OWP Write to Learn
Back-to-School
Conference

Saturday, August 27
8:15 am Registration
8:30 am-12:50 pm Conference Sessions
Sessions for Pre-K thru 12th grade

Deer Creek High School
6101 NW 206th
Edmond, Ok 73012

Bring a Friend and Come for FREE!

Register using link: You may need to cut and paste in your browser.
http://tinyurl.com/owp-August-27-Conference


As schools prepare for Common Core Assessments, come learn about writing 
activities to integrate into your current curriculum and school day.  All 
sessions will provide packets of resources, current research and active 
learning.  Don't miss out on this wonderful opportunity!


Session Titles:

 “Picture Perfect!”
Heather Pogue, Monroe Elementary School, Norman
Do you have reluctant writers in your classroom?  Are you trying to find ways 
for children to participate in the writing process?  This workshop will help you 
use picture books and authors of children’s books to develop and engage children 
in authentic narrative and descriptive writing. 
 
  “Writing Westward or Bust”
Lindsay Hodges, Truman Elementary, Norman
There never seems to be enough time during the day to teach every subject. It is 
always helpful to be able to integrate subjects and build lessons that can 
incorporate social studies and writing. Students will not only improve their 
writing quality but have a deeper understanding of the information they are 
learning about in the classroom. Students will learn to write thorough summaries 
and vivid diary entries. What better way to encourage this process than by 
incorporating writing into social studies!
 
  “Walk the Walk & Talk the Talk: Teachers as Reading and Writing Models”
Lori Sharp, University of Oklahoma
Too many times, teachers feel overwhelmed by their responsibility to teach 
reading and writing in all content areas. With the current educational demands, 
every teacher is expected to teach both. Have you ever considered being a model? 
Remember, the superior teacher models, the good teacherexplains, and the 
mediocre teacher tells. This interactive reading/writing workshop includes 
activities, research-based strategies, and both fiction and non-fiction trade 
books applicable in all grades plus some insightful ways and means to reach the 
most reluctant faculty members. This presentation will motivate, inspire, teach 
and model best practices for teachers to become better readers and writers 
themselves!
 
  “The Illustrated Curriculum: Using Graphic Novels to Enhance Multiple 
Literacies”
Lezlie S. Christian, Norman North High School, Norman
Imagery in the form of videos, movies, and video games is a medium of 
communication that most of our students are exposed to beginning in infancy in 
this shiny 21st century culture.  Our goal as educators should be to look for 
“next practices” as well as best practices in order to equip our students with 
the skills to be successful in life.  Graphic novels, a medium relatively 
recently evolved from comic books but utilizing sophisticated literary 
conventions, can be employed in the classroom to provide contextually-rich 
scaffolding for vocabulary, training in higher cognitive skills through reading, 
examining, and writing, and even provide a cultural bridge and support for the 
English Language Learner across the curriculum. 
 
  “Writing Role Models: Using Interactive Writing to Model Writing Strategies,
    Comprehension, Phonics, and to Promote Reading “
Alyssa Kerr, Lake Park Elementary, Putnam City
Interactive writing is a teaching tool that allows the instructor to “share the 
pen” with the students. Teachers as writers are the most effective role models 
for up and coming writers. What better way to instill a love of writing in your 
students, than to join them in the process? Take part in interactive writing 
activities and experience many of the benefits of using interactive writing to 
produce authentic pieces in your classroom
 
 “Singing and Dancing through Writer’s Workshop: A Creative Approach to
     Effective Writer’s Workshops in the Primary Classroom”
Chelsea Love, Lake Park Elementary, Putnam City
This demonstration gives strategies to present writer’s workshop in a fun and 
easy to understand format for primary elementary. We will use Synonym Walks, the 
Writer’s Hokey Pokey, and modified four square writing to make writer’s workshop 
a kinesthetic and creative experience for your young authors. Expect to sing, 
dance, revise, and most of all…write!
 
 
  “Making Math Make Sense through Writing”
Allison Sherman, Truman Primary School, Norman
Have you ever had a student that can get the answer to a math problem, but 
cannot describe the strategy used to find the answer?  Students need to develop 
a sense of the processes that are involved in solving math problems.  This 
demonstration addresses the concept that writing to learn helps students explore 
their ideas and knowledge about math as a process.  Additionally it provides 
ways writing can be used to give creative freedom to reach students who have 
difficulty engaging in traditional math instruction.
 
 
 “Figuring Out Figurative Language”
Beth White, Longfellow Middle School, Norman
While most students enjoy repeating on a test the answers that they crammed into 
their heads the night before, the question remains if a child understands the 
material past the facts and definitions. Will the information still be in his or 
her head in a week or a month from the test? If a student can instantly spout 
that a metaphor is a comparison without using like or as, can that same student 
find a metaphor, explain what it means, and use similar metaphors in his or her 
writing? During this presentation, we will move away from teaching recall and 
work towards teaching understanding, analysis, and creation of writing with 
literary devices.
 
 
  “Storytelling: Pathways to Early Literacy”
Jennifer Stepp, University of Oklahoma
Come one, come all, on an adventure of writing through 
storytelling.  Storytelling is a great way to reach all students regardless of 
ability level across curriculum. During this writing workshop you will be 
exposed to several storytelling strategies that will give your students positive 
interactions with writing. Although this is geared for early childhood 
classrooms, this presentation is flexible for differentiated instruction across 
all grade levels and curriculum.
 
 
 “Writing is Mmm, Mmm Good!  Teaching Writing through Food”
Kimberly J. Stormer, Tomlinson Middle School, Lawton
For most people, meal time equates to family time.  Whether it is a simple sack 
lunch, the long-awaited Thanksgiving dinner, or barbeque on Independence Day, 
memories, communities, and bonds form during meals.  This presentation shows 
teachers how to engage struggling writers in the different modes of writing by 
different experiences associated with food.    
 
  “Remembering It and Getting It Write”
Matt Krimmer, Dickson Middle School
This presentation demonstrates how writing can be implemented as a tool for 
helping students to remember and to perfect different skills. The focus is 
primarily on history at the high school and middle school level, but the 
information described can easily be translated to other grade levels and 
subjects.
 
 
 “Geocaching Gems: Engaging Writers Before, During and After Reading”
Amy Cantrell, Central Intermediate, Wagoner
Reading is an adventure! There are hidden gems in stories. Engage in time-tested 
strategies to build writing skills before, during and after reading. We will 
follow a “map” of reading and learn about integrating research-based strategies 
to unlock the hidden treasures by guiding student reading. The strategies can be 
differentiated for any student. This workshop is geared for elementary and 
middle school, but also includes instructional strategies that may be adapted 
for high school classes.
 
 
  “A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words: Inspiring Writers through Photographs”
Cynthia J. Gillion, Millwood
Have you ever had unmotivated students you could not reach, challenged you and 
made it difficult to teach?  Use photographs to gain their interest. Engage 
students in the writing process by using gradual release, language experience 
and shared writing. Focus on activities to teach descriptive, narrative, 
reflective, expository and persuasive essays. These classroom-best practices are 
research-based approaches have proven to be effective. Lessons in this 
presentation support Oklahoma Priority Academic Student Skills and Oklahoma 
State Department of Education Common Core Standards.
 
 “Write Notes”
Maureen Durant, Lawton High School, Lawton
Take Note: *Research demonstrates that students who practice effective note 
taking participate as active learners in the classroom. *Note taking is a 
lifelong learning and writing skill.
Write Notes offers teachers specific, research-based strategies for 
differentiated instruction in note taking for recording, organizing, and 
processing lectures, texts, and research.
 
  
________________________________

Audra Plummer  M. Ed.
National Board Certified Teacher
Co-Director of Inservice
Oklahoma Writing Project
University of Oklahoma
Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education
338 Cate Center Drive, Room 190
Norman, Oklahoma 73019
Phone: 405-401-1348

FAX: 405-325-7841
http://owp.ou.edu

Teachers Teaching Teachers