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