Dear Colleagues:
At this time we would like to invite you to the 10th Annual College of Education Literacy Symposium being held on April 4, 2008. This event attracts an average of 500 educators from across the state. We hope that you mark that date on your calendar and also share it with your students. Admission is free but we require that attendees register. We welcome proposals from teachers, college faculty, and college students. We hope that you can join us.
Our theme this year focuses on “Literacy for Now and Beyond: Celebration, Inspiration, and Innovation.” Location: The UCF College of Education (Gymnasium). Come join us for a day of learning focused on celebrating literacy, learning more about reading in the content areas, technology and literacy, motivating students to read and learn from quality literature, improving literacy, and preparing our students for the future! This is a free professional day for all elementary and secondary educators, including literacy coaches, library media specialists, reading specialists, and administrators.
For more information on the event, please see: http://education.ucf.edu/litsymposium
For a flyer, please see: http://education.ucf.edu/litsymposium/docs/flyer.pdf
For registration information, please see: http://education.ucf.edu/litsymposium/register.cfm
For proposal submission, please see: http://education.ucf.edu/litsymposium/proposal.cfm
(Proposals must be completed online and turned in by March 15, 2008, by 12 PM EST)
Our morning keynote speaker will be Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Dr. Fisher is a Professor of Language and Literacy Education in the Department of Teacher Education at San Diego State University, the Co-Director for the Center for the Advancement of Reading at the California State University Chancellor’s office, and a classroom teacher at Health Sciences High & Middle College. He is the recipient of an International Reading Association Celebrate Literacy Award, the Farmer award for excellence in writing from the National Council of Teachers of English, as well as a Christa McAuliffe award for excellence in teacher education. He has published numerous articles on reading and literacy, differentiated instruction, and curriculum design as well as books, such as Creating Literacy-rich Schools for Adolescents (with Gay Ivey), Improving Adolescent Literacy: Strategies at Work (with Nancy Frey) and Teaching English Language Learners: A Differentiated Approach (with Carol Rothenberg).
Our afternoon keynote speaker will be Edward Bloor. Mr. Bloor is the author of five critically acclaimed young adult novels: Tangerine, Crusader, Story Time, London Calling, and Taken. He was a middle school teacher in Broward County, Florida, and a high school teacher in Brevard County, Florida, before joining Harcourt School publishers, where he is an executive editor. His newest novel, Memory Lane, will be published by Random House in 2009.
For more information, please contact Vicky Zygouris-Coe (vzygouri@mail.ucf.edu). Thank you for your support.
Regards,
Vicky Zygouris-Coe, Ph.D.
University of Central Florida
Department of Teaching & Learning Principles
In celebration of National D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read) Day, Reading Rockets is collecting questions for famous author, Beverly Cleary. Mrs. Cleary is the author of such favorites as Ramona, Dear Mr. Henshaw, and Runaway Ralph. Reading Rockets will select the best questions for Mrs. Cleary to answer and then post her respones in an audio interview that will be available on April 12.
You have until February 29 to send your question. If your question is selected to be answered, HarperCollins Children’s Books will send you a set of Beverly Cleary titles! Click here to submit your question.
Looking for ideas on how to increase independent reading in your classroom? Check out the ideas from our FOR-PD Literacy Newsletter.
The National Education Association (NEA) annually sponsors Read Across America. Approaching its eleventh year, NEA’s Read Across America focuses the country’s attention on how important it is to motivate children to read in addition to helping them master basic skills.
NEA launched the Read Across America program in 1997. The nationwide reading celebration takes place this year on March 3, in recognition of the birthday of beloved children’s author Dr. Seuss, who epitomizes a love of learning. Dr. Seuss’s use of rhyme makes his books an effective tool for teaching young children the basic skills they need to be successful.
Check out the toolkit for ideas for your celebration.
The International Reading Association’s 2008 list of What’s Hot, What’s Not in literacy contains many hot issues this year, with one topic not making it into the hot catergory for the first time in 12 years: phonics instruction.
“Very hot” issues included:
- adolescent literacy
- English as a second language/English-language learners
- early intervention
- fluency
- high-stakes assessment
- informational/nonfiction texts
- literacy coaches/reading coaches
- response to intervention
- scientific evidence-based reading research and instruction
Each year literacy leaders are interviewed either in person or by phone. All literacy leaders are read a standard 178-word paragraph defining “hot” or “not hot.” It is important to note that the ratings of “hot” or “not hot” do not necessarily reflect the literacy leader’s personal interest, or lack thereof, in a given topic. The ratings refer to the level of attention a given topic is currently receiving.
After hearing the introductory paragraph, each respondent is asked to rate a given topic as “hot” or “not hot.” Each respondent is then asked if the topic “should be hot” or “should not be hot.” The resulting chart with the topics rated is then published. The purpose of the survey is to acquaint readers with issues that are receiving attention in order to encourage them to investigate these topics in more depth.
To view the chart, please visit the IRA What’s Hot, What’s Not chart.
Do you agree with what’s hot and what’s not hot? Do you think some items that are listed as “hot” should be? Please share your thoughts and opinions with us.
As Valentine’s Day approaches we know that many teachers and parents may be in search of some good texts to use with their students or children. FOR-PD would like to offer the following text set created by two of our esteemed facilitators and media specialists, Nancy Case and Jean Salmon. We hope their choices will give you a good start to using text sets in the classroom. Check it out!!
Wondering how to use text sets? Check out our February 2006 Reading Strategy of the Month.
HarperCollins Publishers announced that they will now be offering an online promotion that allows consumers exclusive sampling of books on www.HarperCollins.com. In the “Full Access†Program, titles can be seen in their entirety for a limited time. In the “Sneak Peek†Program, readers will be able to view 20% of many new titles.
Looking for a good book for your intermediate and middle school readers? Check out Warriors: Into the Wild, the first volume of the bestselling children’s series by Erin Hunter.
Reading text online has become a staple for many readers. Book companies and learning projects are working hard to address the needs of the online reading community. Are you a teacher looking for more ideas for motivating students to read? Check out this link for some wonderful online resources. Electronic Books and Online Reading
Do you have a useful site or idea for using online text to motivate your students to read? We’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas. Click on the “leave a comment” bubble to share with us.
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