Session 1: (8:30 a.m.-10:00 a.m.) |
| Presented By: Brian Pinkney
Audience: All Attendees |
Session 2: (10:15 a.m.-11:15 a.m.) |
Presented By: Carrie Kennedy
Session Title: “The Story of Stories: A Look at Mythology and the Hero’s Journey”
Session Content: Carrie Kennedy is an author and educator who is fascinated with story. How are stories part of our history? Why are stories so universally structured? How can we teach children to better understand story and, by extension, their own lives? Using her extensive knowledge of mythology and the research she has done in the course of writing her forthcoming book, Carrie will discuss the impact of the hero’s journey. She will reference the celebrated comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell, along with the more modern works of Jonathan Gottschall (The Storytelling Animal), Lisa Cron (Wired for Story), and Christopher Vogler (The Writer’s Journey).
Audience: Educators, Librarians, and Writers |
Presented By: Mark Weakland
Session Title: “Non-Fiction and the Common Core: An Author/Educator’s Perspective”
Session Content: The Common Core stresses reading ever-increasing amounts of non-fiction, both at the high school level and at the elementary school level. Educator and Capstone Press author Mark Weakland shares his thoughts on the non-fiction emphasis of the Common Core Standards as well as how to pick non-fiction books, read non-fiction to young children (PreK-K), and promote the reading of non-fiction by elementary age children (K-5).
Audience: Educators, Librarians, and Writers interested in non-fiction books
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Presented By: Siobhan Vivian
Session Title: “Read, Write, Discuss: Using Creative Writing Exercises to Enhance Book Club Discussion & Attract New Members”
Session Content: Author and conference keynote speaker Siobhan Vivian will discuss ways to successfully introduce a creative writing component into your student book club.
Audience: Librarians and Educators, especially Grades 6-12
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Presented By: Rebecca Pich & Sherry Thomas
Session Title: Supporting Reading Standards in the Library!
Session Content: The library is a great place to reinforce elementary reading standards. During this session, Rebecca Pich and Sherry Thomas, elementary school librarians from the Greensburg Salem School District, will present some different activities that support these important benchmarks. Information will include books, games, songs, and Smartboard activities.
Audience: Educators and Librarians
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Presented By: WPA SCBWI (Pat Easton and Marcy Canterna)
Session Title: “Introducing the SCBWI Class of 2012-2013”
Session Content: Most children think that authors only live in New York or California. Pennsylvania has a wealth of talented authors and illustrators, and we want to share their newest books with you. We will discuss each recently published book, and we will talk about the story, the author, and the illustrator. Then, we will share some suggestions of ways to include the stories in your classroom, at a variety of grade levels and in many curricular areas. Presented by the Western Pennsylvania Chapter of the Society for Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (WPA SCBWI).
Audience: Librarians, Educators, Writers
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Session 3: (12:45 p.m.-1:45 p.m.) |
Presented By: Marietta Frank & Donna Dombek
Session Title: “Fun With Mythical Beasts and the Common Core”
Session Content: This session, presented by Marietta Frank and Donna Dombek from the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, will introduce a third grade thematic unit created around Pennsylvania Common Core Standards through mythology and fantasy. Using The Palace of Mythical Beasts, a recent eBook, we will create a third grade thematic unit to be tested in the Bradford School District that could be used as a template for other children’s fantasy novels. We will make copies of the thematic unit available to participants in the session. The Pennsylvania Common Core is not a mythical beast, and this session will show how much fun it can be for everyone.
Audience: Educators and Librarians
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Presented By: Jeff Kuntz
Session Title: “Easy Active Engagement Strategies”
Session Content: This session will provide participants with “take to your classroom tomorrow” strategies that will ensure 100% student participation in each and every lesson. Using the research and strategies of Anita Archer and Spencer Kagan, participants will learn about the importance of 100% active participation and the research behind this importance. The presenter will provide may examples of great strategies that can be used daily in the classroom with little or no preparation. Participants will leave with great strategies that will help them be proficient on the Danielson Teacher Evaluation Model.
Audience: Educators and Librarians
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Presented By: Mary Beth Spore
Session Title: “How Do I Love How I Look? Let Me Count the Ways: Self-Image and Appearance in The List”
Session Content: How do the characterizations of these eight girls in The List exemplify the (nearly) universal obsession teenagers have with appearances and with the dissatisfaction in their own appearance? What connections are made between self-esteem and physical appearance? This discussion-based session will call participants to explore these questions raised in this provocative novel.
Audience: Librarians and Educators, especially those working with students in grades 7 and above.
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Presented By: Sydelle Pearl
Session Title: “Hope Somewhere in America: Telling Stories About African-American History and Culture Using a Historical Fiction Picture Book as a Springboard”
Session Content: Author and storyteller Sydelle Pearl describes how her book Hope Somewhere in America: The Story of a Child, a Painting, and a President can be used to tell stories about African-American history and culture to the elementary grades. She will discuss the inspiration for her book – the 1934 painting of a little African-American girl entitled “Somewhere in America” by Robert Brackman, and will then show other New Deal works of art that relate to the lives of famous African-Americans: Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Marian Anderson, and Zora Neale Hurston. Sydelle demonstrates her multidisciplinary storytelling approach that involves singing, moving, creative dramatics, reading, writing, and drawing activities. Bibliography will be distributed.
Audience: Librarians and Educators Grades K-6; also Writers
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Presented By: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
Session Title: “National Book Selection Committee Work: The Inside Story”
Session Content: Volunteering for a selection committee can benefit librarians on the personal, local, and national level. In this session, Kelly Rottmund and Tessa Barber from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh will share their experiences on the Amelia Bloomer Project and Great Graphic Novels for Teens committees. The Amelia Bloomer Project’s annual list consists of well written and illustrated books with significant feminist content, intended for young readers from birth to 18 years old. The list is a product of the ALA Social Responsibilities Round Table’s (SRRT) Feminist Taskforce. http://ameliabloomer.wordpress.com Great Graphic Novels for Teens is a list of recommended graphic novels and illustrated nonfiction for those ages 12-18, prepared annually by YALSA. http://www.ala.org/yalsa/ggnt The librarians will talk and answer questions about what committee work entails, how they have used their committee work to benefit their local communities and customers, and how the committees’ products can benefit all librarians in their work.
Audience: Educators and Librarians
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Session 4: (2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m.) |
Presented By: Siobhan Vivian
Session Title: “Beauty & the Media: Helping Teens Navigate the Messages They Are Force-Fed”
Session Content: Here’s the painful truth: we live in a society where value is placed on the way we look. Girls, guys – no one is immune. From tabloid magazines eviscerating anyone with cellulite, to infomercials peddling promises of shiny hair and clear skin and a trim figure, to peer-created hot-or-not lists posted on Facebook, adolescents must navigate a minefield of daily reminders of how they measure up against an impossible ideal. Using her novel The List as a centerpiece, Siobhan Vivian will discuss how to help teens decipher what they are being fed by the media, and ways to challenge how they participate in and perpetuate these issues on a smaller scale.
Audience: All Attendees
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