3:15 F-C Session Descriptions 60

3:30 – 4:30 F-D Session Descriptions and Unconference Information 67

Saturday, February 8, 2020 68

At-A-Glance Sat-A Sessions 68

Saturday Keynote by Monique Gray Smith 68

9:35 - 11:00 Saturday Session Descriptions 69

11:05 - 12:15 Saturday Panel Discussion 72

Book Signing 73

WSRA Policies 74

Registration 74

Dates to Note 75

WSRA Institute with Gravity Goldberg 75

WSRA Committee Chairs 2019 – 2020 75

Local Reading Councils in Wisconsin 76

2019-2020 WSRA Board of Directors 77

WSRA 2020 Conference Planning Committee 78

Index of WSRA 2020 Presenters 79

Welcome

Dear Colleagues,

Both the theme and spirit of WSRA’s 2020 conference, center upon Jean Lave’s and Etienne Wenger’s theory of Communities of Practice (CoP). Lave and Wenger defined CoP as “groups of people who share a concern, set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis.” As such, CoP’s are informal, collaborative, and above all, passionate. Indeed, this year’s conference aims not only to help teachers form new Communities of Practice but also to extend them long after the conference has passed. You will see an emphasis upon continued professional learning through social media efforts as well as connections to WSRA’s face to face workshops throughout the year. For the 2020 conference, the sessions are categorized into Learning Communities which are intended to engage you in extended and highly interactive learning experiences. Each day closes with an “Unconference” where participants lead and participate in organic discussions based upon topics of their choosing. Our hope is that this year's conference leverages and honors teacher expertise as collectively we focus on Learning Together in Communities of Practice.

Yours respectfully,

Colleen Pennell

WSRA 2020 Conference Chair

Wisconsin State Reading Association Membership

WSRA’s Mission: WSRA provides leadership, advocacy, and professional learning for the implementation of effective literacy practices, recognizing the complex nature of literacy and engaging students to apply their literacies in meaningful ways in a changing world.

WSRA’s Beliefs: Expertise Matters! Research Grounds Us! Literacy is a complex process requiring a comprehensive approach and a mindset shift.

WSRA’s Goals:
Advocacy: Develop tools, strategies, and interest to motivate WSRA members to engage in advocacy efforts to improve research, policy and practices for literacy programs that best serve students, families, and educators.

Communication: Provide leadership in addressing issues and trends in reading and communication arts to inform educators, administrators, families, and community members.

Membership: Develop and strengthen an active and diverse membership. Join: www.wsra.org/membership WSRA members receive the WSRA Journal, WSRA Update, archived webinars, and reduced registration fees for institutes and conferences. Membership is $39 per year.

Partnership: Create partnerships that foster literacy in the home, school, community, and workplace.

Professional Development: Encourage professional growth opportunities for families, educators, administrators, and community members. Stay tuned for free and/or low-priced learning opportunities through WSRA’s Online Literacy Learning Academy.

Research: Promote and disseminate research findings that will strengthen and support the best practices for instruction in the communication arts. Check out www.wsra.org/prof-learning and the Research Scholarship Award and apply for the Pat Bricker Memorial Research Scholarship.

Communities of Practice

The Wisconsin State Reading Association extends its appreciation to all who contributed to the success of this annual conference. Contact WSRA via email at wsra@wsra.org or 262-514-1450.

From the WSRA President

Dear Colleagues in Literacy Teaching and Learning,

Each year, the Wisconsin State Reading Association provides an amazing opportunity for literacy educators to gather together to build our expertise for wise decision-making. This year is no exception. Colleen Pennell and her conference planning team have worked hard to create a conference that will have a life beyond the usual two and a half days of keynotes and breakout sessions in Milwaukee. The theme, Learning Together in Communities of Practice, focuses on ways of collaborating professionally throughout the year and across the state with others who are united by purpose and passion. This year's format will highlight the expertise of educators from Wisconsin as well as researchers and other literacy professionals from around the country and the world. There will be time for discussions and networking in addition to attending presentations.

Please plan to join us at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee for the 2020 WSRA Conference and for extended opportunities to learn together long after the conference has ended.

With gratitude for Communities of Practice, which nurture and encourage us.

Deborah Cromer

Check-In at the Conference - Wisconsin Center - 400 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Thursday, February 6, 2020

7:00 AM - 4:30 PM

Friday, February 7, 2020

7:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Saturday, February 8, 2020

7:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Complimentary coffee and tea served near Ballroom CD on Thursday and Friday 6:30 AM - 8:30 AM

Schedule for Thursday and Friday at WSRA 2020

Start time

End time

What’s Happening?

Location

8:00 AM

8:15 AM

Welcome

Ballroom CD

8:15 AM

9:15 AM

Keynote Address

Ballroom CD

9:30 AM

10:45 AM

A

Breakout Sessions

See the Conference Mobile App

11:00 AM

12:15 PM

B

Breakout Sessions

See the Conference Mobile App

12:30 PM

1:30 PM

Lunch, Networking, & Dessert

1:45 PM

3:00 PM

C

Breakout Sessions

See the Conference Mobile App

3:15 PM

4:30 PM

D

Unconference

See the Conference Mobile App

Schedule for Saturday at WSRA 2020

Start time

End time

What’s Happening?

Location

7:45 AM

8:15 AM

Breakfast

Ballroom AB

8:15 AM

9:00 AM

Awards and Honors

Ballroom AB

9:00 AM

10:00 AM

Keynote Address

Ballroom AB

10:15 AM

11:30 AM

Sat-A Breakout Sessions

See the Conference Mobile App

11:40 AM

12:40 AM

Saturday Panel Discussion

Ballroom AB

First Come, First Seated

For WSRA 2020, entry into the breakout sessions is offered on a first come, first seated basis. We recommend that you arrive early but plan alternative selections in the event that the room capacity has been met by the time you arrive. Fire code does not permit standing in the back of the room or sitting on the floor. Please do not leave personal items unattended or reserve seats for yourself or others.

WSRA 2020 Conference Mobile App

Session descriptions, room assignments, and handouts will be available to attendees on WSRA’s Conference Mobile App and on www.wsra.org/conferences-faq. To download the app on your mobile device, go to the App Store for iOS devices or to Google Play for Android. Search WSRA and download the free app. Next, set up your itinerary with your breakout session choices. Notifications, including schedule changes, door prize giveaways, and Unconference room assignments will be sent to your app.

Facilities and American Disabilities Act Notification

The WSRA conference will be held at the Wisconsin Center at 400 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53203. Please notify WSRA of ADA or other special requests via the online registration form. Questions? Please call Joyce at 262-514-1450 or email at wsra@wsra.org.

Hotel Room Block and Information About Milwaukee

WSRA has hotel room blocks with conference rates at the Hyatt Regency (333 W. Kilbourne Ave.) and at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center (509 W. Wisconsin Ave.).

Visit www.wsra.org/conference-faq. For information about entertainment in Milwaukee, go to www.visitmilwaukee.org. To access information about parking, go to www.parkmilwaukee.com.

All About WSRA 2020 Unconference

On Thursday and Friday mornings, everyone votes on the topics they want to discuss. A “topic” could be just about anything – a discussion, a question, a keynote presentation, a book, and/or a notion about literacy instruction. The Unconference is not a preplanned presentation. Each Unconference session has a host, who facilitates, captures actions, decisions, and/or insights. Attendees can roam freely without a schedule. Everyone chooses where to go, based on the "Law of 2 Feet." If you aren't learning or contributing or having fun, you just might decide to use your two feet to go to a different Unconference session. The Thursday and Friday 2020 Unconference sessions start at 3:30 but your conversation will likely expand. Snacks and beverages will be available near the Unconference sessions' rooms.

Exhibits

www.wsra.org/conference-exhibit-hall

Exhibit Hall Hours

Wednesday

6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Thursday

7:15 AM - 5:00 PM

Friday

7:15 AM - 3:00 PM

Presenters' Biographical Information

Visit this page to view the full biographical information of the presenters. www.wsra.org/conference-presenters

Read the Way WSRA #readthewaywsra Project

www.wsra.org/read-the-way-wsra

A movement aimed at getting important books into the hands and hearts of local reading council members and their friends, teachers and their students, parents and their children, community members and their friends... Become involved in this Wisconsin literacy project!

Contact WSRA via email at wsra@wsra.org or 262-514-1450.

WSRA Awards and Honors Celebrations

Nominations for WSRA’s Awards and Honors are due November 1.

Leadership Group Members, click www.wsra.org/awards-2020 to submit a nomination.

Celebrate Literacy - Individual Award

Celebrate Literacy - Organization Award

Council Recognition

Exemplary Reading Award

Friends of Literacy Honor Roll

Digital Literacies Award of Distinction Award

Leadership in Literacy Technology Award

Outstanding Administrator Award

Outstanding Service to WSRA Award

Pat Bricker Memorial Research Scholarship

WSRA President’s Award

Student Scholarship Awards

WSRA’s Online Literacy Learning Academy

WSRA’s Online Literacy Learning Academy promotes flexible, self-directed professional learning opportunities to develop expertise for wise decision-making.

Possible Choices for You and Your Team

○ Webinars

○ Videos

○ Micro-courses

○ Book Studies

○ Ongoing learning after WSRA conference sessions

Meals

Thursday, February 6, 2020

Thursday Keynote by Cornelius Minor

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Cornelius Minor: Cornelius Minor is a Brooklyn-based educator. He works with teachers, school leaders, and leaders of community-based organizations to support equitable literacy reform in cities (and sometimes villages) across the globe. Whether working with educators and kids in Los Angeles, Seattle, or New York City, Cornelius uses his love for technology, hip-hop, and social media to bring communities together. As a staff developer with the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, Cornelius draws not only on his years teaching middle school in the Bronx and Brooklyn, but also on time spent skateboarding, shooting hoops, and working with young people.

Title: You Got to Believe in Somethin'. Why Not Believe in WE? -- Belief, Choices and the Challenge to Do What's Right

Audience: All

Presentation: So much of what we do comes down to belief -- in kids, in communities, in ourselves. So much of what the world hands us erodes that belief. How can we teach, lead, research, and organize when it can feel like we've given all that we can give? This is not a talk about filling our collective cups. We've already had that dialogue. This is a talk about using listening, sound pedagogy and inquiry to stop the erosion of belief that robs us of our energy and children of the futures that we can build together.

At-A-Glance Th-A Sessions

9:30 – 10:45 Th-A Session Descriptions

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-A01

JENNIFER ABRAMS: Communications Consultant; Author of Professional Books; @jenniferabrams

Title: Swimming in the Deep End: What Does It Take?

Community of Practice: Customer review Literacy Leadership

Audience: All

Presentation: No matter where or what role we play in a school (teacher, team lead, admin), we all strive to make a difference for students. We have initiatives we want to roll out, mandates to fulfill, and projects to design. Yet, we don’t always know what it takes to get our initiatives off the ground successfully. We need to build up our skill set around messaging, shore up our ‘resistance management,’ and for the sake of our health, our ‘stress tolerance.’ This workshop will provide support, a laugh, and some cognitive, social and psychological resources to help you communicate more effectively, confidently, and collaboratively.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-A02

SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI: Assistant Professor of Education, Michigan State University; Researcher; @shireen818

Title: Can Classroom Talk Improve Students' Reading Comprehension and Persuasive Writing Skills?

Community of Practice: Pencil Writing

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Content Area

Presentation: Though talk is a ubiquitous feature of any classroom, only some forms of talk are conducive to students’ learning outcomes. Furthermore, capturing classroom talk during whole-class discussion can be difficult to do with high-inference measures, thereby limiting the ability to associate classroom talk features with particular student outcomes. This talk will discuss the development of the Low-Inference Discourse Observation tool (LIDO), a validated tool that tracks teacher and student talk during whole-classroom discussions. Both teacher and student talk moves captured by the LIDO range from dialogic to monologic. Studies using the LIDO to explore teacher- and student-talk features with students’ reading comprehension and persuasive writing will also be highlighted, and implications of these findings for classroom practice will be discussed.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-A03

CARL ANDERSON: Consultant; Staff Developer, Teachers College Reading and Writing Project; Author of Professional Books; @ConferringCarl

Title: Individualize Writing Instruction by Conferring with Your Student Writers (Grades 3-8)

Community of Practice: Pencil Writing

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Consultant

Presentation: As a writing teacher, you know that your students are at different levels and have different needs. How can you provide just the right instruction that will help each of your students move forward as writers? Explore how having daily writing conferences with your students answers this question. Learn how conferences will help you discover and assess what students are trying to do as writers, and then teach them what they need to learn about navigating the stages of the writing process and how to integrate the qualities of good writing into their narrative, informational, and persuasive pieces so that they grow as writers across the school year. To help you envision how writing conferences go, Carl will show and analyze videos of writing conferences with students in upper elementary and middle school grades.

Th-A04

JEANNETTE ARMSTRONG: Doctoral Candidate: Literacy, Culture, and Language Education, Indiana University; Director/Assistant Professor, School of Education, Viterbo University; Chair, WSRA Special Interest Council, Wisconsin Professors of Reading, @Literacy4JA

Community of Practice: Child with balloon Emergent Literacy

Audience: Author, Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, English Language, Curriculum Director, Preservice

Presentation: Every day, teachers make choices about what and how to teach that can have a profound impact on their students—often in ways that are not immediately evident. Explore the complexities through a sociocultural lens of using read-aloud literature to teach young children how to talk about and negotiate understandings of self and others. Discussion includes insights into the manifold ways that read-alouds are used in elementary classrooms and sheds new light on the ways that teachers can move within and beyond the curriculum to make room for their students’ interests, histories, and ways of knowing self and others. Attendees will come away with renewed enthusiasm for reading aloud to their students; new respect for their own current practices; and new ideas for transforming read-alouds into communities of practice that encourage more empathetic, responsive dispositions in their young students.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-A05

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE COMMITTEE

Moderated by JILLIAN HEISE: Library Media Educator, Kenosha Unified School District; WSRA Children’s Literature Committee Chair; Creator of #classroombookaday; @heisereads

Title: WSRA’S Children’s Literature Committee Recommends

Community of Practice: Lightbulb and gear Motivation and Engagement

Audience: Author, Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, Literacy Coach, School Library Media, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Teacher Educator, Preservice

Presentation: With thousands of new picture books published each year, it can be a struggle to know which ones are high quality, engaging, and worthy of adding to your classroom or library. Yet Harvey & Ward advocate to “Fill your room with engaging, culturally responsive books so every child can find [themselves] in multiple titles.” WSRA’s Children’s Literature Committee is here to help! Join members as they share picture book text sets created around multiple themes and purposes to engage students in learning and also build community. Knowing the newest picture books supports building a culture of access, choice, and engagement in your school. We focus on high-quality titles with kid appeal that are diverse, authentic, and relevant in our global world to give educators strong possibilities for read-alouds, mentor texts, and recommendations to student readers. Educators will learn about the best of the newest picture books published in the past eighteen months and ways to use those books in the classroom to meet various community and curriculum goals. See www.wsra.org/children-s-literature-recommends-

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-A06

CATHERINE COMPTON-LILLY: John C. Hungerpiller Professor, University of South Carolina

Title: Little Things Matter a Lot: The Construction of Inequity Over Time

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice

Presentation: This presentation identifies how seemingly minor difficulties in schools and classrooms can add up to inequitable outcomes. Specifically, this presentation examines the school experiences of a small group of African American children growing up in a high-poverty community and explores situations and policies that the children and their families perceived and experienced as problematic. This research reveals that children at different ages tend to experience different types of problematic experiences. Compton-Lilly ends by focusing on the cumulation of these experiences across time in the school trajectory of one student. The goal is to make educators more aware of how their students experience school and to use that knowledge to improve the learning experiences of all children.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-A07

BOB FECHO: Professor of English Education, Educators College, Columbia University; Researcher

Title: Building a Learning Community Through Dialogue

Community of Practice: Head with gears Middle Level/Secondary Literacy

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Teacher Educator, Content Area

Presentation: The workshop will begin with an interactive unpacking of our range of ideas concerning what we mean when we say community. This activity will be followed by a brief, but substantive explanation of what Dutch psychologist Hubert Hermans argues are eight features he construes to be necessary for people to learn from each other through dialogue: (1) be innovative, (2) have broad bandwidth, (3) recognize misunderstanding, (4) construct a common space, (5) account for the otherness of others, (6) acknowledge power differences, (7) make room for different communication genres, and (8) be facilitated by awareness and silence. The center and bulk of the session will then be a discussion of what the group considers to be the possibilities and complexities of these features connected to a brainstorming of what they might mean for, and look like, in literacy classrooms.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-A08

LA TASHA FIELDS: Culturally Responsive Practices Educator Mentor, Milwaukee Public Schools; Literacy Specialist for Nehemiah Project: Literacy Adjunct Instructor

Title: Leveraging Culturally Responsive Practices to Achieve Literacy Excellence

Community of Practice: Customer review Literacy Leadership

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice

Presentation: Culturally responsive practices can serve as a bridge between home and school for culturally and linguistically diverse students and their homes. Therefore, building on the strengths of students is critical in literacy instruction. Learn about culturally relevant pedagogical practices in literacy, and examine how to identify and address visible and invisible barriers to being a culturally-relevant practitioner.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-A09

GRAVITY GOLDBERG: Author of Professional Books; Literacy Consultant; @drgravityg

Title: Teach Like Yourself: Why Your Students Need You to Be You

Community of Practice: Customer review Literacy Leadership

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice

Presentation: In this time when everyone seems to have an opinion or quick fix for what teachers need to do, it is time to hold even tighter to your own core values and beliefs. What your students need most is for you to show up fully as yourself in the classroom. When you are your most authentic teacher self you give permission for your students to be the same, and the real work of learning can happen. Your students don’t need scripted lessons or gimmicks. They need you to align your teaching practice to your core, build balanced relationships, drive your own professional growth, and practice self-care.

Th-A10

PEG GRAFWALLNER: Author of Professional Books; Instructional Coach/Reading Specialist, Milwaukee Public Schools; @PegGrafwallner

Title: Are you Planning an Activity or Teaching a Skill?

Community of Practice: Head with gears Middle Level/Secondary Literacy

Audience: High School 9-12

Presentation: Designing a lesson can be inspirational, intriguing and invigorating! But, is your lesson focused on the activity, or are you actually teaching a skill? Often, teachers will use an activity as their learning intention, but a learning intention goes beyond an activity. Learn how to design learning intentions, determine the success criteria students can use to assess their understanding, create the activity and use open-ended questions to help students learn. Finally, reflect upon the work done, and critique how this process might support their work and that of their district.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-A11

TOWANDA HARRIS: Author of Professional Books; Literacy Consultant; Instructional Leadership Coordinator, Georgia; @drtharris

Title: The Right Tools: Choosing the Best for Your Students (Repeats on Thursday at 1:45)

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Literacy Coach, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator

Presentation: Today, educators find themselves facing a dizzying array of educational resources. But how do we know which resource, strategy or practice will best help the children in our classrooms? How do we find helpful resources without squandering funding or instructional time—not to mention our students’ potential? This session supports educators as they make informed choices based on the unique needs of the students before them each year, providing ready-to-use tools and laying out a path that teachers and administrators can use to make informed decisions about what resources and practices they need for the students they teach. By finding and using resources that are well matched to your students and their academic goals, you can keep working to help students reach their full potential.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-A12

CAROL JAGO: Associate Director of the California Reading and Literature Project, UCLA; Author of Professional Books; Incoming President, ILA’s Adolescent Literacy Group; @CarolJago

Title: Meeting Words Where They Live: Rethinking Vocabulary Instruction

Community of Practice: Head with gears Middle Level/Secondary Literacy

Audience: Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, Curriculum Director

Presentation: Rather than teaching lists of words in an attempt to inoculate children from meeting a word they don’t know, we need to help children learn words as they read. Vocabulary is important for more than doing well on a test. The limits of students’ language can define the borders of their thinking. This session will demonstrate how to help students develop the habit of learning new words and grow their vocabulary as they read and write.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-A13

MATTHEW KAY: Founding Educator, Science Leadership Academy; Founder and Executive Director of Philly Slam League; Author of Professional Books; @MattRKay

Title: Demystifying the “Safe Space”: Creating Supportive Classrooms & Relationships

Community of Practice: Customer review Literacy Leadership

Audience: Author, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Consultant

Presentation: What is myth and what is truth surrounding the creation of safe spaces that allow students to have rich and meaningful conversations? Find out here. Matt shares concrete strategies that have worked for him, and then investigates new ways to create supportive and rich classroom relationships.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-A14

DAVID KILPATRICK: Professor of Psychology, State University of New York College at Cortland

Title: Recent Advances in Understanding Word-Level Reading Problems: Implications for Instruction and Intervention

Community of Practice: Child with balloon Emergent Literacy,

Audience: Primary K-2, Literacy Coach, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator

Presentation: This session will focus on how children learn to read words and why some children struggle. Understanding the nature of word-level reading development and word-level reading problems will guide both instruction and intervention. Studies consistently show that the most commonly used intervention approaches provide limited benefits for weak readers. However, other studies have shown that some approaches can yield very large reading gains for such students, and these will be the focus of the presentation.

Th-A15

SHERRILL KNEZEL: K-12 Art Educator and Graphic Recorder, Wauwatosa School District; @sherrillknezel

Title: Sketchnoting: An Innovative Path to Increased Engagement, Critical Thinking, & Comprehension

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, Interventionist, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Content Area

Presentation: Drawing is thinking! Explore the ways sketchnoting can be used in the classroom to support the learning of ALL students and encourage them to make their thinking visible. Based on the compelling research that images and text used together increase engagement, memory, and retention, using sketchnotes in the classroom can have transformative effects. When students use sketchnotes, they are empowered to be critical thinkers whether they are reading, listening to, or viewing content. Narrative data and student examples from upper elementary through post-secondary, as well as differentiation for ELL and differently abled students, will be shared to show the range and possibility of this innovative literacy tool.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-A16

MERRI LINDGREN: Librarian, Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC), School of Education, University of Wisconsin - Madison

MEGAN SCHLIESMAN: Librarian, Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC), School of Education, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Title: CCBC: Great New Books for K-5 Classrooms 

Community of Practice: Lightbulb and gear Motivation and Engagement

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5

Presentation: Find out about outstanding new trade books for kindergarten through grade five at this presentation highlighting recently announced 2020 American Library Association award winners and selected titles from CCBC Choices 2020, the most recent best-of-the-year list from the Cooperative Children’s Book Center.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-A17

KRISTI MRAZ: Educator; Writer; Consultant; Author of Professional Books; @MrazKristine

Title: Building Compassionate Communities: Strategies for Developing Empathy in the Classroom Through Literacy Structures

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Title I, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Consultant, Content Area

Presentation: As teachers, we can feel our plates quickly fill, and things we know matter can slip away. This session focuses on how, as teachers of literacy, we are also teachers of empathy. Participants will learn about the types of empathy, the benefits of explicit instruction on empathy, and the ways to use existing literacy practices: read-aloud, shared reading, interactive writing, and focus lessons, to teach toward a more compassionate world.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-A18

MOLLY NESS: Teacher Educator and Associate Professor, Fordham University; Author of Professional Books; Researcher; @drmollyness

Title: The Reinvigorated Read Aloud

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, Literacy Coach, English Language, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice

Presentation: A 2018 position statement from the International Literacy Association (ILA) called read-alouds one of the “cornerstones of effective literacy instruction.” As teachers, we are frequently told to read aloud to our children. But what should we read, and how should we do it? This session will begin with an exploration of the literature around the frequency and benefits of read alouds. With the goal of increasing read-alouds across grade level, text genre, and content area, we will re-envision the read-aloud as a springboard to vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension instruction. To breathe new life into our read-alouds, we will focus on the following instructional practices: print-focused read-alouds, dialogic reading, and think alouds.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-A19

MARILYN PRYLE: English Educator, Abington Heights High School in Clarks Summit, PA; Author of Professional Books; Pennsylvania’s 2019 Educator of the Year; @MPryle

Title: Everyone Has Something to Say: Using a Structured Reading Response System to Foster Discussion, Metacognition, Close Reading, and Writing Fluency

Community of Practice: Pencil Writing

Audience: Author, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Consultant

Presentation: How can we know if students are genuinely engaged when they read? Many times, they become experts at merely finding the answers they think the teacher wants. They are skilled at skimming for facts without genuine investment. Like everyone, they may have moments of true inquiry, wonder, risk, or connection as they read, but without a space to explore further, these questions and connections are fleeting. This session will show teachers a simple, authentic, effective system that gives students a safe space to explore, question, and connect, while developing their metacognitive abilities and writing fluency. The Reader Response (RR) technique can work with any text and is automatically differentiated for all students. We will practice the process of writing RRs and explore over 30 categories of response, ranging from basic skills such as Give an Opinion, Spot the Setting, and Mark the Motivation to literary theories such as Gender and Queer Theory and Critical Race Theory.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-A20

LINDA RIEF: Instructor, University of New Hampshire's Summer Literacy Institute; Author of Professional Books; @LindaMRief

Title: Quickwrites: How to Jumpstart Your Students’ Thinking and Writing

Community of Practice: Pencil Writing

Audience: Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach

Presentation: Annie Dillard, in The Writing Life, said: “One line of a poem, the poet said—only one line, but thank God for that one line—drops from the ceiling... and you tap in the others around it with a jeweler’s hammer.” Using short pieces from professional writers, the writing of Rief’s students, and her own writing, see how borrowing one line from mentor pieces helps discover ideas for writing. Using these Quickwrites, look at the process students use to craft ideas into more fully-developed pieces of writing in a variety of genres, including personal narrative and opinion pieces. At the end of every year when Rief asks students what helped them most with their writing, they say Quickwrites help them find ideas that actually matter to them.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-A21

PERNILLE RIPP: 7th Grade English Educator, Oregon, Wisconsin; Author of Professional Books; Creator of the Global Read Aloud Project; @pernilleripp

Title: Now What? Helping Students Become and Remain Passionate Readers

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for all

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice

Presentation: The message is clear among literacy communities: we want to help our students become readers for life, we want them to love reading, but we need more ideas. When we believe in choice, inclusive access, and know we are ready for expanding our literacy practices - where do we start and/or how do we continue to create thriving reading communities? How do we know they are reading if we don’t quiz them? What do we do with our readers who are not where they should be? What do we do not just on the first day of school but every single day after when those kids who hate reading just grow in their hatred rather than change their minds? What do we do when we are ready for a change in our literacy practices but those around us are not? Focusing on creating authentic conversations, building reading community, and establishing positive reading identity, we will explore practical ideas to help students become passionate readers.

Th-A22

JENNIFER SCHLIE-REED: K-12 Digital Learning Coach, New Berlin School District

KELLY SCHLEGEL: English and Speech Instructor, New Berlin School District

Title: The Digital Down Low: Creating Authentic Learning Experiences in the English Classroom & Beyond

Community of Practice: Cloud Computing Digital Literacy

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, Special Education, School Library Media, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Content Area, Digital Technology

Presentation: Nothing is more authentic for today’s learners than communicating and creating content using a variety of online platforms. We will discuss how to embed these experiences within your curriculum and will provide guidance for using digital learning tools including G Suite for Education, Google extensions, web apps, iPad apps, and social media. By using these tools and strategies to check for understanding, educators can honor student ownership of learning while still collecting meaningful data to drive daily instruction. Additionally, we will discuss the value of a coaching cycle by sharing our own story about how we came together to enhance instruction without compromising extra time in an already packed curriculum. Participants will walk away with hands-on experiences, sample lessons and resources, and classroom applications.

At-A-Glance Th-B Sessions

11:00 - 12:15 Th-B Session Descriptions

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-B01

JENNIFER ABRAMS: Communications Consultant; Author of Professional Books; @jenniferabrams

Title: Having Hard Conversations

Community of Practice: Customer review Literacy Leadership

Audience: All

Presentation: As administrators, coaches or colleagues, we often come up against situations where difficult topics must be addressed. What do we know about the best strategies for those moments? What questions should we be asking ourselves before we speak, and what language is best for when we do speak? Obtain action plans and scripting tools for having necessary, humane, and growth-producing conversations.

Th-B02

RITA CHEN: Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin, La Crosse

KELSEY KUTZKE: 6th Grade Teacher, Longfellow Middle School, La Crosse School District

Title: Reading and Writing to Change the World: A Community of Practice Story

Community of Practice: Middle Level/Secondary Literacy

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, Principal/Administrator, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice

Presentation: Explore how 4th and 6th grade students are empowered as they participate in a community literacy event. Our communities of practice story delves into how students collaborate with classroom teachers, local cultural leaders, community volunteers, and researchers in order to make their voices heard in this social justice project. When students and community members become working partners, they can accomplish anything as they problem solve, collaborate and reflect on a common cause to create a better society.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-B03

CATHERINE COMPTON-LILLY: The John C. Hungerpiller Professor, University of South Carolina; Researcher; Author of Professional Books

Title: Making Sense of Informational Texts: The Development of Understanding K-5

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Literacy Coach, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Content Area

Presentation: A well-developed understanding of how students make meaning from informational texts can inform how these texts are used in the classroom and also help teachers identify instructional strategies for supporting children’s comprehension. Learn from a research investigation that examined the various types of information that children in grades K-5 found important as they made sense of informational texts. In the study, Dr. Compton-Lilly asked children at various ages to talk about a science book that was read aloud. Clear patterns emerged in how children at different ages made sense of informational texts, what they attended to, and what they learned. Learn more about these findings and leave with strategies to help co-construct deeper understandings about informational text with your readers.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-B04

WSRA DIGITAL LITERACIES COMMITTEE:

KATHRYN ALLEN: Assistant Professor, College of Education and Human Services, University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh; WSRA Digital Literacies Committee Member; @KathrynELAllen

MICHELLE BOQUIST: Reading Specialist, Portage School District; @michelleboquist

TYLER COBB: Reading Teacher, St. Dominic Catholic School; WSRA Digital Literacies Committee Member

KEITH SCHROEDER: Quality Assurance Specialist, District Library Media Specialist for the School District of Marinette; WSRA Digital Literacies Committee Chair; @keithdschroeder

Title: WSRA Digital Literacies Committee: Learning to Teach Writing in Digital Contexts

Community of Practice: Cloud Computing Digital Literacy

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Digital Technology

Presentation: Contemporary literacy practices demand a shift toward participatory, collaborative, and multimodal writing instruction yet, models of teaching in these environments can be difficult to find and even more difficult to enact. Learn three principles of collaborative professionalism: collaborative inquiry, joint work, and common meaning and purpose, as useful models for learning how to teach writing in contemporary contexts. Hear about the experiences of a group of teachers who used principles of collaborative professionalism to adapt writing instruction for digital contexts, and then explore how these principles can be applied to local environments. Participants will generate questions and develop a plan of inquiry based on the model presented.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-B05

RACHAEL GABRIEL: Board Member, International Literacy Association; Associate Professor of Literacy Education and Director of the Reading/Language Arts Center, University of Connecticut; Author of Professional Books

Title: Understanding Dyslexia: Research, Policy, Practice, and Public Debate

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Author, Primary K-2, Literacy Coach, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Consultant

Presentation: The use of scientific research evidence in education policy and practice is of paramount importance. However, it is difficult to tell exactly how research should inform practice when two sides of a debate both claim to be speaking from and fighting on the side of science and research. Learn how research is used in current policy, practice and public debate related to dyslexia. Using recent dyslexia advocacy and policy efforts as an example, discuss different strategies for using research to argue for a particular point of view, and the ways in which certain strategies obscure and narrow the findings of scientific research while others elevate and extend it. Leave with a set of strategies for recognizing how to see through tactical and political uses of research to connect their practice to the strongest evidence available while creating possibilities for new evidence to emerge. The ethical, equitable use of research in education policy and practice is key to the education of students with reading difficulties. Leave with the awareness and tools to engage and interpret research in policy and practice.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-B06

MARGARITA GÓMEZ: Assistant Professor of Literacy Education, Loyola University Maryland

Title: Translanguaging with Elementary Students: Understanding Dynamic Bilingual Writing

Community of Practice: Pencil Writing

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Teacher Educator, Preservice

Presentation: This project investigates the dynamic bilingual (Spanish/English) writing and translanguaging practices of elementary students in an after-school writing club. Through a sociocultural (Vygotsky, 1978) and translanguaging lens (Garcia& Wei, 2014), I examine the “fluid practices that go between and beyond socially constructed language and educational systems, structures, and practices to engage diverse students’ multiple meaning-making systems and subjectivities” (Garcia & Wei, 2014, p. 3) to answer the question of what patterns of language use emerge when using translanguaging pedagogy with bilingual students.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-B07

MARCELLE HADDIX: Dean’s Professor and Chair, Reading and Language Arts Department, Syracuse University School of Education; Co-Director, Lender Center for Social Justice; 2019 President of the Literacy Research Association; @MarcelleHaddix

Title: Writing Our Lives as a Space of Healing in Troubling Times (Repeats on Thursday at 1:45)

Community of Practice: Pencil Writing

Audience: Author, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Principal/Administrator, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice

Presentation: Learn about a framework for cultivating youth writing within and beyond school spaces that draws upon the notion of writing as a healing practice. The framework is informed by restorative and mindfulness practices and deeply rooted in community engagement. Leave with ideas for how to reclaim and hold space for youth writers to honor their writerly selves in the reawakening of ongoing trauma and violence.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-B08

DAVID KILPATRICK: Professor of Psychology, State University of New York College at Cortland; Reading Researcher; Author of Professional Books

Title: Understanding the Role of Phonemic Proficiency in Boosting Reading Skills in Struggling Readers

Community of Practice: Child with balloon Emergent Literacy

Audience: Primary K-2, Literacy Coach, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator

Presentation: Learn about emerging research suggesting that proficiency in phoneme awareness skills is essential for building a large and continuously expanding sight vocabulary. Explore the phonological skills needed to remember and instantly identify written words. Most assume that phoneme skills are limited to K-1 and are assumed to be associated with phonic development. Yet decades of research on orthographic learning clearly shows that phoneme-level skills are foundational for remembering the words we read. The skills needed for word-level reading and instructional techniques that promote that skill will be highlighted.

Th-B09

MICHELLE LANGE: English Teacher, Janesville School District

Title: Social Justice – The Power of Choice and Voice: Helping Students Understand That All Kinds of Writing Can Change the World

Community of Practice: Middle/Secondary Literacy

Audience: Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Special Education

Presentation: Learn how the development of critical and creative thinking skills alongside presentation and performance skills help students understand the concept and power of different genres of writing to change the world. Major concepts include the study of social justice and culturally charged issues that affect our world globally, locally, and, possibly, very personally. Students study different genres of writing as they research social justice topics: words on paper, images on digital screens, messages encoded on other surfaces such as canvases, sculptures, billboards, music, video games, websites, social media, narrative, documentary films, television, advertisements, maps, illustrations, letters, magazines, and digital texts.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-B10

WSRA LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE

MIKE FORD: Professor Emeritus, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh; Author of Professional Books; WSRA Advocacy Committee Chair

KATHY CHAMPEAU: Adjunct Professor, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee; Author; Consultant; WSRA Legislative Committee Chair

Title: WSRA Legislative Committee: Advocating for and Moving Toward Communities of Practice: Focusing on What is Critical

Community of Practice: Customer review Literacy Leadership

Audience: Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator

Presentation: As Westheimer observed: "When one area is illuminated, anything outside the circle of light is simultaneously darkened." As a professional organization dedicated to the importance of educator expertise, communities of practice become central to achieving our goals. Explore the current political context surrounding literacy instruction with Legislative Committee Chair Kathy Champeau and Advocacy Committee Chair Mike Ford. Let's critically analyze current discussions about topics being illuminated and examine the need to expand the light as we advocate for and take action on other important issues.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-B11

MERRI LINDGREN: Librarian, Cooperative Children's Book Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison

MEGAN SCHLIESMAN: Librarian, Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC), School of Education, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Title: CCBC: Great New Books for Middle and High School Classrooms

Community of Practice: Lightbulb and gear Motivation and Engagement

Audience: Middle Level 6-8

Presentation: Find out about outstanding new trade books for grades 6-12 at this presentation highlighting recently announced 2020 American Library Association award winners and selected titles from CCBC Choices 2020, the most recent best-of-the-year list from the Cooperative Children’s Book Center.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-B12

RAFAEL LÓPEZ: Artist; Children’s Book Illustrator; Muralist; @rafaellopezart

Title: Where Do Inspiration and Ideas Come From?

Community of Practice: Lightbulb and gear Motivation and Engagement

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8

Presentation: Learn about award-winning illustrator Rafael López’s background as a youth raised in Mexico. Explore his history and what inspired and shaped his approach to illustration. Understand how these life events are introduced into his visual dialogue.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-B13

HEIDI MESMER: Professor, School of Education, Virginia Tech; Researcher; Author of Professional Books; Member of International Literacy Association Literacy Research Panel 2018-2019: @haemesmer

Title: Letter Lessons and First Words: Phonics Foundations that Work (Repeats Thursday at 1:45)

Community of Practice: Child with balloon Emergent Literacy

Audience: 4K, Primary K-2, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I

Presentation: The big message about phonics instruction has been well-established: Make sure that students get solid phonics instruction. Unfortunately, the more nuanced and sophisticated messages about phonics instruction have not reached all classrooms and all teachers. Learn teaching techniques that can be used in any phonics curriculum. For example, in primary classrooms children read orally to their teachers, but what do teachers say and do when they don’t know a word or make a mistake? Similarly, we want children to sound out words that they know, but how does a teacher get a child from pronouncing individual sounds /c/ /a/ /t/ to blending the word together? Likewise, teachers know that they must use explicit language, words that directly tell children what sound a letter group makes (e.g. sh = /sh/), but when is it important to let students figure things out? Finally, we know that Letter-of-the-Week is not a good practice but what does a kindergarten teacher do to bring everyone up to speed with the alphabet?

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-B14

CORNELIUS MINOR: Author of Professional Books; Staff Developer, Teachers College Reading and Writing Project; @MisterMinor

MOLLY NESS: Teacher Educator and Associate Professor, Fordham University; Author of Professional Books; Researcher; @drmollyness

Title: Teachers as Readers

Community of Practice: Customer review Literacy Leadership

Audience: All

Presentation: After the planning, the teaching, the professional learning, the community engagement, and leading our own families, that we are habitual readers ourselves can feel like one task too many. In striving to show our students the infinite power of being lifelong readers, our aim is to practice what we preach. In the constellation of responsibilities and loyalties that we have, the persisting question is, “How do I make the time?” Minor and Ness will examine the things in our work that rob us of both the time and the energy to read. They will engage in the kind of restorative practice and planning that gives us the will back, and will study the kind of everyday resistance that can give us our time back. Participants will be armed with the insights and research to protect their time and to deepen their reading by exploring the literature on the reading habits of teachers, creating literacy lifelines to begin inquiry and reflection into our reading identities, examining how our reading habits and preferences influence our classroom culture, embracing book culture in our personal and professional lives, and creating action plans to live readerly lives.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-B15

KRISTI MRAZ: Educator; Writer; Consultant; Author of Professional Books; @MrazKristine

Title: Writing Workshop is for Everyone: Toward a More Inclusive Writing Practice

Community of Practice: Pencil Writing

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Consultant

Presentation: Writing workshop is a powerful time for children to learn and refine literacy skills, gain social emotional competency, and create strong feelings of belonging and capability. For some children this learning comes with ease, but for others challenges seem to emerge at every turn. Why? Many unintentional acts can limit the inclusivity of this time with a product-oriented philosophy, barriers to identifying as a writer, and a limited range of strategies for success. This session looks at how teachers can remove barriers, increase supportive structures, and rethink our writing philosophy to ensure each child identifies and thrives as a writer.

The Department of Public Instruction presents

Th-B16

BARB NOVAK: Literacy Consultant, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction

LAURA ADAMS: Literacy Consultant, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction; @WisDPILit

Title: Literacy Coaching with an Equity Lens

Community of Practice: Customer review Literacy Leadership

Audience: Literacy Coach, Curriculum Director

Presentation: The complex work of advancing educational equity depends on authentic dialogue, learning, and planning among learners, staff, families, and the community. Coaches - particularly literacy coaches - are uniquely situated to facilitate this deep equity-focused dialogue, professional learning, and collaboration. Participants will engage with a DPI-created document about coaching with an equity lens in a multi-level system of support. Topics include self-reflection on identity and bias, connections to Wisconsin’s Model to Inform Culturally Responsive Practices, and examples of coaching with an equity lens.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-B17

MARILYN PRYLE: English Educator, Abington Heights High School in Clarks Summit, PA; Author of Professional Books; Pennsylvania’s 2019 Educator of the Year; @MPryle

Title: Cultivating Skills for a Global World: Helping Students Become More Innovative, Interactive, and Socially Aware in the Secondary ELA Classroom

Community of Practice: Head with gears Middle Level/Secondary Literacy

Audience: Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Principal/Administrator, Teacher Educator, PreService

Presentation: If students are to participate as agents for positive change, they must spend time exploring their own interests and passions as well as the needs of the world, both in their own communities and beyond. In this session, we will discuss ways to incorporate activities for students to do this. Topics will include: A Values, Purpose, and Goals activity; an Open Writing Project with publication; Social Justice Book Clubs; a Narrative Oral History Project, ideas for using QR codes to showcase student work in the community, and ways to include service/learning options for assignments. I will share all handouts that I’ve used in my own class as well as several examples of student work. Participants will discuss, imagine, and collaborate on ways they can incorporate more student introspection and community outreach into their own classrooms, so that students can grow not only in reading, writing, speaking, and listening, but also in creativity, social awareness, empathy, and courage.

Th-B18

BRIAN WILHORN: Reading Teacher, Wisconsin Rapids Public Schools; @HelpReaders

Title: Engagement Strategies for Larger Reading Communities

Community of Practice: Lightbulb and gear Motivation and Engagement

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, Literacy Coach, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator

Presentation: Explore several activities that help create and nurture a culture of reading in classrooms, schools, and across an entire school district. The Ultimate Character Tournament (or UCT) pits favorite children’s book characters against one another in a bracketed tournament. The UCT encourages a high volume of reading and critical thinking as students debate which characters deserve to be crowned champion. The Picture Book Identification Challenge (or #PBIDchallenge) is a weekly activity that asks teachers and students to answer a picture book question based solely on one image from the book. Finally, learn how a simple phone number can motivate students to read more. Come see how these activities and others could work perfectly in your school or district.

Th-B19

DEB ZAFFIRO: Impact Coach, Greenfield School District; @DebZaffiro

TAYLOR LUX: 4th-5th Grade Teacher, Greenfield School District

CHARITY MEYER: Director of Elementary Education, Greenfield School District

Title: Celebrating Curiosity and Collaboration

Communities of Practice: Lightbulb and gearMotivation and Engagement

Audience: 4K, Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, Literacy Coach, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator

Presentation: Human beings are curious by nature and our classrooms are places where curiosity is celebrated. Interact and learn strategies for designing motivational experiences that honor students’ curiosity and engagement while meeting standards and embedding 21st century skills and dispositions into your teaching and student learning. Enhance and explore dynamic ways that teams can collaborate to design engaging learning experiences for all students.

Th-B20

TEAL ZIMMERMAN: Preservice Educator, Carroll University

REBECCA ANDERSON: 6th-8th Grade Multiage Literacy Educator, School District of Waukesha, Waukesha STEM Academy; Adjunct Lecturer, Carroll University

Title: The Absence of a Voice is a Judgment Against It: Expanding Diverse Texts in Middle and Secondary Classrooms

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, School Library Media, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Teacher Educator, Preservice

Presentation: What if every time you opened a book you saw a version of yourself, but something was missing from the pages? What if what made you YOU always seemed to be misinterpreted, unspoken, or even absent? Too often, this is what many of our students suffer. As Donalynn Miller says, “The absence of a voice is a judgment against it.” Valuing the human experience is a moral and ethical imperative that is not always as easily accomplished as it may seem within systems. Learn about findings from recent research that surveyed educators’ use of diverse texts in middle and secondary classrooms. Explore the ways diversity shows up in the texts our learners have available to them, analyze any potential gaps that are discovered, discuss why educators may be apprehensive to include all types of diversity and share tools to amplify and celebrate all voices.

Th-B21

JEN WATHKE: Library Media/Instructional Technology Specialist, School District of West De Pere; @tweets2jen

TARA KEMPEN: Elementary Literacy Coach, School District of West De Pere; @TaraKempen

Title: Collaboration through Workshop Utilizing Digital Tools

Community of Practice: Cloud Computing Digital Literacy

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Literacy Coach, Special Education, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Teacher Educator, Digital Technology

Presentation: Discover how one elementary school literacy coach and librarian/technology coach collaborate to create purposeful and authentic integration of literacy and digital learning. K-5 teachers have found that with the help of digital tools, they can increase student/teacher efficiency and enhance student literacy skills. Examples include how teachers and students use digital tools to formatively assess and set goals, log reading, record and strengthen book club discussions, plus so much more! Empower students to have voice and choice while reading and writing, all while including parents in the process! You can find Jen on Twitter at @tweets2jen or on Instagram at @wwlibrary and Tara at @tarakempen.

Thursday Lunch 12:30 - 1:30

What’s for lunch? www.wsra.org/conferences-faq

At-A-Glance Th-C Sessions

1:45 - 3:00 Th-C Session Descriptions

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-C01

Panel Moderators:

MIKE FORD: Professor Emeritus, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh; Author of Professional Books; WSRA Advocacy Committee Chair

KATHY CHAMPEAU: Adjunct Professor, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee; Author; Consultant; WSRA Legislative Committee Chair

Panelists:
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI: Assistant Professor of Education, Michigan State University; Researcher; @shireen818

BOB FECHO: Professor of English Education, Teachers College, Columbia University; Researcher

MARGARITA GÓMEZ: Assistant Professor of Literacy Education, Loyola University Maryland

Title: Critical Issues Panel

Community of Practice: Customer review Literacy Leadership

Description: The Role of Classroom Discourse

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Content Area

Title: Discourse is Cognition/Language is Power: Structuring Classroom Talk within Communities of Practice

Presentation: Since the 1930’s, classroom discourse has been analyzed through various lenses including cognitive, socio-cultural, critical inquiry, and gender to name a few. Research findings have generated nuanced understandings of teaching and learning including an awareness of how discourse structures can positively (or negatively) shape learning and further influence readers’ identity. Despite this rich body of knowledge, research suggests that for many educators, effective classroom discourse is often elusive and difficult to achieve. As educators, how can we intentionally improve our own patterns of talk and provide learners with the necessary tools to co-construct meaning? In this panel, four researchers share their work and discuss the influence of classroom discourse within communities of practice.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-C02

CARL ANDERSON: Consultant; Staff Developer, Teachers College Reading and Writing Project; Author of Professional Books; @ConferringCarl

Title: Individualize Writing Instruction by Conferring with Your Student Writers (Grades K-2)

Community of Practice: Pencil Writing

Audience: Primary K-2, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Consultant

Presentation: As a writing teacher, you know that your students are at different levels and have different needs. How can you provide just the right instruction that will help each of your students move forward as writers? Explore how having daily writing conferences with your students answers this question. Learn how to discover and assess what students are trying to do as writers through conferences. Discover how to teach what they need to learn about while navigating the stages of the writing process. In addition, see how conferences can guide students to integrate the qualities of good writing into narrative, informational, and persuasive pieces. To help you envision how writing conferences go, Anderson will show and analyze videos of writing conferences with students in primary grades.

Th-C03

BECKY ANDERSON: 6th-8th Grade Multiage Literacy Educator, School District of Waukesha, Waukesha STEM Academy, Saratoga Campus; Adjunct Lecturer, Carroll University

KELEEN KAYE: Coordinator of Digital Media and Innovation, Sun Prairie School District; Adjunct Lecturer, Carroll University

Title: Valuing the Learner More than the System

Community of Practice: Customer review Literacy Leadership

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Interventionist, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Consultant, Content Area

Presentation: Assessment creates policy which dictates curriculum that decides instruction that defines assessment that creates policy which dictates curriculum that decides instruction that defines assessment that creates policy which dictates curriculum that decides instruction that defines assessment that...Dizzy yet? Want to get off this ride? Join these Professional Soulmates to learn about reframing assessment in a way that actually honors the learner, rather than the system. You’ll walk away with tools and research, empowered to ask the questions necessary for putting this vicious cycle in its place, where it belongs.

Th-C04

SUSAN APPS-BODILLY: Second Grade Teacher, Falk Elementary School Madison Metropolitan School District

EMILY PORTLE: Instructional Resource Teacher, Falk Elementary School, Madison Metropolitan School District

EMILY FARWELL: English Language Learner Teacher, Falk Elementary School, Madison Metropolitan School District

NANCY SCHUBERT: Reading Recovery™ Teacher, Falk Elementary School, Madison Metropolitan School District

Title: Collaborative Literacy Teaching: Working Together for Student Success

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Content Area

Presentation: Our collaborative model for professional learning and support ensures that every child receives high-quality, rigorous reading instruction. The model for literacy teaching begins at the school leadership level and reaches every classroom. Learn about the presenters’ journey to implement best practices for students in literacy. See how classroom teachers engage in professional learning opportunities and collaborate with the Instructional Coach, the Reading Interventionist, and English Language Teacher to provide best practices in core instruction and guided reading groups. Through our school’s unique process of coaching by co-teaching, sharing assessments across environments, and engaging our ELL students in collaborative groups, we work together to support the growth of our students. Our research-based practices along with our use of culturally relevant practices enable our students to become strategic, independent readers. Examples of whole and small group strategies and tips for collaboration will be part of this session. Engage with visuals, books, anchor charts, and data to practice strategies. We will share examples of our collaborative coaching plan, which includes classroom teacher reflection, data review, and next steps for implementation of literacy teaching based on entry points to enable student success.

Th-C05

SANDRA BREHL: Children’s Book Author; Blogger; Co-Chair of PAL, SCBWI @SandyBrehl

Title: Unpacking the Power of Picture Books

Community of Practice: Lightbulb and gear Motivation and Engagement

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, School Library Media, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Content Area

Presentation: Learners never outgrow their need for picture books. The visual appeal and engaging text of quality picture books can and should be used purposefully to develop higher level thinking, to increase reading independence, to assure equal access to every reader, to increase skills in reading visual narratives, and to improve comprehension with other text formats and content. Learn the rationale and obtain examples for using quality picture books for any age or purpose with hands-on examination of picture books that serve multiple purposes and appeal to all ages. Annotated book lists across all levels, organized by topics, themes, and content connections will be provided to download.

Th-C06

TARA CAUL: Reading Specialist and Literacy Coach, Waupun Area School District; @TaraCaul

KATIE HOFFMAN: 7-12 Literacy Coach, Waupun Area School District

Title: Lifting the Lens of Complexity on Mentor Texts: Bishop’s “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors”

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: 4K, Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice

Presentation: Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop suggests, “Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created or recreated by the author. When lighting conditions are just right, however, a window can also be a mirror.” Are the mentor texts you use serving as mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors? Can every child in your classroom see reflections of themselves in the books that are read? Are your mentor texts representative of the diversity that exists in your schools? Join us as we explore reading texts through a social justice lens and the importance of including mentor texts that are windows, sliding glass doors, and mirrors for our students. Participants in this session will leave with ideas for mentor texts to add to their collections and will be inspired to continue to diversify the literature they share with their students.

Th-C07

SUZANNE DUNBAR: Library Media Specialist, Burlington Area School District

ANDREA DONEGAN: School Counselor, Burlington Area School District

Title: Building Bridges & Breaking Barriers with Good Books

Community of Practice: Head with gears Middle/Secondary Literacy

Audience: Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Teacher Educator

Presentation: Pairing students with good books, good character-building themes, and good discussion is an engaging and effective way to help students learn, reflect, and develop important soft skills such as empathy, acceptance, and coping skills. Learn how a collaborative partnership between a counselor and librarian (or any staff) can lead to developing a specially-designed book club and obtain the nitty-gritty on how you can implement a program to promote these essential traits.

Th-C08

AMY FREDERICK: Associate Professor, Director of MSE Reading Program, UW-River Falls

BRITTA LINDH: 4th Grade Teacher, Webster Elementary

SARAH TOBISCH: Educator, Ashland, WI

Title: Action Research Transformed my Teaching

Community of Practice: Customer review Literacy Leadership

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Content Area

Presentation: Through systematic inquiry and self-reflection, action research improves teaching practices, develops leadership capacities, and advances change in schools. The presenters will share their experiences with action research and its effects on students, colleagues, and themselves. They will present examples of the action research process and provide tips for teachers, as well as facilitate interactive discussions about the impact of teacher-led inquiry. Join us to learn about a powerful tool for professional transformation.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-C09

RACHAEL GABRIEL: Board member, International Literacy Association; Associate Professor of Literacy Education and Director of the Reading/Language Arts Center, University of Connecticut; Author; Serves on the Editorial Boards of six journals focused on literacy, education research, and education policy

Title: Leadership for Disciplinary Literacy Instruction

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, Principal/Administrator, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Content Area

Presentation: Educators have long looked to English departments for leadership on school literacy initiatives, including those related to disciplinary literacy and content area reading. However, one of the central tenets of a disciplinary literacy approach is that experts in a given discipline, as insiders within that discipline's community of practice, are best positioned to teach the purposes, formats, conventions and possibilities for reading and writing in that discipline. This requires a shift in responsibility and expertise that can create tension and confusion within and between departments in middle and high school settings. Drawing on examples from her work in two large high schools in the Northeast (one urban, one suburban), Gabriel describes successful strategies for distributing responsibility for disciplinary literacy instruction across the disciplines - highlighting the unique purposes, formats, and audiences of text in each discipline. Receive and engage with a set of activities and planning tools as ways to invite faculty across departments to identify and connect with the disciplinary literacy practices that support content and learning goals. Discuss the outcomes, pitfalls, and possibilities of leadership for disciplinary literacy.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-C10

GRAVITY GOLDBERG: Author of Professional Books; Literacy Consultant; @drgravityg

Title: Supporting Reader Independence

Community of Practice: Lightbulb and gear Motivation and Engagement

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice

Presentation: Once students have books in their hands it is easy to sigh with relief. But then what? How do teachers create classrooms where students want to read, choose to read, and think deeply about their reading. What we say and do as teachers can cultivate compliant readers or confident ones. Learn how to maximize independence and ownership so all students identify as readers and develop as deep thinkers in the world.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-C11

MARCELLE HADDIX: Dean’s Professor and Chair, Reading and Language Arts Department, Syracuse University School of Education; Co-Director, Lender Center for Social Justice; 2019 President of the Literacy Research Association; @MarcelleHaddix

Title: Writing Our Lives as a Space of Healing in Troubling Times (Repeated from Thursday at 11:00)

Community of Practice: Pencil Writing

Audience: Author, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Principal/Administrator, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice

Presentation: Marcelle Haddix will share a framework for cultivating youth writing within and beyond school spaces that draws upon the notion of writing as a healing practice. The framework is informed by restorative and mindfulness practices and deeply rooted in community engagement. Attendees will take away ideas for how to reclaim and hold space for youth writers to honor their writerly selves in the reawakening of ongoing trauma and violence.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-C12

TOWANDA HARRIS: Author of Professional Books; Literacy Consultant; Instructional Leadership Coordinator, Georgia; @drtharris

Title: The Right Tools: Choosing the Best for Your Students (Repeated from Thursday at 9:30)

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Literacy Coach, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator

Presentation: Today, educators find themselves facing a dizzying array of educational resources. But how do we know which resource, strategy or practice will best help the children in our classrooms? How do we find helpful resources without squandering funding or instructional time—not to mention our students’ potential? This session supports educators as they make informed choices based on the unique needs of the students before them each year. Harris will provide ready-to-use tools and lay out a path that teachers and administrators can use to make informed decisions about what resources and practices they need for the students they teach. By finding and using resources that are well matched to your students and their academic goals, you can keep working to help students reach their full potential.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-C13

CAROL JAGO: Associate Director of the California Reading and Literature Project, UCLA; Author of Professional Books; Incoming President, ILA’s Adolescent Literacy Group; @CarolJago

Title: The Book in Question: Why and How Reading Is in Crisis

Community of Practice: Head with gears Middle/Secondary Literacy

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, School Library Media, Curriculum Director

Presentation: Too often today's students are choosing not to read. While it is not within our power to pry the smartphones from their hands, we can invite students to open a book for a draught of fresh air. Reading allows them to look outward, beyond the familiar boundaries of their lives. It stretches children's imaginations. Reading also teaches us that we are not alone. Carol Jago will demonstrate methods for creating a community of readers in your classroom and offer strategies for helping reluctant readers engage with text. Discover titles sure to pique students’ interest.

Th-C14

ELIZABETH JORGENSEN: Language Arts Educator, Arrowhead Area Schools

HEIDI HAMILTON: Special Education Educator, Arrowhead Area Schools

Title: Accommodating All Students: A Co-Teaching Approach to Teaching Writing

Community of Practice: Pencil Writing

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, Special Education, Curriculum Director

Presentation: Explore best practices both for co-teaching with a special education teacher and meeting the needs of all students, including those in special education programs. A specific focus will be placed on helping students with IEPs and 504s succeed with writing. Gain skills and resources for meeting the needs of all students. Build a repertoire and an ability to adapt curriculum.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-C15

MATTHEW KAY: Founding Educator, Science Leadership Academy; Founder and Executive Director of Philly Slam League; Author of Professional Books; @MattRKay

Title: Not Light, But Fire

Community of Practice: Customer review Literacy Leadership

Audience: Author, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Consultant

Presentation: We will discuss how to prepare a classroom environment that is ready for meaningful conversations about race. Matt will model conversational structures, and lead a discussion where teachers share, then hone, their conversational practice. Finally, each teacher will design dialogic curriculum about race that they can take back to their classrooms.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-C16

RAFAEL LÓPEZ: Artist; Children’s Book Illustrator; Muralist; @rafaellopezart

Title: Community Murals and Their Connection to Books

Community of Practice: Lightbulb and gear Motivation and Engagement

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12

Presentation: López will present the origins of the Urban Art Trail and how community murals have connected art, community participation, and books.

Th-C17

AMY MCGOVERN: District Reading Specialist, Wausau School District

LYNNE STREHLOW: Title I Literacy Coach, Wausau School District.

Title: Restructuring the Primary Literacy Block to Ensure Daily Phonological Awareness, Oral Language, and Foundational Reading Instruction

Community of Practice: Child with balloon Emergent Literacy

Presentation: Learn how revamping your schedule to use time and resources more efficiently can empower student growth and achievement. Get tips on how to gain 25 minutes of daily, uninterrupted, small group instruction for every kindergarten and/or first-grade child through a unique rotational system. Throughout the rotations, students engage in responsive learning devoted to phonics, early reading skills, phonological and phonemic awareness, read-alouds, centers, and structured play. Get a detailed roadmap to enhance literacy learning with your young learners.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-C18

HEIDI MESMER: Professor, School of Education, Virginia Tech; Researcher; Author of Professional Books; Member of International Literacy Association Literacy Research Panel 2018-2019: @haemesmer

Title: Letter Lessons and First Words: Phonics Foundations that Work (Repeated from Thursday at 11:00)

Community of Practice: Child with balloon Emergent Literacy

Audience: 4K, Primary K-2, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I

Presentation: The big message about phonics instruction has been well-established: Make sure that students get solid phonics instruction. Unfortunately, the more nuanced and sophisticated messages about phonics instruction have not reached all classrooms and all teachers. Learn teaching techniques that can be used in any phonics curriculum. For example, in primary classrooms children read orally to their teachers, but what do teachers say and do when they don’t know a word or make a mistake? Similarly, we want children to sound out words that they know, but how does a teacher get a child from pronouncing individual sounds /c/ /a/ /t/ to blending the word together? Likewise, teachers know that they must use explicit language, words that directly tell children what sound a letter group makes (e.g. sh = /sh/), but when is it important to let students figure things out? Finally, we know that Letter-of-the-Week is not a good practice but what does a kindergarten teacher do to bring everyone up to speed with the alphabet?

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-C19

CORNELIUS MINOR: Author of Professional Books; Staff Developer, Teachers College Reading and Writing Project; @MisterMinor

Title: Kidwatching is Data, Too

Community of Practice: Customer review Literacy Leadership

Audience: 4K, Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, Literacy Coach, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Consultant

Presentation: If you let most people tell it, Data is a proper noun invented by the testing companies. It is one measure, once a year. We know that this is not true, yet so much of our discourse and our work revolves around this one important data point. Moving the conversation beyond this one data point would give us a much wider view of students and a richer pedagogical palette to paint,

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction presents

Th-C20

DAVID O’CONNOR: Consultant, American Indian Studies, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction; Grant Director, Network for Native American Student Achievement; Liaison, Wisconsin Tribal Education Programs; Liaison, Special Committee on State Tribal Relations

Title: American Indian Studies of Wisconsin

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Author, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Consultant, Content Area, Digital Technology

Presentation: Explore and identify ways to deepen understanding of American Indian Studies of Wisconsin (often referred to as Wisconsin Act 31) content through texts and digital resources. Learn about ideas for implementing American Indian Studies content into practice while identifying and exploring selected resources and materials to integrate into teaching and learning or curriculum with students. Explore information about Wisconsin American Indian nations’ histories, treaties, sovereignty, and cultures.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-C21

LINDA RIEF: Instructor, University of New Hampshire's Summer Literacy Institute; Author of Professional Books; @LindaMRief

Title: A Writer-Reader Notebook: A Place for Students to Develop and Grow as Readers and Writers

Community of Practice: Pencil Writing

Audience: Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach

Presentation: Donald Murray, Pulitzer Prize winning editorial writer, and Ralph Fletcher, author of numerous professional books for teachers, picture books, and YA books, both say that keeping a Writer's Notebook is the best way to grow stronger as a writer. A Writer-Reader Notebook gives our students a place to capture their thinking, their observations, and their ideas as they read and write about themselves and about the world around them. How do we frame or design that notebook for the most beneficial use of our students? How do we respond in an efficient way to these notebooks in order to keep our students engaged and growing? What makes the notebook so essential in a Writing-Reading Workshop?

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Th-C22

PERNILLE RIPP: 7th Grade English Educator, Oregon, Wisconsin; Author of Professional Books; Creator of the Global Read Aloud Project; @pernilleripp

Title: Passionate Writers: Helping Students Become True Writers

Community of Practice: Pencil Writing

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice

Presentation: While writing continues to be a skill that all children must develop, how do we help students feel like true writers, the type of writers who feel like their work matters beyond the classroom lesson? Discover small tweaks and practical tips on how to help students develop their writer’s voice to see writing as something that matters to them. With this renewed investment, we can help them dig deeper in their writing explorations, to truly become passionate writers no matter their skill level.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction presents

Th-C23

MONICA TREPTOW: School Library Media Education Consultant, Department of Public Instruction

Title: Promoting Equity, Improving Digital Literacy, and Integrating Digital Citizenship with Primary Sources from the Library of Congress

Community of Practice: Cloud Computing Digital Literacy

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, School Library Media, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Content Area, Digital Technology

Presentation: When school librarians and literacy teachers collaborate, these digital materials provide equitable access to reliable resources for all students, enhance the study of literature, support inquiry, and engage students through authentic interaction with materials. Learn how to locate, analyze, and even participate in crowdsourcing with quality web-based primary sources in multiple digital formats that will allow you to support personalized learning and enhance your curriculum while seamlessly integrating the Wisconsin Information and Technology Literacy Standards into your current curriculum.

At-A-Glance Th-D Unconference

3:15 - 4:30 Th-D Unconference Information

On Thursday and Friday mornings, everyone votes on the topics they want to discuss. A “topic” could be just about anything – a discussion, a question, a keynote presentation, a book, and/or a notion about literacy instruction. The Unconference is not a preplanned presentation. Each Unconference session has a host, who facilitates, captures actions, decisions, and/or insights. Attendees can roam freely without a schedule. Everyone chooses where to go, based on the "Law of 2 Feet." If you aren't learning or contributing or having fun, you just might decide to use your two feet to go to a different Unconference session. The Thursday and Friday 2020 Unconference sessions start at 3:30 but your conversation will likely expand. Snacks and beverages will be available near the Unconference sessions' rooms.

Friday, February 7, 2020

Friday Keynote by Donalyn Miller

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Empowering Readers Through Meaningful Access and Choice

DONALYN MILLER is an award-winning Texas teacher and author of several books on engaging children with reading including The Book Whisperer (Jossey-Bass, 2009). Donalyn is the co-founder of the community blog Nerdy Book Club. Her articles about teaching and reading have appeared in publications such as Education Week Teacher, The Reading Teacher, School Library Journal, Educational Leadership, and The Washington Post. Donalyn serves as Scholastic Book Fairs’ Manager of Independent Reading Advocacy

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: All Attendees

Presentation: Access to books and the ability to choose what you want to read are the two factors consistently linked to both reading achievement and the development of intrinsic reading motivation, but too many young readers live in book deserts without meaningful, consistent access to books or the encouragement and mentoring they need to choose what they read. Donalyn Miller, award-winning Texas teacher and the author of numerous books and articles about engaging children with reading describes the conditions, routines, and instructional practices that support and engage young readers through access and choice.

9:30 – 10:45 F-A Session Descriptions

At-A-Glance F-A Sessions

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-A01

STEPHANIE AFFINITO: Educator, Department of Literacy Teaching and Learning, University at Albany in New York; @AffinitoLit

Title: Harnessing Technology to Build Teacher Learning Communities

Community of Practice: Cloud Computing Digital Literacy

Audience: Literacy Coach, Principal/Administrator, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Consultant

Presentation: In the past, teacher professional development focused on a short-term transmission model where teachers were trained in a skill or strategy detached from their actual daily practices. Those bounded sessions did little to differentiate teacher learning and promote connections to classroom practice. In contrast, effective professional learning is highly contextualized, responsive to the strengths and needs of teachers and students in front of them, offers immediate connections to practice, and creates powerful learning communities for teachers. Explore current research and practice to support professional learning, specifically focusing on communities of practice. A showcase of coaching practices to support teacher learning through technology, including online communities of practice, social media, educator masterminds, and online think tanks will be shared. Ongoing discussion on the potential, possibilities, and considerations for using online communities of practice will also be provided.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction presents

F-A02

KEVIN ANDERSON: Science Education Consultant, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction; @WisDPIScience

DAVE BERGERSON: High School Physics Teacher and Science Coordinator, Wisconsin Rapids Public Schools

TIM COX: Advanced Learning Coordinator, Berlin School District

ZONG VANG: Math and Science Instructional Support Teacher, Oshkosh Area School District

SARAH ADUMAT: K-8 STEM Coach, Oshkosh Area School District

Title: Literacy Connections in a New NGSS/WSS Science Lesson vs. Traditional Science

Communities of Practice: PencilWriting

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, Literacy Coach, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Consultant, Content Area

Presentation: Within the new Wisconsin Standards for Science (WSS) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), students are expected to approach science learning in new ways requiring a greater range of literacy competencies. Working in interdisciplinary Professional Learning Communities, we need to optimize one another’s expertise to improve learning across subjects. For example, many districts use the Teachers College and Lucy Calkins workshop model, but the science-based writing structures and language in those teacher materials do not always match the expectations of the new science standards. In this workshop, we’ll go through sample literacy activities from an elementary WSS/NGSS-aligned science unit and discuss how these approaches differ from previous approaches. Along the way, we’ll analyze some of the language from ELA elementary standards on “opinion” writing and discuss how it could be changed to better connect with the argumentative writing emphasized across other subject areas. Finally, presenters will share a DPI-hosted learning module that supports this work, which educators can take back to share in their communities.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-A03

SUNDAY CUMMINS: Literacy Consultant: Author of Professional Books; @SundayCummins

Title: When Readers of Nonfiction Struggle: Conferences That Make a Difference

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for all

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Interventionist, Content Area

Presentation: Explore what to observe when meeting with students who are reading complex informational sources and how to respond in a way that has generative value. Stories and tips will be shared related to assessing a student’s within, beyond, and about the text comprehension of an informational source and determining what to say next.

Sponsored by Zaner-Bloser

F-A04

RICHARD GENTRY: Author of Professional Books; Researcher; Educational Consultant; Blogger; @RaiseReaders

Title: How the Science of Reading Informs Best Classroom Practices: Effective Word Study

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Author, Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, Literacy Coach, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator

Presentation: Both the media and many reading scientists recently have suggested that there is a gap between the science of reading and instructional practices in reading classrooms across the United States. Find out how to address the problem with effective word study solutions for classroom teachers and administrators based on the current evidence base from cognitive psychology and neuroscience. This session will help you fill the gap between the science of reading and best evidence practices to ensure access to literacy for all.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-A05

MATT GLOVER: Author of Professional Books; Literacy Consultant; @Mattglover123

Title: Leveraging Literary Growth: Composing Language in Writing and Reading

Community of Practice: Child with balloon Emergent Literacy,

Audience: Author, Primary K-2, English Language, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Reading Recovery, Consultant

Presentation: When children make books, they are composing language for the pictures they create. When they use the illustrations to read unfamiliar pictures books (both before and after they are decoding), they are composing language. When teachers pay attention to how children compose language in each area, they can use skills and strategies from one area to raise the level of language composition in the other. In this session we will first consider the importance of making books and reading unfamiliar books without decoding, so that we can then examine strategies for raising language composition, comprehension, and composition. But the benefits extend beyond PreKindergarten and Kindergarten. We will also look at implications for first and second grades in informational and narrative language composition.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-A06

GEORGIA HEARD: Founding Member, Teachers College Reading and Writing Project; Author of Professional Books; Children’s Book Author; @GeorgiaHeard1

Title: Heart Maps: Helping Students Create and Craft Authentic Writing (2 – 8)

Community of Practice: Pencil Writing

Audience: Author, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Title I, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Consultant

Presentation: Heart Mapping was pioneered by Georgia Heard years ago in a classroom of reluctant writers with such enthusiastic success that the idea has since gone viral with millions of students in the United States, and throughout the world, heart mapping and posting their heart maps online. Learn the why’s and how’s of Heart Maps and discuss how this seemingly simple visual and writing tool can provide endless possibilities for writing in all genres, and encourage children to discover and recognize what is important and meaningful to them. TEDX Talk on Mapping Your Heart: http://bit.ly/2K8RgGq

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-A07

HENA KHAN: Pakistani American Children’s Author @henakhanbooks

Title: Stories for Change: Reshaping the Narrative of American Muslims

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, English Language, School Library Media, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator

Presentation: How do we approach stories about American Muslims and build collections that serve to be inclusive and representative while building compassion, tolerance, and understanding? Hena will examine how children’s literature representing American Muslims, including her own work, reflects the evolution of diverse books, such as moving beyond instructional books and stories focused on otherness, pain, or oppression toward universal themes like growing up, love, friendship, and family.

F-A08

JANE KELLEY: Children’s Book Author

Title: Using Readers Theater for Fluency and Fun

Community of Practice: Head with gears Middle Level / Secondary Literacy

Audience: Author, Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator

Presentation: Fluency has been demonstrated to be a key component in literacy. Since students on all reading levels can participate together, they also learn by reading and listening to each other. Explore the benefits of using Readers Theater techniques in the classroom to encourage student engagement, increase comprehension, and provide authentic motivation for students to read and re-read. In this session, learn how to turn any material––fiction, historical texts or STEM topics––into a Readers Theater script.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-A09

PENNY KITTLE: Author of Professional Books; Professor, Plymouth State University in New Hampshire; President, Book Love Foundation; @pennykittle

Title: Digital Composition: The Power is in Our Hands

Community of Practice: Cloud Computing Digital Literacy

Audience: Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Digital Technology

Presentation: Students are hungry to compose in mediums they consume daily. As we increase practice in the creation of digital texts, we increase students’ analytical skills and empower them to make decisions about composition that move beyond templates and standardized thinking to the rich writing we seek for all. Come to imagine, play, and create together as we make plans for engaged learning and joyful teaching.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-A10

CHRISTOPHER LEHMAN: Author of Professional Books; Founding Director, The Educator Collaborative; @iChrisLehman

Title: Upgrade Your Best Loved Reading Practices! What Works and What's Next?

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Consultant

Presentation: Double-entry journals, KWLs, cooperative learning structures—we all have our longstanding, favorite techniques and strategies for engaging readers. Quick to implement, built from the knowledge of experienced educators, many methods have stood the test of time for good reason. Though, communities of practice shine brightest when they question their best work, asking if yesterday's teaching can be improved for today's learners. Join Christopher Lehman, Founding Director of The Educator Collaborative, in this practical session that will take teaching methods you know and love and level them up using current research and proven classroom practice. Chris will help you reflect on widely embraced structures, explore the positive values underpinning them, and then help you develop tweaks, next steps, and alternatives to better support today's readers. Hold on to students responding to reading, but push them to be more authentic. Support student interaction, but use techniques with a stronger focus on long- term skills. This session will leave you inspired and ready to upgrade your reading instruction.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-A11

LINDSEY MOSES: Associate Professor of Literacy Education, Arizona State University; Author of Professional Books; Consultant; @drlindseymoses

Title: Supporting Language and Literacy Development for English Learners Across the Day: An Instructional Framework with Practical Strategies

Community of Practice: Child with balloon Emergent Literacy

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, English Language, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, PreService, Consultant

Presentation: This presentation will introduce a new instructional framework for supporting elementary-aged students who are learning English as an additional language. Extending beyond the Gradual Release of Responsibility, this framework is designed to enhance language and literacy development for English learners with specific strategies to support the following components of the instructional framework: 1. Planning, 2. Demonstration, 3. Supported, Interactive Practice, 4. Independent Interactive Practice, and 5. Independent Practice. Practical instructional strategies for scaffolding reading, writing, speaking, and listening will be introduced with classroom examples.

F-A12

KATHLEEN MUELLER: 2nd Grade Educator, Hamilton School District

KAYLA SHIMEL: 7th Grade Educator, School District of Waukesha

Title: Using Philosophy to Develop Critical Thinkers

Community of Practice: Head with gears Middle/Secondary Literacy

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Content Area

Presentation: Understand the reasoning behind including the use of philosophy in instruction, as well as its ties to standards and overall student benefit. Learn how the presenters implemented strategies to support comprehension, active listening skills, interpersonal relationships, and overall connections. Gain knowledge on how these opportunities resulted in critical thinking and deeper discussion, creating an equitable, low-risk environment that relied upon a learner’s schema instead of pure academic knowledge. Obtain tips on the process and strategies, interact, and create materials for instruction.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-A13

LIZ PRATHER: Teacher of Writing, Lafayette High School in Lexington, Kentucky; Author of Professional Books

Title: Project-Based Writing: Fostering Inquiry and Independence in Student Writers

Community of Practice: Pencil Writing

Audience: Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, Curriculum Director, Preservice

Description: How do we give students writing opportunities that mimic the work of professional writers? By intentionally teaching time and task management— generating and pitching ideas, writing proposals, setting goals, self-assessing— we can show student writers the procedural tools professional writers use to deliver authentic writing. Using 7 steps and 16 deliverables to manage large writing projects, project-based writing is an instructional framework that helps students learn to practice inquiry and self-reflection. Discover how marrying the tenets of project-based learning with reading/writing instruction, students develop skills to become independent thinkers and managers of the kind of projects they will face in college or in a career.

F-A14

GRETCHEN PRATT: Reading Specialist, Science Educator, School District of Waukesha; @Gkemp84t

BECKY ANDERSON: 6th-8th Grade Multiage Literacy Educator, Waukesha School District STEM Academy, Saratoga Campus; Adjunct Lecturer, Carroll University

Title: Re-Centering Learners Through Empowered Choices in an Era of Constraints

Community of Practice: Customer review Literacy Leadership

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Content Area

Presentation: Too often, mandates, curriculum, and assessments constrain and even complicate teaching and learning in K-12 literacy classrooms. Educators are expected to “teach a program with fidelity” and also be culturally responsive. Working to balance and make sense of often opposing demands causes the needs of students to become secondary to programs, policies, and procedures. We will give a voice to the conflicting messages to recenter students as the focal point of classroom decisions. We will discover and name innovations that have the potential to transform the teaching and learning of literacy while mining district and school initiatives, mandates, visions, and missions for “Institutionally Approved Language”. We hope to empower you as change agents and thought leaders, walking away with the necessary tools to frame educational aims in familiar language that both meet the immediate interests, passions, and needs in your classroom.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-A15

WSRA RESEARCH COMMITTEE

LINDSAY HOLLINGSWORTH: Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin - Platteville

KRISTINE LIZE: Director of Education Resource Center, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

KRIS PETERSON: Director of English Education, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee; Oversees the work related to the Foundations of Reading Test, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee and across the UW System

Title: Pat Bricker Memorial Research Scholarship News 

Community of Practice: Customer review Literacy Leadership

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, Special Education, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Content Area

Presentation: Are you interested in the impact action research can have in your classroom? Would you love the opportunity to grow professionally through a full scholarship for the next WSRA conference? Attend this session to learn about the Pat Bricker Memorial Research Scholarship and learn a bit about the scholarship's namesake, the importance of action research, and the guidelines for completing the research and applying for the scholarship. Scholarship recipients will have the opportunity to attend the 2021 WSRA conference for free during which they will share a poster highlighting their project.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-A16

MAGGIE BEATTIE ROBERTS: National Literacy Consultant; Author of Professional Books; @MaggieBRoberts

Title: Be Your Favorite Teacher: Exploring the Art of Great Teaching

Community of Practice: Head with gears Middle Level/Secondary Literacy

Audience: Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Teacher Educator, Preservice Consultant, Content Area

Presentation: Not connecting with students? Lessons falling flat? Teaching is an art and, like all of the arts, we can improve. Work with Maggie to embody different teaching personas to foster connections with students and bring your curriculum alive.

F-A17

RHONDA SCHOONOVER: Assistant Professor and Chair of the Department of Language and Literacy, Cardinal Stritch University

JENNIFER BAKER: High School Reading Specialist, Mukwonago Area School District

ERICA BUSCH: Middle School Reading Specialist, Mukwonago Area School District

Title: Connecting, Collaborating, and Coaching for Engaged Secondary Literacy: One District's Journey to Reframe and Reboot Literacy Instruction for Middle and High School Students

Community of Practice: Lightbulb and gear Motivation and Engagement

Audience: Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist

Presentation: With so many middle and high school students disengaged with literacy, one school district embarked on a journey to transform secondary literacy instruction by invigorating teaching practices in reading and writing, centering around student engagement. Through partnerships between teachers, reading specialists, administrators, and a university literacy professor, a new shared vision and philosophy was developed to move adolescent readers from reading a few whole-class novels to reading 40+ books a year. Explore how professional development and collaborative coaching models helped foster and facilitate the use of mentor texts, book clubs, and independent reading, and how students and teachers in middle and high school English classrooms formed a new community of engaged readers, writers, and learners.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-A18

FRANK SERAFINI: Professor of Literacy Education and Children’s Literature; Author of Children’s Books; Author of Professional Books; National Literacy Consultant; @doctorserafini

Title: What Still Matters in Literacy Education?

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, Literacy Coach, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Reading Recovery

Presentation: Learn about the workshop approaches to reading instruction by revisiting each of the ten books written by Dr. Serafini. Focus on the important pillars of the reading workshop instructional framework and get insights into effective instructional practices.

F-A19

MEGEN SMITH: Elementary Educator, Reading Specialist, Niagara School District

ANNIE SANTONI: Elementary Educator, Title I Teacher, Niagara School District

Title: Building Bridges: Practical Literacy Strategies in Rural Schools

Community of Practice: Child with balloon Emergent Literacy

Audience:Primary K-2, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist

Presentation: Smith and Santoni have worked together the past four years to implement a collaborative model in which students make reading and writing gains that stick. They use assessment data to make intervention decisions that start with each student’s strengths. Bringing unique expertise, the classroom teacher and reading specialist each take ownership of student progress. They have integrated research on the power of relationship, student choice, and developing stamina into their work with early readers, and will share successes and struggles of working with families living in poverty. Presenters will share student work samples and video, along with intervention materials and instructional aids.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-A20

DANA STACHOWIAK: Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, Watson College of Education, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Coordinator of the Masters of Education Curriculum Studies for Equity in Education Program; @DrStachowiak

Title: Critical Community Building: Creating Spaces of Resistance and Persistence

Community of Practice: Customer review Literacy Leadership

Audience: : Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Reading, Consultant, Content Area

Presentation: Critical communities are defined as interconnected, porously bordered, shifting webs of people who, through dialogue, active listening, and critical questioning, assist each other in critically thinking through issues of power, oppression, and privilege. This session will introduce educators (PK-adult) to the concept of critical community building within literacy classrooms, as well as provide them with strategies for creating spaces of resistance and persistence.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-A21

NIC STONE: Author of Children’s Books; @getnicced

Title: GET L.I.T. (Repeats on Friday at 1:45)

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Author, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, School Library Media

Presentation: What IS "literacy", and how do we empower young people —from age three to ninety-three— to define, value, and pursue it with abandon? Utilizing a three-word acronym, this session will focus on the definition, purpose, and power of literacy, as well as how to create truly "LIT" environments within homes, classrooms, and libraries.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-A22

ALFRED TATUM: Professor and Dean, College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago; @AlfredTatum

Title: : Nurturing Meaningful Literacy Exchanges with Texts Among Struggling and Non-Struggling Readers and Writers (Repeats Friday at 11:00)

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator

Presentation: Too many of our nation's students are underserved in classrooms. However, our responses to this dilemma have missed the marked, further contributing to blockages to advanced levels of reading and writing and personal development. In this session, I will discuss reading, writing and text practices to engage students to read and write across multiple disciplinary texts using literacy framings. Sample artifacts and lessons involving all readers and writers will be shared and discussed.

At-A-Glance F-B Sessions

11:00 – 12:30 F-B Session Descriptions

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-B01

WILEY BLEVINS: Author of Professional Books; Children’s Author; Researcher @wbny

Title: A Fresh Look at Phonics (Repeats on Friday at 1:45)

Community of Practice: Child with balloon Emergent Literacy

Audience: Primary K-2, Literacy Coach, Special Education, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Teacher Educator, Preservice

Presentation: Review the 7 key characteristics of strong phonics instruction, examine ways to ensure they are in place, and assess how to fine-tune them (if they are already in place) to maximize instructional success. Learn more about the ten common causes of phonics instructional failure and how to avoid them. This session is based on Blevins’ work with school districts—examining test scores vs. instructional tools and classroom practices to identify the mismatches and areas of weakness that impede or slow learning.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-B02

KATHY COLLINS: Literacy Consultant; Author of Professional Books; @KathyCollins15

Title: Welcome to the Reading Club! Ideas to Engage Children Who are Reluctant, Resistant, or Hesitant Readers

Community of Practice: Lightbulb and gear Motivation and Engagement

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Literacy Coach, English Language, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Preservice

Presentation: In every classroom that features independent reading time, there are children who just seem to go through the motions. They are a group of children who read because the schedule says it's reading time, but they have low investment in their books. They are a group of children who can't seem to find anything they want to read, or they struggle to stay with a text from start to finish. They are a group of children that we worry about, though not necessarily because they are challenged with reading skills and strategies. After all, low-motivation readers have a wide range of reading abilities. We worry because what these reluctant, resistant, hesitant readers do share in is an underdeveloped relationship with the act of reading. And to help strengthen their relationship to reading, it will take more than skill and strategy instruction. Learn strategies for reading conferences, small group work, and inquiries to support all children to open their hearts and lives to texts so they are more likely to choose reading, find texts they want to read, and see themselves as readers.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-B03

Sunday Cummins: Literacy Consultant: Author of Professional Books; @SundayCummins

Title: When Written Responses are a Hot Mess: The Power of Guided Writing

Community of Practice: Pencil Writing

Audience: : Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Special Education, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Interventionist, Content Area

Presentation: Discover how guided writing experiences can support students as they write in response to a variety of informational sources. Explore anecdotes and artifacts from lessons with students and learn concrete suggestions that can be easily implemented in the classroom.

F-B04

TONI FADDIS: Author of Professional Books, Literacy Leader and Coach, Bonita, CA; @ToniFaddis

Title: Fostering Collective Action: The Principal as Literacy Leader

Community of Practice: Customer review Literacy Leadership

Audience: Literacy Coach, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Consultant

Presentation: They say it’s often lonely at the top and educational leaders such as principals and assistant principals know that isolated feeling all too well. Learn how principals and other leaders can develop collaborative teams to sustain positive school culture where literacy learning is visible and valued at all levels. By flattening the hierarchical structure that is typically inherent in schools, the principal is signaled as a learner, creating a deeper sense of community and equity among staff. Participants will use two thinking and discussion protocols to engage in dialogue that promotes all voices and fosters positive school culture.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-B05

MATT GLOVER: Author of Professional Books; Literacy Consultant; @Mattglover123

Title: Increasing Engagement for Writers Through Choice of Genre

Community of Practice: Child with balloon Emergent Literacy 

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Literacy Coach, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Consultant

Presentation:  Choice, in any area of learning, increases energy and engagement. In writing instruction, teachers often grapple with choice of topic, but less frequently consider choice of genre. Yet, choice of genre significantly impacts engagement, especially for reluctant writers. Learn how choice within writing workshop units of study support student productivity. We will also troubleshoot common challenges of non-genre specific units, including considering possible non-genre units, balancing them with genre specific studies, pulling stacks of texts, and conferring.

Sponsored by Corwin Publishing

F-B06

TROY HICKS: Professor of English and Education, Central Michigan University; Director of Chippewa River Writing Project and the Master of Arts in Learning, Design & Technology Program; @hickstro

Title: Research Writing Rewired: Approaches to Ground Digital Learning

Community of Practice: Cloud Computing Digital Literacy

Audience: : Intermediate 3-5, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Digital Technology

Presentation: In our networked world, the research writing process that we once learned has become obsolete. 3x5 cards and outlines are giving way to bibliographic management tools and mind mapping software. Moreover, students are now able to engage in the research process by reading and evaluating the work of others while simultaneously using the technology in their pockets to do their own primary research. Examine a high school language arts classroom where students generate their own inquiry questions, explore a variety of texts — from novels to non-fiction, from podcasts to photographs — and, through their work, rewire the research process.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-B07

AERIALE JOHNSON: Blogger; Educator, Second Graders for Liberation, Washington Elementary School, San Jose, CA; Associate Director for the San Jose Area Writing Project; Serves on NCTE’s Build Your Stack Committee; @arcticisleteach

Title: For Want of Utterance: Teaching Literacy for Liberation

Community of Practice: Child with balloon Emergent Literacy

Audience: Primary K-2

Presentation: Young children arrive in our classrooms full of energy and passion for learning. Our practices often unintentionally squelch their enthusiasm, which has grave consequences. How do we teach children English language arts in ways that center their unique ways of being in the world? How do we create literacy classrooms that reflect the democratic ideals espoused in our nation's founding documents? How do we foster the intellectual growth of all students so that they tap into the power being literate has to set them free? Investigate these questions, deepen understanding of the pillars of freedom, and delve into instructional strategies that support the growth of compassionate intellectuals who change the world.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-B08

HENA KHAN: Pakistani American Children’s Author @henakhanbooks

Title: Stories for Change: Reshaping the Narrative of American Muslims (Repeated from Friday at 9:30)

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, English Language, School Library Media, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator

Presentation: How do we approach stories about American Muslims and build collections that serve to be inclusive and representative, while building compassion, tolerance and understanding? Collaborate with Hena and examine how children’s literature representing American Muslims, including her own work, reflects the evolution of diverse books such as moving beyond instructional books and stories focused on otherness, pain, or oppression toward universal themes like growing up, love, friendship, and family.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-B09

PENNY KITTLE: Author of Professional Books; Professor, Plymouth State University in New Hampshire; President, Book Love Foundation; @pennykittle

Title: Writing with Passion: Stories as Evidence to Support Ideas

Community of Practice: Pencil Writing

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, Literacy Coach, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Teacher Educator

Presentation: Learn how writers combine narrative and research to connect with and challenge their readers. Explore how high school students developed and answered essential questions by drawing upon their extensive reading of literature and non-fiction.

F-B10

KELLY LUEDEKE: Reading Specialist, Kaukauna Area School District; @kluedeke

JAIME DERCKS: 3rd Grade Educator, Kaukauna Area School District

Title: Attending to Language for ELL and ALL Students

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: : Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Literacy Coach, English Language, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist

Presentation: Language is often an assumed curriculum in schools, yet we know that all students are Academic Language Learners (A.L.L.). Students who are English Language Learners (E.L.L.) especially need explicit instruction and support to read complex, grade-level text. However, all students benefit from teacher scaffolds to talk, read, and write using complex academic language. Learn how to support students in elementary classrooms in making complex academic oral language an explicit curriculum that transfers to reading and writing continuous text.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-B11

DONALYN MILLER: Educator; Author of Professional Books; Co-Founder, Nerdy Book Club; Scholastic Book Fairs’ Manager of Independent Reading Advocacy; @donalynbooks

Title: Revving Up Read-Alouds

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Author, Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, School Library Media, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Consultant

Presentation: Reading aloud improves students’ reading comprehension and vocabulary, builds background knowledge, and increases students’ reading interest and motivation. Investigate the value and implementation of read-alouds across the school day, and participate in several model lessons and activities that can be implemented with students. Resources and book recommendations for students from kindergarten through high school will also be provided.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-B12

LINDSEY MOSES: Associate Professor of Literacy Education, Arizona State University; Author of Professional Books; Consultant; @drlindseymoses

Title: : Remixing the Young Writers’ Workshop: Integrated Strategies and Structures for Supporting Primary Writers

Community of Practice: Pencil Writing

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, English Language, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Consultant

Presentation: Explore a new instructional framework for supporting elementary-aged students who are learning English as an additional language. Extending beyond the Gradual Release of Responsibility, this framework is designed to enhance language and literacy development for English learners with specific strategies to support the following components of the instructional framework: (a) planning, (b) demonstration, (c) supported interactive practice, (d) independent interactive practice, and (e) independent practice. Practical instructional strategies for scaffolding reading, writing, speaking, and listening will be introduced with classroom examples.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction presents

F-B13

BARB NOVAK: Literacy Consultant, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction

LAURA ADAMS: Literacy Consultant, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction; @WisDPILit

Title: Instructional Practices for Equitable Learning in English Language Arts

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice

Presentation: Examine newly-published instructional practice guides for English Language Arts. Written through a collaboration between Wisconsin educators and the Department of Public Instruction, the guides emphasize instructional practices in universal instruction for reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language likely to lead to equitable learning in English language arts in K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-B14

KATE ROBERTS: National Literacy Consultant; Author of Professional Books; @teachkate

Title: A Novel Approach

Community of Practice: Head with gears Middle Level/Secondary Literacy

Audience: : Author, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice Consultant

Presentation: How can we as educators walk the line between being sure our students have grappled with dense, complex text and creating room for choice and independent reading? How can we support our students’ growth as readers, whether they are holding Macbeth or The Magic Tree House? Educators who teach whole class texts and are interested in finding space for more choice, growth, and enthusiasm within those texts will appreciate this session. Kate will outline the work in her book, A Novel Approach, offering pushback to commonly held beliefs about the teaching of novels as well as concrete, practical ways to improve the way these units tend to unfold.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-B15

STACEY SHUBITZ: Certified Literacy Specialist; Author of Professional Books; Chief of Operations and Lead Writer for Two Writing Educators; @sshubitz

Title: Ignite Your Teaching by Being a Teacher-Writer

Community of Practice: Pencil Writing

Audience: : Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Consultant

Presentation: Teachers of writing know the most powerful act they can do is to write themselves as this provides the opportunity to engage as writer-to-writer when conferring with a student. Bring your writer’s notebook and engage in creative writing. There will be an opportunity to share in partnerships and collectively as a group. Participants will leave this session with writing pieces they can develop and share with their students.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-B16

CYNTHIA LEITICH SMITH: Author of Children’s Books; Faculty of the Low-Residency MFA Program in Writing for Children and Young Adults, Vermont College of Fine Arts; Serves on the Honorary Advisory Board of We Need Diverse Books; @CynLeitichSmith

Title: Hearts Unbroken: Asking Myself the Tough Questions

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Author, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, English Language, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator

Presentation: Listen to reflections on writing that are loosely inspired by real lives (our own and others’) and includes partnering with authenticity readers and innovating within underrepresented literary traditions. Explore the thought process of a novelist who addresses sensitive topics. Trigger warnings: colonialism, historical genocide, hate speech.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-B17

DANA STACHOWIAK: Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, Watson College of Education, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Coordinator of the Masters of Education Curriculum Studies for Equity in Education Program; @DrStachowiak

Title: Healing-Centered Approaches to Supporting Minoritized Communities (Repeats Saturday at 10:15)

 Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: : Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Consultant, Content Area

Presentation: In literacy classrooms that prioritize social justice, students are thrust into spaces that have a high potential to invoke trauma or the remembrance of trauma, especially for minoritized students. Educators have a responsibility to care for these students. Healing-centered engagement is a strategy that emphasizes a collective mindset and asset-driven stance that focuses on seeing healing as a restoration of identity by honoring culture, agency, relationships, meaning, and aspirations. Learn this strategy and answer the call to recognize trauma as a collective experience, help students develop awareness and empathy, and actively interrupt oppressive systems in ways that heal.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-B18

ALFRED W. TATUM: Professor and Dean, College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago; @AlfredTatum

Title: : Nurturing Meaningful Literacy Exchanges with Texts Among Struggling and Non-Struggling Readers and Writers (Repeated from Friday at 9:30)

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for all

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator

Presentation: Too many of our nation's students are underserved in classrooms. However, our responses to this dilemma have missed the marked, further contributing to blockages to advanced levels of reading and writing and personal development. In this session, I will discuss reading, writing and text practices to engage students to read and write across multiple disciplinary texts using literacy framings. Sample artifacts and lessons involving struggling and non-struggling readers and writers will be shared and discussed.

F-B19

SANDRA TAYLOR-MARSHALL: Coordinator & Instructor, Student-Centered Instructional Coaching Certificate Program at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, School of Education, Professional Learning and Community Education

LINDSAY STOETZEL: Literacy Curriculum Specialist, University of Wisconsin - Madison, School of Education, Professional Learning and Community Education

Title: Transformative Coaching Conversations

Community of Practice: Customer review Literacy Leadership

Description: As instructional designers, instructors, and coaches from UW-Madison’s Student-Centered Instructional Coaching Certificate Program, we use video analysis and an evidence-based note-taking tool to delve deep into participants’ coaching conversations with colleagues. We approach video analysis through a series of activities intended to develop a common language, establish shared practice, and foster a community of trust within our Professional Learning Communities. However, repeated analysis of these conversations reveals that coaches rely predominantly on clarifying and reflective questions, stopping short of engaging critically-oriented perspectives. So how might coaches frame conversations and pose questions to foster more transformational possibilities? We invite participants to join in this interactive session, analyzing coaching videos to gain a better understanding of (1) how to use video analysis to develop coaching practice and (2) how to identify growth opportunities within coaching conversations. As we learn together in this community of practice, we’ll consider the language coaches use, potential contextual constraints that might impact the types of questions coaches ask, and ways coaches might be empowered to enact change. The group will then debrief.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-B20

TITLE I COMMITTEE

LINDA BRUUN: Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, Reedsburg School District

WANDA KERN: 2nd Grade Educator, Oshkosh Area School District

SUE MADSEN: Title 1 Coordinator, Dodgeland School District

NANCY PAPA-RUPPERT: Title 1 Reading Specialist, Reading Recovery, Descubriendo La Lectura, and CIM intervention, School District of Waukesha; WSRA Title I Committee Co-Chair

DIANE SALAZAR: Supervisor, NonPublic School Title I Teachers

KAREN VAN OFFEREN: Reading Specialist, Chilton School District

Title: Labels Not Needed: When Teaching Together Means Learning For All

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for all

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Teacher Educator, Preservice.

Presentation: Obtain effective methods and strategies that blur the lines between Title 1, Special Education, and English as a Second Language. As Title 1 professionals, we will share best practices for engaging and uplifting all learners. As more and more children arrive at school with less and less language proficiency, we have noticed that children that have typically been labeled have common language struggles. This presentation will incorporate concepts gleaned from Andy Hargreaves book entitled Collaborative Professionalism: When Teaching Together Means Learning For All.

F-B21

CATHY TOLL: Chair of the Department of Literacy & LanguagE, University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh

Title: Advanced Techniques for Literacy Coaching

Community of Practice: Customer review Literacy Leadership

Audience: Literacy Coach, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Curriculum Director

Presentation: The field of literacy coaching has some established dictums: build trust, listen carefully, ask good questions. However, the field has stagnated a bit. Learn how to help teachers: identify interdependent pairs of conditions present in their classrooms; plot on a diagram degrees of control and continuity that advance or limit success; and use adaptive action to produce changes in their work. As experienced teachers and coaches know, classrooms are complex; coaches need to avoid simple answers in order to engage teachers in solving complex problems. Cases will be presented along with each tool, to enable participants to practice applying the tools to real-life situations.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-B22

JACKIE WITTER-EASLEY: Dean of the Division of Professional Studies, Carthage College; Editor of the WSRA Journal; Author of Professional Books

Title: Literacy Moments: Creating Daily Teachable Moments with Beginning Readers (Repeats on Friday at 1:45)

Community of Practice: Child with balloon Emergent Literacy,

Audience: Primary K-2, Literacy Coach, Preservice

Presentation: Early elementary teachers use curriculum materials during reading/language arts lessons, but what happens throughout the rest of the day during transition times and other unstructured moments? These are opportunities for creating authentic literacy moments! Teachers of kindergarten through second grade will participate in a variety of hands-on activities that will model research-based methods for intentionally fostering their students' developing reading skills. From establishing a "literacy moments" classroom learning community, to facilitating students' foundational and comprehension skills, the methods shared in this session will enhance students' literacy skills and foster a love of reading.

Audience: Primary K-2, Literacy Coach, Preservice

Friday Lunch 12:30 to 1:30

What’s for lunch? www.wsra.org/conference-faq

At-A-Glance F-C Sessions

2:00 – 3:15 F-C Session Descriptions

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-C01

STEPHANIE AFFINITO: Educator, Department of Literacy Teaching and Learning, University at Albany in New York; @AffinitoLit

Title: Leading Literacy: Blending Teachers & Tech to Build Joyful Reading Communities

Community of Practice: Customer review Literacy Leadership

Audience: Literacy Coach, Principal/Administrator, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Consultant

Presentation: Before teachers can create the kind of vibrant literacy community that readers thrive in, they must first live as readers themselves. And not just readers, but readers who read wide and diverse children’s literature selections and understand the potential power reading and writing has to change our lives. By boosting our own reading lives, we are better prepared to advocate for authentic reading practices in the classroom. Technology offers teachers new and innovative ways to boost their book knowledge and create current and inclusive classroom libraries. Teachers can become part of online reading communities, use social media to cultivate new selections, and investigate children’s literature blogs and podcasts for inspiration. Learn powerful practices that blend teachers’ own reading lives with the power of technology to create joyful reading communities for students. This engaging and interactive workshop will include the following: (a) current research and practice on the importance of teachers’ own reading identities to impact their classroom instruction, (b) invitations to cultivate our own literate lives to provide powerful and positive practices for the classroom, and (c) examples of how digital tools and technology can provide authentic ways to engage with literature.

F-C02

LISA HOLLIHAN ALLEN: Educator, 6-12 Literacy Intervention and Title 1, West De Pere School District @lhollihanallen

Title: Fluency at the Secondary Level

Community of Practice: Head with gears Middle/Secondary Literacy

Audience: Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice

Presentation: Fluency affects comprehension and is often considered the bridge from decoding to comprehension. Disfluent readers have a difficult time building that bridge because they are starting and stopping, reading at an incorrect pace, repeating words, and phrases and so on. This lack of fluency causes readers to to disengage from the meaning because so much of their cognitive strength is bogged down on the mechanics of reading. Students may have the decoding knowledge, but they might not have practiced reading enough to be fluent. We can think of fluent reading as reading with automaticity (reading words quickly, accurately, and effortlessly), at the proper rate (reading at the proper speed for the task), and with prosody (reading with expression). Researchers have deconstructed fluency even further into six dimensions - pacing, pausing, phrasing, stress, intonation, and integration. Learn more about these six dimensions and explore classroom-tested examples of ways to teach and assess fluency for secondary readers.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-C03

WILEY BLEVINS: Author of Professional Books; Children’s Author; Researcher; @wbny

Title: A Fresh Look at Phonics (Repeated from Friday at 11:00)

Community of Practice: Child with balloon Emergent Literacy

Audience: Primary K-2, Literacy Coach, Special Education, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Teacher Educator, Preservice

Presentation: Review the 7 key characteristics of strong phonics instruction, examine ways to ensure they are in place, and assess how to fine-tune them (if they are already in place) to maximize instructional success. Learn more about the ten common causes of phonics instructional failure and how to avoid them. This session is based on Blevins’ work with school districts—examining test scores vs. instructional tools and classroom practices to identify the mismatches and areas of weakness that impede or slow learning.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-C04

KATHY COLLINS: Literacy Consultant; Author of Professional Books; @KathyCollins15

Title: Myth-busting and Demystifying Reading Conferences: Here's to a New You!

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, Literacy Coach, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist

Presentation: It’s human nature to develop unintentional habits (or to get into ruts) with anything we do regularly. Our daily tasks almost become rote, and every once in a while, it helps to take a step back and reflect in order to break free of patterns that may not be helpful or effective. In classrooms abounding with dynamic personalities and the myriad needs of learners, teachers may revert to old patterns and tired routines, especially with regard to reading conferences. Work with Kathy to closely examine your conferring habits and beliefs, and learn about some of the conferring ruts that teachers have revealed. Explore strategies for reinvigorating and expanding your conference routines and develop skills for dealing with conferring challenges that teachers encounter. This workshop is designed for teachers of children who are reading conventionally.

Sponsored by Zaner-Bloser

F-C05

RICHARD GENTRY: Author of Professional Books; Researcher; Educational Consultant; Blogger; @RaiseReaders

Title: Understanding and Overcoming Dyslexia in Light of Reading Science

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Author, Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, Literacy Coach, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator

Presentation: An explosion of new knowledge from cognitive psychology and neuroscience paves the way for better school-wide screening, early intervention, monitoring progress, and support for children with reading disabilities. Learn about the organization of reading circuitry in the reading brain. Find out frequently asked questions and common misconceptions about dyslexia along with classic warning signs and dyslexia-specific interventions for the everyday classroom. Learn concrete ways to accommodate children with dyslexia.

F-C06

MARY ELLEN GRAF: Implementation and Training Specialist, TeachingBooks.net; @MaryEllentbooks

KYM DAVICK: Implementation and Training Specialist, TeachingBooks.net

Title: Come Together: Resources for Diverse Books

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, School Library Media, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice

Presentation: Discover resources to support the integration of award-winning diverse texts and authors into your classroom/library curriculum. Leave this session with resources that reflect global perspectives to include within literacy work. Access provided through BadgerLink so that all Wisconsin students have equitable opportunities. Integrate award-winning diverse books into all content areas, bring culture and race to the forefront of literary conversations, and explore primary source materials from authors sharing personal insights.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-C07

GEORGIA HEARD: Founding Member, Teachers College Reading and Writing Project; Author of Professional Books; Children’s Book Author; @GeorgiaHeard1

Title: Poetry Every Day: Bite-Sized Strategies to Include Poetry Throughout the Year (K – 6)

Community of Practice: Pencil Writing

Audience: Author, Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Consultant, Content Area

Presentation: Poetry can offer emotional lessons as well as teach students essential craft tools for every genre; yet sometimes it’s difficult to find the time to include poetry in our overloaded and busy days, and it’s often set aside until late spring, or not taught at all. Georgia Heard will share dozens of practical ways teachers can tuck poetry into the school day, and throughout the year, in simple, yet meaningful, bite-sized invitations that encourage deep reading, inspired writing, and support content area studies.

Sponsored by Corwin Publishing

F-C08

TROY HICKS: Professor of English and Education, Central Michigan University; Director of Chippewa River Writing Project and the Master of Arts in Learning, Design & Technology Program; @hickstro

Title: Now I See It! Video Tools for Formative Assessment and Media Production

Community of Practice: Cloud Computing Digital Literacy

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, School Library Media, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Consultant, Digital Technology

Presentation: Many districts implement BYOD and 1:1 models to support blended and online learning, often on different platforms and different devices. Because of this, video is coming to the forefront as a primary tool for teachers. Teachers are utilizing video for instruction, remediation, and assessment. They are creating their own videos, using others’ videos to provide content for students, and having students create their own video artifacts. Assessing learning of the content students watch – as well as content that they create – is critical, and teachers must be aware of tools that can support both formative and summative assessment. Learn how to use a wide range of resources to create videos through screencasting and animation, provide feedback quickly and easily on videos, use video for assessment, and use video to create community and support discussions.

F-C09

BRITTANY KASTEIN: 3-5 Literacy Coach and Reading Specialist, Mayville School District

MELISSA SCHNEIDER: 4th Grade Teacher, Mayville School District.

Title: Self-Assess Their Way to Success

Community of Practice: Lightbulb and gear Motivation and Engagement

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, Literacy Coach, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Preservice

Presentation: As teachers, we are constantly using formative assessment to drive our instruction, but why not put some of that responsibility on our learners? Given the right guidance and tools, our students can look at their own learning and determine what steps they need to take in order to grow as a learner. By teaching them to monitor and evaluate their work, they will be able to identify ways to improve their learning by setting realistic goals. Learn strategies to teach students how to self monitor and self assess. We will put ourselves in our learner’s shoes and practice the self assessment process. Discuss ways to support this work in PLCs. Use these tools and your learners will go from engaged to empowered.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-C10

CHRISTOPHER LEHMAN: Author of Professional Books; Founding Director, The Educator Collaborative; @iChrisLehman

Title: The Power of Interactive Read Aloud: Make the Most of Shared Text Experiences

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: : Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Consultant

Presentation: Shared texts are a key part of reading and English instruction. While independent reading is one of the most essential practices, shared text experiences, when carefully tailored, provide opportunities for students to practice skills and experience others' thinking. For teachers, this time can provide essential feedback on student growth and help us make important instructional decisions. However, not all shared text experiences are the same: assigning reading is not teaching reading. Reading aloud to students is enjoyable but does not make the most of often limited the time we have with them. Learn methods that will increase student engagement and instructional rigor during interactive read-alouds. You will learn practical structures for planning shared text experiences that make them an even more powerful tool in your classroom.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-C11

DONALYN MILLER: Educator; Author of Professional Books; Co-Founder, Nerdy Book Club; Scholastic Book Fairs’ Manager of Independent Reading Advocacy; @donalynbooks

Title: Books for a Better World

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, School Library Media, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Consultant

Presentation: Reading offers validation for our experiences and fosters empathy and awareness of others who have different perspectives than ours. Explore forty current books that offer diverse reading experience for students and receive resources for using these books in the classroom and home.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-C12

LIZ PRATHER: Teacher of Writing, Lafayette High School in Lexington, Kentucky; Author of Professional Books

Title: Story Matters: Using the Techniques of Fiction in Argumentative and Informational Texts

Community of Practice: Pencil Writing

Audience: Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, Curriculum Director, Preservice

Presentation: Narrative nonfiction texts are having a moment! These texts enlighten and engage the reader through story, data and scientific research, and argumentative prose. Are they arguments? Yes. Are they informational? Yes. Do they tell a story? Yes! Student writers should understand how to use the modes of argument, narration, and information, not as discrete arrangements exclusive of other patterns, but as a smorgasbord of delivery methods used in the service of their need to communicate. Learn how to help students find nonfiction topics in their personal stories and use their personal stories to illustrate their nonfiction texts. Students can learn to use techniques they normally see in fiction to engage a nonfiction audience. By examining mentor texts and observing narrative techniques, participants will have six classroom activities to invite their students to join the narrative revolution.

F-C13

MATT RENWICK: Principal, Mineral Point Elementary School; @ReadByExample

Title: Lead Like a Coach

Community of Practice: Customer review Literacy Leadership

Audience: Literacy Coach, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Curriculum Director, Consultant

Presentation: Our teacher evaluation systems are limited at best. Traditional classroom observations rarely result in improved literacy instruction. By leading like a coach, school leaders can harness the promising practices of instructional coaching and embed these skills within their supervisory roles. Time will be spent examining our current work in order to consider how a coaching stance to instructional leadership can facilitate teacher growth and student learning. Video and other artifacts of this work in action will be shared to demonstrate this process. Participants will walk away with the beginnings of an action plan that includes the tools and techniques which will help ensure every child has access to excellent literacy instruction. Connect with Matt on Twitter at @ReadByExample.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-C14

KATE ROBERTS: National Literacy Consultant; Author of Professional Books; @teachkate

Title: Falling in Love with Close Reading

Community of Practice: Lightbulb and gear Motivation and Engagement

Audience: Author, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Consultant

Presentation: Academic pursuits - like complex texts and close reading - often leave our students cold and confused. Learn an instructional process for how to teach kids to read texts deeply and repeatedly on their own with joy.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-C15

MAGGIE BEATTIE ROBERTS: National Literacy Consultant; Author of Professional Books; @MaggieBRoberts

Title: Building a Community of Professional Writing Practice: Writing for Our Students, Ourselves and Our Profession

Community of Practice: Pencil Writing

Audience: Author, Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, Special Education, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Consultant, Content Area, Digital Technology

Presentation: "A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit." - Richard Bach. Many of us write alongside our students, sharing stories from our youth or informational pieces about beloved topics. Take your writing out of the classroom and into the world and learn practical ways to build a practice of professional writing. Whether you'd like to restart an old blog, draft an article for an academic journal, begin a table of contents of a professional book, or just write creatively, come as you are to this session with a notebook, a pen, and your voice.

F-C16

NANCY RONCKE: Literacy Coach, School District of Waukesha; Adjunct Professor, Carroll University; @NancyRoncke

Title: Socratic Seminars: Creating a Student-Led Community of Learners and Advocates

Community of Practice: Head with gears Middle Level/Secondary Literacy

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Curriculum Director, Preservice, Consultant, Content Area

Presentation: When students engage in Socratic Seminars, their learning trajectories are forever impacted. Throughout this workshop, all participants will be immersed in: a highly engaging Socratic Seminar (with inner/outer/cyber circles), self-assessment/reflection, and strong/transferable metacognition practices. Walk away with renewed inspiration, strategies, research connections, and resources to immediately begin more student-led discussions in any content area and with all students!

F-C17

WHITNEY ROTH: Elementary Educator, Hamilton School District

Title: Using Literature to Promote Peace & Social Justice: Exploring the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: : Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, Literacy Coach, School Library Media, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Teacher Educator, Preservice

Presentation: The Jane Addams Children’s Book Award annually recognizes children’s books of literary and aesthetic excellence that effectively engage children in thinking about peace, social justice, global community, and equity for all people. Roth will share information about the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, including how she teaches students about the awarded books, book themes, by engaging them in authentic tasks such as determining themes, comparing and contrasting stories, and analyzing books for craft and merit. She will also share and guide participants through the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award website, which includes a database where users can search for books pertaining to specific historical time periods, national/racial/cultural identities, and social justice issues.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-C18

FRANK SERAFINI: Professor of Literacy Education and Children’s Literature; Author of Children’s Books; Author of Professional Books; National Literacy Consultant; @doctorserafini

Title: The What, Why and How of Multimodal Literacy

Community of Practice: Cloud Computing Digital Literacy

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, Literacy Coach, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator

Presentation: In conjunction with the focus on written language that is part of many traditional classrooms today, literacy educators need to further develop their understandings and vocabularies for discussing and comprehending the visual images and design elements of multimodal texts. In addition, literacy educators need to expand their abilities to demonstrate how to approach, navigate, and comprehend visual and multimodal texts. Focus on WHY we should focus on multimodal literacies, WHAT is important to teach about multimodal literacies, and HOW teachers can begin to support children in their transactions with multimodal texts.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-C19

STACEY SHUBITZ: Certified Literacy Specialist; Author of Professional Books; Chief of Operations and Lead Writer for Two Writing Educators; @sshubitz

Title: Mine Mentor Texts for Power Craft Moves

Community of Practice: Pencil Writing

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Literacy Coach, Principal/Administrator, Curriculum Director

Presentation: There’s one of you and twenty (or more) of them! Therefore, small group strategy lessons are an excellent way to differentiate instruction while maximizing your time. Learn the fundamentals to making small group sessions work in your writing workshop so that you can meet your students’ needs in highly-individualized ways. Learn strategies for mining picture books to use as mentor texts and how to use them during minilessons, small group strategy lessons, and one-to-one conferences. There will be time to engage in some of your own writing, which will be inspired by a mentor text.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-C20

NIC STONE: Author of Children’s Books; @getnicced

Title: GET L.I.T. (Repeats from Friday at 9:30)

Community of Practice: Head with gears Middle Level/Secondary Literacy

Audience: Author, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, School Library Media

Presentation: What IS "literacy", and how do we empower young people--from age three to ninety-three--to define, value, and pursue it with abandon? Utilizing a three-word acronym, this session will focus on the definition, purpose, and power of literacy, as well as how to create truly "LIT" environments within homes, classrooms, and libraries.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

F-C21

JACKIE WITTER-EASLEY: Dean of the Division of Professional Studies, Carthage College; Editor of the WSRA Journal; Author of Professional Books

Title: Literacy Moments: Creating Daily Teachable Moments with Beginning Readers (Repeated from Friday at 11:00)

Community of Practice: Child with balloon Emergent Literacy

Presentation: Early elementary teachers use curriculum materials during reading/language arts lessons, but what happens throughout the rest of the day during transition times and other unstructured moments? These are opportunities for creating authentic literacy moments! Teachers of kindergarten through second grade will participate in a variety of hands-on activities that will model research-based methods for intentionally fostering their students' developing reading skills. From establishing a "literacy moments" classroom learning community, to facilitating students' foundational and comprehension skills, the methods shared in this session will enhance students' literacy skills and foster a love of reading.

3:30 – 4:30 F-D Session Descriptions and Unconference Information

On Thursday and Friday mornings, everyone votes on the topics they want to discuss. A “topic” could be just about anything – a discussion, a question, a keynote presentation, a book, and/or a notion about literacy instruction. The Unconference is not a preplanned presentation. Each Unconference session has a host, who facilitates, captures actions, decisions, and/or insights. Attendees can roam freely without a schedule. Everyone chooses where to go, based on the "Law of 2 Feet." If you aren't learning or contributing or having fun, you just might decide to use your two feet to go to a different Unconference session. The Thursday and Friday 2020 Unconference sessions start at 3:30 but your conversation will likely expand. Snacks and beverages will be available near the Unconference sessions' rooms.

Saturday, February 8, 2020

Start time

End time

What’s Happening?

Location

7:45 AM

8:15 AM

Breakfast

Ballroom AB

8:15 AM

9:00 AM

Awards and Honors

Ballroom AB

9:00 AM

10:00 AM

Keynote Address

Ballroom AB

10:15 AM

11:30 AM

Sat-A Breakout Sessions

See the Conference Mobile App

11:40 AM

12:40 AM

Saturday Panel Discussion

Ballroom AB

At-A-Glance Sat-A Sessions

Saturday Keynote by Monique Gray Smith

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

MONIQUE GRAY SMITH

Monique Gray Smith is a proud Mom of sixteen-year old twins and an award-winning, best-selling author. Her first published novel, Tilly: A Story of Hope and Resilience won the 2014 Canadian Burt Award for First Nation, Métis and Inuit Literature. Since then, Monique has had six books come out, including My Heart Fills with Happiness, which has won numerous awards and continues to be a best-seller. Monique’s latest release, Tilly and the Crazy Eights is a novel about an epic road trip that Tilly and eight Indigenous Elders take. The story reminds the reader of the power of the human spirit and that love is medicine. Monique’s newest picture book is When We Are Kind with Orca Book Publishers. Monique is Cree, Lakota, and Scottish; she has been sober and involved in her healing journey for over 28 years. She is well-known for her storytelling, spirit of generosity, and focus on resilience.

Title: Weaving Love and Joy into Learning Together

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: : Author, Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Consultant

Presentation: Through readings and personal stories, Monique Gray Smith will share her journey of writing books that open the hearts and minds of the young and not so young readers. Her life's work and writing are about raising the awareness of the resilience of Indigenous people and making the invisible, visible. Her inspiring and thought-provoking words will explore the role each of us can play in ensuring that little people see themselves on the pages and in the stories they read.

9:35 - 11:00 Saturday Session Descriptions

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Sat-A01

TRICIA EBARVIA: High School English Teacher, a Pennsylvania Writing & Literature Project Co-Director, Heinemann Fellow, and #DisruptTexts Co-Founder; Consultant for The Educator Collaborative

Title: Disrupting the ELA Classroom: Toward a More Inclusive, Diverse, and Human Concern

Community of Practice: Head with gears Middle Level/Secondary Literacy

Audience: Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice

Presentation: Each day, we have the privilege and opportunity to change minds and affect hearts through the stories we tell—and to hold space for all voices, especially those who have been too often unheard. As literacy educators, we have powerful tools to transform our classrooms into truly inclusive, diverse, and human spaces. Together, we'll unpack the ways in which we can leverage the power of literacy for collective liberation by decolonizing the literary canon and rebuilding it into one that honors the rich legacies and voices of communities of color.

Sat-A02

JILLIAN HEISE: Library Media Teacher, Kenosha Unified School District; Chair, WSRA’s Children’s Literature Committee

TERESA BUNNER: Director of Student Engagement, Office of Equity Affairs, Wake County Public School System, NC

Title: Building Community One Book at a Time

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Consultant

Presentation: Reading aloud has been identified as “the single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading” (1985), but as testing pressure increases, it is often eliminated. Yet, educators can rely on shared read-alouds to foster inquiry, build engagement, and develop student agency. If “the number of practitioners reading aloud to students in our schools drops off markedly after grade four” (Layne, 2009), older students miss out on chances to grow community in conjunction with growing reading skills. All kids need to hear stories, and when stories are shared together, community is built while developing skills. Educators who are intentional about which stories they choose to share, have an opportunity to provide windows and mirrors for all students, leading to sliding glass doors (Bishop, 1990) that develop empathy. Then they can get into reading “work” that the standards are asking for, but not without first addressing community in the classroom. With carefully and critically selected books and use of #classroombookaday daily picture book read alouds, one book one school initiatives, or anchor texts for whole group discussion, educators can leverage engagement in story to build community and support student identity.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Sat-A03

AERIALE JOHNSON: Blogger; Teacher, second graders for Liberation, Washington Elementary School, San Jose, CA; Associate Director for the San Jose Area Writing Project; Serves on NCTE’s Build Your Stack Committee

Title: Let It Go! Let 'Em Talk!: Using Oral Literacy Instruction to Strengthen All Literacies

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Consultant

Presentation: Despite centuries of development, the written word still floats on "a sea of talk." Children's mastery of reading, writing, and, ultimately, thinking is contingent upon oral language immersion. When students orally create and tell their own narratives - fictional, informational, and argumentative - based on both their experiences and academic content, they are empowered. Furthermore, the languages, dialects, and cultural backgrounds of children in classrooms that integrate oral storytelling are honored in a way that fosters their humanity. In this engaging session, we will harness the power of oral storytelling across the curriculum for students...and teachers!

Sat-A04

ANNE KISSINGER: Children’s Library Supervisor. Wauwatosa Public Library; DPI Liaison, Milwaukee County Federated Library System

Title: Critical Literacy: From Picture Books to YA

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Author, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach

Presentation: Explore how picture book creators (i.e., authors and/or illustrators), consciously or unconsciously, subvert their bias through narrative and visual discourse endorsing cultural stereotypes in the construction of gender. Learn how to explicitly reveal and teach upper elementary and middle/high school students critical literacy skills for uncovering gender stereotypes, colorism, ageism, etc. The direct knowledge gained from picture books is transferable to their own level or interest, thereby expanding comprehension and engagement.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Sat-A05

CYNTHIA LEITICH SMITH: Author of Children’s Books; Faculty of the low-residency MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults, Vermont College of Fine Arts; Serves on the honorary advisory board of We Need Diverse Books

Title: Hearts Unbroken: Asking Myself the Tough Questions

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Author, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, English Language, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator

Presentation: Listen to reflections on writing that are loosely inspired by real lives (our own and others’) and includes partnering with authenticity readers and innovating within underrepresented literary traditions. Explore the thought process of a novelist who addresses sensitive topics. Trigger warnings: colonialism, historical genocide, hate speech.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Sat-A06

MONIQUE GRAY SMITH: Author of Children’s Books; Storyteller

Title: Discovering the Stories Within Us

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Author, Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Consultant

Presentation: Everyone has a story. This is a dynamic workshop to get your creative juices flowing and a way for self-exploration and discovery. For generations upon generations, it has been our artists who have been the catalyst for healing and wellness. This storytelling and writing workshop will begin with ceremony. This is an integral aspect of honouring and being grateful for the stories that are within us and the ones that will be revealed. Monique will share her journey of how she captures ideas and turns them into stories. The activities are designed to foster creative expression and a sense of pride and confidence in writing.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Sat-A07

DANA STACHOWIAK: Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, Watson College of Education, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Coordinator of the Masters of Education Curriculum Studies for Equity in Education Program

Title: Healing-Centered Approaches to Supporting Minoritized Communities (Repeated from Friday at 11:00)

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Literacy Coach, English Language, Special Education, School Library Media, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Title I, Interventionist, Curriculum Director, Teacher Educator, Preservice, Consultant, Content Area

Presentation: In literacy classrooms that prioritize social justice, students are thrust into spaces that have a high potential to invoke trauma or the remembrance of trauma, especially for minoritized students. Educators have a responsibility to care for these students. Healing-centered engagement is a strategy that emphasizes a collective mindset and asset-driven stance that focuses on seeing healing as a restoration of identity by honoring culture, agency, relationships, meaning, and aspirations. Learn about this strategy, recognize trauma as a collective experience, help students develop awareness and empathy, and actively interrupt oppressive systems in ways that heal.

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Sat-A08

Paul Thomas: Professor of Education, Furman University, Greenville SC; Series Editor for Critical Literacy Teaching Series: Challenging Authors and Genres; Author

Title: Misreading Reading Again and Again: The Media, Reading Policy, and Teaching Reading

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-5, Middle Level 6-8, High School 9-12, Special Education, Principal/Administrator, Reading Teacher/Reading Specialist, Interventionist, Teacher Educator, Preservice

Presentation: Several news articles, videos, reports on new state legislation, and commentaries across mainstream media—Education Week, NPR, PBS—have built a narrative about a Reading Crisis and a call for "the science of reading." That story includes several key elements: Teachers do not know, and thus do not practice, the science of reading because teacher education has failed them. Literacy and teacher educators recognize this is a misleading message ignoring historical context and powerful reasons measurable student reading achievement appears weak. In this keynote, I contend no Reading Crisis exists, but instead, a decades-long pattern of bureaucratic policies make teaching and learning conditions hostile to effective literacy practices and persistent failures by the mainstream media to accurately represent reading needs and reading practices.

11:05 - 12:15 Saturday Panel Discussion

The Wisconsin State Reading Association presents

Moderator: JILLIAN HEISE: Library Media Educator, Kenosha Unified School District; WSRA Children’s Literature Committee Chair; Creator of #classroombookaday; @heisereads

Panelists:

TRICIA EBARVIA: High School English Educator, a Pennsylvania Writing & Literature Project Co-Director, Heinemann Fellow, and #DisruptTexts Co-Founder; Consultant for The Educator Collaborative; @triciaebarvia

AERIALE JOHNSON: High School English Educator, a Pennsylvania Writing & Literature Project Co-Director, Heinemann Fellow, and #DisruptTexts Co-Founder; Consultant for The Educator Collaborative; @triciaebarvia

CYNTHIA LEITICH SMITH: Author of Children’s Books; Faculty of the Low-Residency MFA Program in Writing for Children and Young Adults, Vermont College of Fine Arts; Serves on the Honorary Advisory Board of We Need Diverse Books; @CynLeitichSmith

MONIQUE GRAY SMITH: Author of Children’s Books; Storyteller; @ltldrum

DANA STACHOWIAK: Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, Watson College of Education, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Coordinator of the Masters of Education Curriculum Studies for Equity in Education Program; @DrStachowiak

PAUL THOMAS: Professor of Education, Furman University, Greenville SC; Series Editor for Critical Literacy Teaching Series: Challenging Authors and Genres; Author

Title: Disrupting the Narrative: Enacting a Critically Conscious Stance as Literacy Educators

Community of Practice: Earth globe: Americas Access for All

Audience: All

Presentation: Join us as we explore, interrogate, and reflect upon literacy education - from the present to the past to the possibilities of the future. Consider how to create and sustain equitable and inclusive literacy spaces and enact socially just communities of practice.

Book Signing

Thursday, February 6, 2020

Rafael López

Friday, February 7, 2020

Hena Khan

Cynthia Leitich Smith

Nic Stone

WSRA Policies

The Wisconsin State Reading Association sponsors conferences and institutes focused on the improvement of literacy instruction. Its institutes are located throughout the state of Wisconsin. WSRA’s policy is to conduct its own conferences and institutes. Periodically, these may be coordinated or sponsored in conjunction with WSRA’s local reading councils or WSRA committees, accredited universities, DPI, CESAs, and other organizations in Wisconsin. WSRA does not promote products.

● The WSRA conference is not cancelled due to weather conditions.

● Refunds are not granted for no-shows. A cancellation must be received via email to Joyce at wsra@wsra.org by January 28, 2020 to receive partial credit.

● A $35 processing fee will be charged for the cancellation received by January 28, 2020. Refunds are not granted after February 5, 2020.

● If you would like to transfer your paid registration to an unregistered person, please email wsra@wsra.org by February 5, 2020.

● All attendees must have his/her own name tag visible at all times when at the Wisconsin Center for the conference.

● Attendance at the WSRA conference constitutes consent to be photographed and video/audio recorded for use in publicity for WSRA.

● WSRA is dedicated to providing a professional, safe, and harassment-free environment for attendees.

● If you’re in need of a lactation room at the conference, please stop at the Help Desk for the key.

Registration

Please register by February 5, 2020

www.wsra.org/wsra-2020

Fees

Member

Nonmember

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday

$475

$575

Thursday

$199

$299

Friday

$199

$299

Thursday and Friday

$399

$499

Thursday & Saturday

$299

$399

Friday & Saturday

$299

$399

Saturday

$99

$199

HONORING OUR HOST CITY OF MILWAUKEE: If you are an educator who works in a public or private school in the city of Milwaukee, please contact Joyce (before you register) via email at wsra@wsra.org for an announcement regarding a significant discount for you to attend on Saturday.

PRESENTERS: Please refer to the letter from WSRA regarding the discount code for the day of your presentation.

Dates to Note

Registration for WSRA 2020 closes
February 5, 2020
www.wsra.org/wsra-2020

WSRA Institute with Gravity Goldberg

Mindsets & Moves:
Strategies That Help Readers Take Charge

November 16, 2019
Registration link: www.wsra.org/2019-Goldberg-institute

Gravity Goldberg is the author of several books including Teach Like Yourself, Mindsets and Moves, What Do I Teach Readers Tomorrow, and Conferring with Readers. She spends most of her days leading workshops, coaching teachers, and admiring the learners all around her. Gravity leads a consulting group in the NY/NJ area and supports districts and schools in taking on a balanced approach to literacy learning.

39th Annual Wisconsin Literacy Research Symposium hosted by Carroll University See www.wsra.org/research

2021 WSRA Conference February 3 – 6, 2021
Raising Our Vo!ces: Empowering All Learners in Our Literacy Communities Today to Change the World Tomorrow
The window to submit a WSRA 2021 proposal is February 1 to June 15, 2020. www.wsra.org/submit

2022 WSRA Conference

February 3-5, 2022

2023 WSRA Conference

February 9-12, 2023

2024 WSRA Conference

February 8-11, 2024

WSRA Committee Chairs 2019 – 2020

Committee

Chair(s)

Advocacy

Mike Ford

PI 34

Luann Dreifuerst

Children’s Literature

Jillian Heise

Digital Literacies

Keith Schroeder

Early Intervention

Mari Nelson

Elementary Reading

Nichole Ponzer & Sarah Schnuelle

Families & Literacy

Amy Sippert

High School Literacy

Jean Olson & Mary Shandonay

Intellectual Freedom

Aimee Jahns

International Partnership

Linda Lustig & Erik Meinhardt

Legislative

Kathy Champeau

Membership

Middle Level Literacy

Patty Sankey & Rachel Quill

Preservice Teachers

Rita Chen & Brittany Bruun

Publications

Judy Hartl

Reading Specialists

Debra Zarling

Research

Amy Frederick

Title I

Nancy Papa-Ruppert & Diane Salazar

Young Authors Workshops

Sue Bradley

Local Reading Councils in Wisconsin

www.wsra.org/councils

To get on a reading council mailing list go to
www.wsra.org/council-mailing-lists

16 Ashland Bayfield Counties Literacy Council

18 Central Wisconsin Reading Council

24 Door County Reading Council

dcreadingcouncil@gmail.com

12 Eau Claire Area Reading Council

ecareareadingcouncil@gmail.com

21 Fox Valley Reading Council

foxvalleyreadingcouncil@gmail.com

23 Greater Bayland Literacy Council

greaterbaylandreadingcouncil@gmail.com

17 Headwaters Literacy Council

headwatersreading@gmail.com

10 Hidden Valley Reading Council

hiddenvalleyreading18@gmail.com

22 Interlake Reading Council

interlakereadingcouncil@gmail.com

15 Lake Superior Reading Council

lakesuperiorlitcouncil@gmail.com

9 Madison Area Reading Council

marc.reading.council@gmail.com

20 Mid-East Reading Council

mideastreadingcouncil@gmail.com

11 Midwest Wisconsin Reading Council

mwrc.wsra@gmail.com

1 Milwaukee Area Reading Council

milwaukeeareareadingcouncil@gmail.com

8 Muirland Literacy Council

muirlandlitcouncil@gmail.com

25 Northeast Reading Council

nereadingcouncil@gmail.com

14 Northwest Wisconsin Reading Council

nwrcmembers@gmail.com

2 Racine Kenosha Reading Council

7 Rock River Reading Council

Rockriverreadingcouncil@gmail.com

6 South Kettle Moraine Reading Council

3 Southern Lakes Reading Council

southernlakesreadingcouncil@gmail.com

13 St. Croix Valley Reading Council

stcroixvalleyreadingcouncil@gmail.com

5 Washington Ozaukee Reading Council

WORCteam@gmail.com

4 Waukesha County Reading Council

wcrc.contact@gmail.com

19 Wolf River Reading Council

wolfriverreadingcouncil@gmail.com

Learn about the councils’

low-cost professional learning opportunities.
www.wsra.org/councils

Engage! Network! Learn!

2019-2020 WSRA Board of Directors

WSRA 2020 Conference Planning Committee

Index of WSRA 2020 Presenters

2020 Presenters

Session 1

Session 2

Session 3

Session 4

Abrams, Jennifer

Th-A01

Th-B01

Adams, Laura

Th-B18

F-B13

Adumat, Sarah

F-A02

Affinito, Stephanie

F-A01

F-C01

Al-Adeimi, Shireen

Th-A02

Th-C01

Allen, Kathryn

Th-B02

Allen, Lisa Hollihan

F-C02

Anderson, Becky

Th-B21

Th-C03

F-A15

Anderson, Carl

Th-A03

Th-C02

Anderson, Kevin

F-A02

Apps-Bodilly, Susan

Th-C04

Armstrong, Jeannette

Th-A04

Baker, Jennifer

F-A17

Bergerson,Dave

F-A02

Blevins, Wiley

F-B01

Boquist, Michelle

Th-B02

Brehl, Sandra

Th-C05

Bruun, Linda

F-B20

Bunner, Teresa

Sat-A02

Busch, Erica

F-A17

Caul, Tara

Th-C06

Champeau, Kathy

Th-B-10

Th-C01

Chen, Rita

Th-B02

Cobb, Tyler

Th-B04

Collins, Kathy

F-B02

F-C04

Compton Lilly, Catherine

Th-A06

Th-B03

Cox, Tim

F-A02

Cummins, Sunday

F-A03

F-B03

Davick, Kym

F-C06

Dercks, Jamie

F-B10

Donegan, Andrea

Th-C07

Dunbar, Suzanne

Th-C07

Ebarvia, Tricia

Sat-A01

Sat Panel

Faddis, Toni

F-B04

Farwell, Emily

Th-C04

Fecho, Bob

Th-A07

Th-C01

Fields, La Tasha

Th-A08

Ford, Michael

Th-B10

Th-C01

Frederick, Amy

Th-C08

Gabriel, Rachael

Th-B05

Th-C09

Gentry, Richard

F-A04

F-C05

Glover, Matt

F-A05

F-B05

Goldberg, Gravity

Th-A09

Th-C10

Gómez, Margarita

Th-B06

Th-C01

Graf, Mary Ellen

F-C06

Grafwallner, Peg

Th-A10

Haddix, Marcelle

Th-A11

Th-B07

Hamilton, Heidi

Th-C14

Harris, Towanda

Th-A11

Th-C12

Heard, Georgia

F-A06

F-C07

Heise, Jillian

Th-A05

Sat-A02

Hicks, Troy

F-B05

F-C08

Hoffman, Katie

Th-C06

Hollingsworth, Lindsay

F-A15

Jago, Carol

Th-A12

Th-C13

Johnson, Aeriale

F-B07

Jorgensen, Elizabeth

Th-C14

Kastein, Brittany

F-C09

Kay, Matthew

Th-A13

Th-C15

Keleen, Kay

Th-C03

Kelley, Jane

F-A08

Kempen, Tara

Th-B21

Kern, Wanda

F-B20

Khan, Hena

F-A07

F-B08

Kilpatrick, David

Th-A14

Th-B08

Kissinger, Anne

Sat-A04

Kittle, Penny

F-A09

F-B09

Knezel, Sherrill

Th-A15

Kutzke, Kelsey

Th-B02

Lange, Michelle

Th-B09

Lehman, Christopher

F-A10

F-C10

Lindgren, Merri

Th-A16

Th-B11

Lindh, Britta

Th-C08

Lize, Kristine

F-A15

López, Rafael

Th-B12

Th-C16

Luedeke, Kelly

F-B10

Lux, Taylor

Th-B19

Madsen, Sue

F-B20

McGovern, Amy

Th-C17

Mesmer, Heidi

Th-B13

Th-C18

Meyer, Charity

Th-B19

Miller, Donalyn

Keynote Friday

F-B11

F-C11

Minor, Cornelius

Keynote Thursday

Th-B14

Th-C19

Moses, Lindsey

F-A11

F-B12

Mraz, Kristi

Th-A17

Th-B15

Mueller, Kathleen

F-A12

Ness, Molly

Th-A18

Th-B14

Novak, Barb

Th-B16

F-B13

O'Connor, David

Th-C19

Papa-Ruppert, Nancy

F-B20

Peterson, Kris

F-A15

Portle, Emily

Th-C04

Prather, Liz

F-A13

F-C12

Pratt, Gretchen

F-A14

Pryle, Marilyn

Th-A19

Th-B17

Renwick, Matt

F-C13

Rief, Linda

Th-A20

Th-C20

Ripp, Pernille

Th-A21

Th-C21

Roberts, Kate

F-B14

F-C14

Roberts, Maggie

F-A16

F-C15

Roncke, Nancy

F-C16

Roth, Whitney

F-C17

Salazar, Diane

F-B20

Santoni, Annie

F-A19

Schlie-Reed, Jennifer

Th-A22

Schlegel, Kelly

Th-A22

Schliesman, Megan

Th-A16

Th-B11

Schneider, Melissa

F-C09

Schoonover, Rhonda

F-A17

Schroeder, Keith

Th-B02

Schubert, Nancy

Th-C04

Serafini, Frank

F-A18

F-C18

Shimel, Kayla

F-A12

Shubitz, Stacey

F-B15

F-C19

Smith, Cynthia Leitich

F-B16

Sat-A05

Sat Panel

Smith, Megen

F-A19

Smith, Monique Gray

Keynote Saturday

Sat-A06

Sat Panel

Stachowiak, Dana

F-A20

F-B17

Sat-A07

Sat Panel

Stoetzel, Lindsay

F-B19

Stone, Nic

F-A21

F-C20

Strehlow, Lynne

Th-C17

Tatum, Alfred

F-A22

F-B18

Taylor-Marshall, Sandra

F-B19

Thomas, Paul

Sat-A08

Sat Panel

Tobisch, Sarah

Th-C08

Toll, Cathy

F-B21

Treptow, Monica

Th-C22

Van Offeren, Karen

F-B20

Vang, Zong

F-A02

Wathke Jen

Th-B21

Wilhorn, Brian

Th-B18

Witter-Easley, Jackie

F-B22

F-C21

Zaffiro, Deb

Th-B19

Zimmerman, Teal

Th-B20

WSRA extends its appreciation to all who contributed to the success of this annual conference.

Please join us in continuing the learning with the WSRA Online Literacy Learning Academy.
Contact WSRA via email at wsra@wsra.org or 262-514-1450

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