This session will offer research-based practical information on how teachers might tailor their programs to meet the diverse needs and abilities of learners who have difficulty meeting the increased demands for accountability in reading writing.

PreK, P,I, MS

Summary: Drawing on more than 25 years of education and experience in all facets of communication, John Gile will explore the elements of effective listening and the dynamics of the written word in our relationships with children and adults. He will provide participants with practical tools and techniques to foster effective listening and focused, clear thinking.

Summary: Learn the nuts and bolts of starting a reading initiative in the 14^th largest school district in the United States, the School District of Palm County.

Summary: This session is designed to provide elementary teachers with ready-to-use ideas for teaching language arts skills within the context of authentic multicultural literature.

Summary: Build connections between readers and authors. You’ll leave this session with valuable Web addresses, sample projects, and a model for creating your own author study.

Chair: Artis Gray, Barry University

Summary: The purpose of this presentation is to share information with teachers in the state of Florida about our State’s Reading Center. This session will inform teachers about free, accessible, and comprehensive resources in reading, opportunities for professional development, opportunities for showcasing what is happening in their classrooms, the events and activities of the FLaRE Center, and how teachers can collaborate in helping all students become lifelong learners.

I, MS,HS

Summary: Highlights of the Florida Literacy Project will be presented including the conceptual base; some research-based, classroom tested strategies; and the components of a successful Literacy Plan as an agent for school-wide change.

I, MS

Summary: Guided Comprehension, a context in which students and teachers experience reading as a strategy-based thinking process, is the focus of this presentation. Guided Comprehension integrates numerous components of literacy.

Summary: Ideas and strategies for teaching reading skills in the content areas will be discussed and demonstrated.

Summary: Are your kids in the dark and missing meaning in expository reading and writing? Celebrate the Sunshine Standards with "hands-on" reading and writing strategies that ensure a lively and stylish approach to literacy.

After 5 years of observing exemplary teachers in 5 states, we have identified 6 features of the instruction they offer that seems to account for the high levels of literacy proficiency of their students. This session will detail these features.

Summary: Preventing Illiteracy is a fast-paced, motivational, hands-on session for K-3 teachers. The intense interventions taught will accelerate the struggling at-risk readers.

Summary: This workshop will demonstrate how early childhood teachers integrate technology into a balanced early literacy environment to engage each child and individualize instruction, thereby enhancing student performance and increasing test scores.

MS, HS

Summary: Participants will learn balanced literacy teaching strategies enabling struggling readers in middle and high school to build background knowledge in order to read independently. Participants will work directly with authentic literature and instructional strategies for struggling readers.

Summary: Learn about one school’s efforts to support struggling intermediate readers. Assessment analysis, program implementation, teaching strategies, and "recruitment" will be shared.

Summary: How do we get students to think about what they are reading and writing about? During this session we will look closely at effective research, strategies, and models for connecting reading, writing, and thinking for meaning that will assist students in lifelong literacy.

Summary: Using literature and thematic units geared to being under the ground, on the ground, and above the ground, participants will make activities that can be used to teach the reading and writing of science inquiry in the K-5 classroom.

Summary: This session will lead knowledge-seeking participants toward successful, brain-based literacy strategies. A major focus will be how teachers can encourage student risk- taking, provide a safe, caring environment, and integrate brain-based strategies into the curriculum. Handouts of resources will be available.

P

Summary: This presentation will model the use of Houghton Mifflin’s early intervention program, Early Success. Demonstrations will include the program’s use of Elkonian boxes to promote phonemic awareness, letter tiles for making words, writing practice, and use of the picture walk to encourage predicting and to enhance prior knowledge.

P, I, MS, HS

Summary: The purpose of this session is to present an offering of Caribbean children’s literature that might broaden our cultural perspective. An examination and discussion of children’s literature from various Caribbean regions, together with suggested activities and criteria for selecting books for study, will be explored.

MS

Summary: This session explores the reasons why middle school students who can read choose not to read (aliteracy). Suggestions for classroom, the media center, and the middle school curriculum will be included. Handouts will be provided.

All

Summary: Any educator or parent interested in teaching children the importance of family oral history will enjoy this session. Who’s going to write down those family stories so they won’t be forgotten? Author/humorist Melissa Forney teaches children to gather, tell, and write oral histories as lasting legacies.

P

Summary: A fun and creative session to link the importance that phonics plays in preparing young children to become lifelong readers and writers. What better way to start your daily phonics instruction than with a song! Systematic and effective phonics instruction can and should be hands-on, child-centered, developmentally appropriate, and yes-even fun!

I

Summary: This session will focus on research-based reading and writing strategies for reading across different texts that reflect their GLEs. Strategies will range from identifying ten important sentences from stories as a key comprehension tool to related FCAT writing with bookmaking ideas for grades 3-6. Authentic students' models will be included.

PreK, P

Chair: Ann Bowlin, FRA Board

Summary: A first grade team with different teaching styles and philosophies will describe a Balanced Approach to Reading. From literacy centers to building words, each participant will walk out with loads of ideas to facilitate their reading instruction.

MS

Summary: Focusing on inquiry-centered instruction, the presenters will offer a model for infusing technology into the middle school reading curriculum with and without Internet access and share projects created with hypertext, CD ROMs and other technologies.

PreK

Summary: Care to Read is a program of the Palm Beach County Literacy Coalition that trains childcare staff members and the Healthy Start Healthy Families visiting nurses of Palm Beach County in effective literacy strategies.

Summary: This high energy session will touch on various instructional strategies for building a strong foundation in phonemic awareness, word study skills, oral language development and reading comprehension for the primary grades. While continuing to focus on the objective of building lifelong readers, the primary grades become the foundation for literacy success.

P, I

Chair: Sharon Searcy, FRA Board

Summary: Implementing content integration through children’s literature in mathematics and social studies, constructivism will be highlighted, critical thinking promoted, standards reinforced, and authentic assessment encouraged.

Summary: The focus of this program is to inspire others to follow their dreams with a description of the journey of a self-published children’s book author; to foster more meaningful interaction between parents and children through reading books with kind messages like Kokopelli & the Butterfly, and to foster community among schools through the Kokopelli & the Butterfly Classroom Storytelling Outreach Program created by the author.

Summary: Awareness of how the brain works and develops can help teachers more effectively teach reading. This session will present examples of multi-sensory structured training approaches that foster more efficient learning.

I

Summary: This presentation will include some events of World War II as portrayed through children’s literature here and abroad. The tragedy of the holocaust and the unjust practices of the internment of Japanese Americans will also be included.

P-HS

Summary: In its fourth year, Beacon Learning Center was awarded a 10 million-dollar U.S. Department of Education Grant through 2005. BLC provides an extensive, easy to use database of quality online lessons and learning activities keyed to the Sunshine State Standards. Participants will receive hands-on information on how to access the database, which is free of charge to anyone.

I, MS

Summary: Students beyond the primary grades need to learn a strategic framework for grappling with texts that are expository, dense, and full of new, more difficult vocabulary, charts, graphics, and maps. This presentation will demonstrate how teachers can instruct readers, using a research-based strategic framework, to think about what they read as they are reading.

East Hall

Some of her books include: Dear Peter Rabbit, Yours Truly, Goldilocks, The Gold Coin (Christopher Award), The Three Golden Oranges, Gathering the Sun, and Under the Royal Palms (2000 Pura Belpre Award).

Summary: You want to set up a Writers’ Workshop, but don’t know where to begin? Stride into this session to learn the logistics of creating your writers’ workshop.

P, I

Summary: Write Reflections is a K-5 writing spiral curriculum guide geared towards expository and narrative writing. Come learn how to implement this method in your school.

Summary: Bahamian educators are implementing practical ways to effectively infuse special needs learners (ESE, ESOL) in their classrooms through the Every Child Counts Project. FRA participants can link with this project to globalize their students’ experiences through keypal links, cultural and literacy exchanges, and other projects that will be of mutual benefit.

Summary: "Hey Miss, can I check out one of your books?" Is this what you have always dreamed your middle and high school students would say? Get them hooked on reading through this innovative Literacy Project?

Summary: In this presentation participants will have a hands-on opportunity to learn the "accordion" paragraph and "burrito fold" summary color-code strategy. Students who use this method learn to write topic sentences independently, to support and elaborate the position in the topic sentence clearly, and finish with an appropriate conclusion. Hand-outs will be provided.

Summary: Help your struggling students become successful readers.

Summary: We read the story, so what else can we do? This session will present activities to use with stories, articles, and novels for the middle school reader.

Summary: RUBRICS, RUBRICS, and more RUBRICS! Numerous applications for and varieties of RUBRICS will be presented. Create RUBRICS to assess student achievement in all areas including FCAT, IEP, EP, CBC, and SSS.

P, I

Summary: Reading comprehension strategies and skills, which help students build and scaffold knowledge, will be shared with the participants. In addition, techniques for fostering inquiry and exploration will be discussed.

All

Chair: Estelle Brown, FRA Board

Summary: Participants will learn strategies and techniques for writing in three formats required to achieve National Board Certification-descriptive, analytic, and reflective writing. Examples will be discussed.

Summary: One of the challenges of achieving balanced literacy instruction involves getting the most out of the instructional materials in the classroom. Participants will work with samples of authentic literature, decodable books, and leveled books in order to gain hands-on experience with the types of instruction best suited to each text.

Summary: Focusing on the power of imaginative literature to change lives, author/journalist John Gile explores the role of reading and its writing connection in the development of coping skills, critical thinking skills, and creativity.

K-12

Summary: All teachers are facing the challenge of increased diversity in their classrooms. This diversity includes children from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds as well as increasing numbers of students with very challenging instructional needs. While meeting the needs of ALL students can seem overwhelming, there are useful strategies from recent research to guide teachers working to help all of their students succeed. This session will review the most current understandings about meeting the needs of diverse learners in our classrooms.

P, I, MS

Summary: The objective of this session is to combine practical strategies, activities, and ideas to foster creative thinking processes. One focus is the use of logic stories to foster divergent thinking, group process, listening skills, and creativity on a regular basis. A variety of creative and unique activities to develop thinking skills that teachers and administrators can take directly back to their schools and classrooms will be provided.

K-HS

Chair: Ann Carneal Murphy, Barry University

Summary: Students in K-12 can benefit from reading strategies using the newspaper. This hands- on session will include integration of all curricula (Mathematics, Social Studies, Science, Language Arts, etc.). A packet of materials will be provided.

Summary: This session will present one teacher’s solution to solving the homework dilemma, improving reading fluency, and making a strong parent connection. Handouts and sample lessons will be provided.

Summary: Students often feel trapped by the present and feel like they are victims of the world rather than architects of the future. Futurists believe that the actions we take today will build our future. Science fiction stories allow students to visualize and experience the possible outcomes of present actions, and afford them the opportunity to use critical and creative thinking to create their own "what if" scenarios.

Summary: Adult education emphasis on preparing adults for the workplace means teachers around the country are integrating work skills and basic skills in their classrooms. Find out about tools that you can use to make this job easier. Learn to use the totally free special collection of workforce education resources on LINCS, the National Literacy Information and Communication System.

PreK, P

Summary: Teachers will be given specific strategies for helping their students develop an awareness of print and identify sounds in spoken and written words. This is a hands- on, make and take workshop that teachers can enjoy.

Summary: Critical thinking skills, creative thinking skills, and problem-solving skills are all crucial, but simply having a skill is no guarantee that students will use it. In this session participants will be provided with model lesson plans and activities.

P

Summary: New readers construct "text" and "literacy" according to those print/reading characteristics most amenable to their own intellectual and perceptual development. Miscues suggest developmental intervention. The presenter will give a brief, illustrated talk offering an analysis of intellectual and perceptual abilities foundational to the emergence of literacy, as well as miscues attributable to, and symptomatic of, these abilities being underdeveloped.

I, MS, HS

Summary: From a literature-based approach, the presenters will take a close look at struggling readers and the essential reading proficiencies that all students need to have to be successful readers. A variety of diagnostic measures, pre-reading strategies, reading strategies, writing strategies, and assessments will be demonstrated.

P-HS

Chair: Kimberly Suddith-Bogan, President, Dade Reading Council

Summary: The major key to success for many students will start with the attitude of the teacher. Teachers have a tremendous power of influence whether it is positive or negative. This session will discuss the long-term effects of a classroom teacher and what a classroom teacher should be.

P

Summary: Using an informal reading readiness assessment, various units of comprehension, and read aloud books, primary students can develop a passion for reading.

K-12

Summary: You will be taken on a special journey, enhancing literacy through the eyes of all children. All participants will receive classroom activities.

I

Summary: Intermediate Less Proficient Readers (Less-Pros) lack effective reading strategies for constructing meaning from text. Reciprocal Teaching strategies can enhance Less Proficient Readers’ reading techniques.

Summary: This session will provide participants with a comprehensive overview of the creative processes in writing and illustrating books and to provide tips and techniques to help participants motivate and empower their students.

HS

Chair: Beth Avery, President, Secondary Reading Council

Summary: This free software program on the 10^th grade FCAT reading test is for both teachers and students. It contains rubric scoring practice, multiple-choice questions, and FCAT-like practice tests.

Summary: This session will discuss literacy education in Nassau, Bahamas. Ms. Stubbs will share a variety of educational experiences and activities.

Suite O

3:15 – 4:15

All members of the Editorial Advisory Board are encouraged to attend this meeting.

Sponsored by McGraw-Hill School Division

Summary: My Florida Alphabet is an energizing, multisensory phonics "experience" which actively involves students as they see, hear, sing and pantomime 26 gestures which help lead them from sound recognition to the exciting world of reading.

Sponsored by Houghton Mifflin

Summary: The concept of understanding and acceptance of others becomes crucial in the changing population of our schools. Celebrate diversity by sharing and promoting high-quality multicultural children’s literature in the classroom.

I, MS, HS

Summary: This session will focus on standards-based language arts curriculum that uses strategies for teachers to tailor instruction for struggling readers at varying ability levels.

Chair: Jodi Bolla

Summary: Indicators of success for reading tutorial programs, collaboration among schools and universities, satisfaction of key stakeholders, and implications for setting up reading tutorial programs will be discussed.

Summary: Popular nonfiction children’s author, Sneed B. Collard III, will discuss the craft behind one of the young readers’ favorite types of books-the nonfiction picture book. In this one-hour talk, he will explore both the concepts and actual methods of constructing such crowd pleasers as Animal Dads, Making Animal Babies, 1,000 Years Ago on Planet Earth, Creepy Creatures, and The Forest in the Clouds. He will also share insights on what makes nonfiction books so appealing to kids-especially reluctant readers.

Summary: This session will explore why great literature is necessary to promote literacy. Discover how to link literature to the Tested Benchmarks while preparing for the FCAT.

PreK-HS

Presenters: Marilyn Sharp, FRA Vice President-elect, Grant Manager, Randee Winterbottom, Language Arts Developer, Gayle Doyle, Literacy Coach, Teresa Hollis, Literacy Coach, and Mittie Johnson, Literacy Coach, Leon County Schools

Chair: Kathleen Ansley, Co-President Okaloosa Reading Council

Summary: Teachers can’t come for staff development? Bring it to them. You’ll reach more than the choir! Elementary coaching is so great that we’ve added middle and high!

Summary: The presenter will share her chorale-speaking phonics routine along with a variety of beginning reading strategies. Hand-outs will be provided.

P

Summary: How to Use the poet’s 3 R’s: Rhyme, Rhythm, and Repetition to teach reading.

I, MS, HS

Chair: Nancy Reynolds, President, Orange County Reading Council

Summary: Are you and your students stuck on the Information Highway? Learn what it takes to assist your students in successfully navigating through the Information Highway and to develop the skills needed for Literacy in 21^st Century Technology.

Summary: This presentation will enlighten participants as to a viable way of assisting students struggling with reading through the use of trained tutors.

Summary: Have your students on or above grade level before the FCATs!

I, MS

Summary: Get Centered is a hands-on approach to reinforce reading skills. The center activities are teacher-made and cross all content areas while strengthening critical reading skills.

Summary: Experience multi-modal phonics, movement, and music that will insure reading success for all children-including those with special challenges. This presentation will show how to translate brain research into effective reading instruction. Take-home games and activities will be included.

Summary: Technological assessment can be of valuable assistance to teachers in developing instructional plans for students. An accurate diagnosis of reading comprehension levels will assure appropriate instruction for students and provide insights as to their strengths, weaknesses and preferences.

Summary: The objective of this session is to share with teachers how a book is produced from the beginning idea to the final book. This knowledge can be taken into the classroom to help the class produce a book for the school library.

Summary: This "free" software program on Florida History is for both teachers and students. It contains vast amounts of informational text, photographs, music, VR’s (virtual reality movies), and much, much more!

Summary: This presentation will include several interactive games that incorporate the practice of FCAT benchmarks. The presenters will discuss the advantages of games rather than worksheets and provide time to play the games.

P, I

Summary: Through lecture, discussion, and hands-on activities, this presentation will focus on techniques to use the Ten Important Sentences to aid students in different aspects of story comprehension.

I, MS, HS

Summary: This presentation will help teachers guide students as they read non-fiction, engage in organizing, analyzing, and interpreting text, and use biography/autobiography to facilitate active learning.

Summary: This workshop will actively engage participants in the methodology of how to create meaningful mini-lessons through the use of toys. A variety of actual teacher-tested strategies will be shared.

HS

Summary: This presentation discusses a research study conducted to evaluate the relationship of reading time within school and outside of school and achievement on the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT) in a secondary school setting.

P

Summary: Through an interactive presentation, this session will explore the use of the tutoring model of instruction in a variety of settings to help struggling readers develop literacy skills and self confidence that will translate to any learning situation. Handouts will be given.

Marilyn Sharp, Vice President-elect and 2002 General Conference Chair

Some of her books include: The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree, Littlejim, Mountain Valor, My Great Aunt Arizona, and Bright Freedom’s Song.