67th annual cra conference november 7 & 8, 2018 · connecticut reading association 67th annual...

67th Annual CRA Conference

November 7 & 8, 2018

Keynotes:

Author Luncheons:

Ralph Fletcher Harvey “Smokey” Daniels

Susan Hood Carmen Agra Deedy

ALSO FEATURING:

Jeff Anderson • Nancy Boyles • Kathy Collins Shawna Coppola • David Dockterman

David Kilpatrick • Brian Kissel • Patty McGee Kristi Mraz • Patty Vitale-Reilly

William Van Clea ve • Julie Wright

Connecticut Reading Association 67th Annual Conference • NOVEMBER 7 & 8, 2018 • Red Lion Hotel Cromwell, Cromwell, CT 2

Conference Chair Catherine Mastrianna Program Chair Sandy Potts Registration Coordinator Susan Meaney Vendor Coordinator Gina Kotsaftis Author Luncheon Co-Chairs Jane Logie

Adrienne Snow Gently Used Book Drive Eilis Lockward CRA Membership Promotion Alison Huntington Technology Katie Gordon Signs Adrienne Snow Web/Graphic Design/Registration Adina Alexander

2018 CRA CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

Special Thanks to Our Sponsors:

Pens: Alison & Steve Weber

www.alranbooks.com

Bags: Gary and Dave Nelson

www.capstoneclassroom.com

2018 CRA Recognition Award Please join us during the Conference Day

Kick-Off on November 7th as the CRA honors State Representative Stephanie

Cummings for her contributions to literacy education.

Commissioner Dr. Dianna Wentzell will bring greetings from the State Department of Education and announce the winners of the

Commissioner’s Literacy Leadership Award: Trailblazing the Way to Early Reading Success,

during the Conference Kick-Off on November 8th

SPECIAL EVENTS:

Lanyards: Claritza Colon

www.mheducation.com

Connecticut Reading Association 67th Annual Conference • NOVEMBER 7 & 8, 2018 • Red Lion Hotel Cromwell, Cromwell, CT

CRA’S 67th Annual Conference is Sponsoring the 8TH ANNUAL GENTLY USED CHILDREN’S BOOK DRIVE! In collaboration with New Haven Reads, Waterbury Reads, the Department of Children and Families, and the Conference of Churches

PLEASE BRING YOUR GENTLY USED BOOKS TO THE CONFERENCE

so you can drop them off in our Donation Box! The purpose of this Drive is to promote early-age reading while encouraging engagement between Connecticut

Children and their parents/caretakers to help bridge the academic achievement gap.

DROP-OFF LOCATIONS: New Haven Reads, 45 Bristol St., New Haven The Kolesnik Law Firm & Lux Financial, 49 Leavenworth St., Waterbury

Stephanie E. Cummings, Esq., Book Drive Chair • [email protected]

Victoria Smith, Book Bank & Operations Director, New Haven Reads • [email protected] • 203-752-1923 Kelly Pinho, Waterbury Reads • [email protected] • 203-667-2506

www.newhavenreads.org • www.lvgwct.org/family_literacy.html

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 Registration Information 4 Schedule of Events 5 Keynote Speakers 6 Author Luncheons 7-12 Featured Speakers 13 Learning Lounge 14 Wednesday’s Agenda 24 Thursday’s Agenda 32 Map of the Red Lion Hotel Cromwell

33 Vendor Floor Plan


REGISTRATION INFORMATION Register online at: http://tinyurl.com/craconference2018

Online Registration closes at 11:59pm on November 4th, 2018. After that time, you may register on-site as a Walk-In.

Full-Time Undergraduate Students may register for a reduced rate ONLY AS A WALK-IN the days of the event. Only full-time, undergraduate college students are eligible for a student discount for conference registration. You must have a minimum 15 credits in your current semester to be considered full-time status. Students must provide a valid college ID and schedule as proof of current full-time status. Failure to provide both forms of proof will result in your having to pay the regular registration fees. Refunds will not be given if already registered online as a regular member. Student CRA members’ registration fee is $110 for two days or $55 for one day. Non-Members must pay an additional $15 to become a CRA member. If you are registering with a purchase order (P.O.), please note the following:

You must include the P.O. number, school name, district, district contact name, phone number, and mailing address for billing. 1P.O.s will not be accepted if you omit any of this required information. You will be able to upload your P.O. during your registration.

If the P.O. is issued for the early bird rate, you must complete your registration by 11:59pm, October 7, 2018. 2If your school/district is not covering your CRA membership fee, you are responsible for your CRA membership fee and must become a member first at www.cvent.com/d/bcqs7v/3W before you register for the Conference. If you are not registered in time for the early bird rate, you are responsible for the cost difference.

If your P.O. is not available to you when you register, please either: Have your district send your P.O. to the following address so 3that we can send an invoice OR mail a check payable to Connecticut Reading Association with your P.O. number in the Memo section to: Connecticut Reading Association c/o Catherine Mastrianna, 109 Far Horizon Drive, Cheshire, CT 06410

Questions? Visit www.ctreading.org/conference/purchase-orders or email Catherine Mastrianna at [email protected]

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

Wednesday, November 7th 7:00am-8:15am Registration (Including Walk-Ins - please arrive early to expedite check-in!) 8:30am-9:00am Conference Day Kickoff (including the 2018 CRA Recognition Award) 9:00am-10:00am Keynote Address by Ralph Fletcher: Helping Students Write Memorable Memoirs 10:20am-12:40pm Institutes and Sessions 12:45pm-1:30pm Author Luncheon: Susan Hood: To Tell The Truth: Finding Facts vs. “Fake News” 12:45pm-1:30pm Lunch and Vendor Browsing 1:40pm-3:40pm Institutes and Sessions Thursday, November 8th 7:00am-8:15am Registration (Including Walk-Ins - please arrive early to expedite check-in!) 8:30am-9:00am Conference Day Kickoff (Greetings & Awards from Commissioner Dr. Dianna Wentzell) 9:00am-10:00am Keynote Address by Harvey “Smokey” Daniels: Curiosity Rocks! 10:20am-12:20pm Institutes and Sessions 12:45pm-1:30pm Author Luncheon: Carmen Agra Deedy: The End of the Story 12:45pm-1:30pm Lunch and Vendor Browsing 1:40pm-3:40pm Institutes and Sessions

EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION by October 7, 2018

REGISTRATION Starting October 8, 2018

2-day Wed AND Thu

1-day Wed OR Thu

2-day Wed AND Thu

1-day Wed OR Thu

ACTIVE MEMBERS $220 $135 $235 $150 New/Renewing Members (Price includes $25 Membership Fee. You must be a CRA member to attend.)

$245 $160 $260 $175

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KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: WEDNESDAY 9:00am-10:00am Ralph Fletcher: Helping Students Write Memorable Memoirs Memoir is an enduring genre – more popular than ever – but it presents a challenge for young writers. This keynote will explore challenges in writing memoir. We’ll also look at the importance of using mentor texts to help young writers get vision for memoir looks and feels like. Ralph’s new memoir, Marshfield Memories (a companion text to Marshfield Dreams) will be published in November 2018.

Ralph Fletcher has been a mentor to teachers and young writers everywhere. He frequently works with young writers in schools, and speaks at education conferences in the US and abroad, helping teachers find wiser ways of teaching writing. Ralph is the author of many bestselling teacher professional books including Writing Workshop: The Essential Guide; Craft Lessons; What a Writer Needs, 2nd edition; and Boy Writers: Reclaiming Their Voices. His most recent professional books include Joy Write: Cultivating High-Impact Low-Stakes Writing (April 2017) and The Writing Teacher’s Companion: Embracing Choice, Voice, Purpose and Play (July 2017). Students know Ralph as the award-winning author of more than 20 books for children and young adults, including Fig Pudding, Flying Solo, Twilight Comes Twice, The Writer’s Notebook, Marshfield Dreams: When I Was a Kid, Also Known As Rowan Pohi, and Guy-Write: What Every Guy Writer Needs to Know. Ralph’s second memoir, In-Betweener: More Stories about Growing Up in Marshfield, will be published in winter 2019.

THURSDAY 9:00am-10:00am Harvey “Smokey” Daniels: Curiosity Rocks! In America’s classrooms, curiosity, passion, and student choice are making a welcome comeback. New research on curiosity and interest are showing how kids’ questions can be captured, honored, and addressed within – and beyond – the official curriculum. Inquiry circles and other project teaching approaches are spreading at all grade levels. And guess what? When students’ curiosity is activated by teachers, they work harder, persist longer, think more deeply, and retain more knowledge. Curious?

Harvey Daniels also known as “Smokey,” was a teacher before many of you were born. He began his career at Westinghouse School on the west side of Chicago, then taught in Lake Forest, Illinois, and later in Santa Fe, New Mexico. These days, he serves as a guest teacher in schools around the country; in the past year, he worked with primary, intermediate, middle and high school students in 15 states. Smokey earned his Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD degrees, all from Northwestern University, which finally told him to go out and get a real job. He is the author or co-author of 15 books for teachers, the newest of which is The Curious Classroom.

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Register online at: http://tinyurl.com/craconference2018

Register by October 7, 2018 and Save $15!


AUTHOR LUNCHEONS (Held in the Nutmeg Room): NOTE: Each Luncheon is an additional $25.

You must be signed up BEFORE online registration closes @ 11:59pm on November 4, 2018. Please contact Cathy Mastrianna directly with any food allergy concerns at [email protected]

WEDNESDAY 12:40pm-1:30pm Susan Hood: TO TELL THE TRUTH: Finding Facts vs. “Fake News” Charter Oak and Nutmeg Award nominee Susan Hood presents the challenges of writing nonfiction in a world of “alternate facts” and too much (mis)information. Discussing her latest books (Ada’s Violin; Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World; and her upcoming middle-grade novel Lifeboat 12), she’ll talk about digging deep to unearth facts and weed through the many mistakes gaining ground on social media and the internet. She’ll offer strategies for encouraging students to go beyond Google in their own nonfiction writing.

Susan Hood is the award-winning author of many picture books for young readers, including ADA’S VIOLIN: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay and SHAKING THINGS UP: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World. She is the recipient of the 2017 E.B. White Honor Award, the 2017 Christopher Award, the 2017 Américas Award and the 2017 Bank Street Flora Steiglitz Straus Award, given to “a distinguished work of nonfiction that serves as an inspiration to young people.” ADA’S VIOLIN is nominated for many state awards, including Connecticut’s 2017-2018 Charter Oak Children’s Book Award and the 2019 Nutmeg Award. When not writing, Susan spends summers sailing with her husband and is all too familiar with ocean storms and trouble at sea. That experience informed Susan’s first middle grade novel-in-verse – LIFEBOAT 12 – in bookstores this September. Visit Susan at susanhoodbooks.com

LUNCHEON CHOICES:

Chicken Florentine - stuffed with spinach and shallots in a rich mornay sauce, Garden salad, Garlic mashed potatoes, Roasted vegetable medley, Chocolate & Vanilla Tuxedo Cake

Quinoa Medley - a hearty medley of black beans, roasted corn with peppers and onions served over wilted spinach (V, GF, Vegan), Steamed broccoli florets, Wild rice pilaf (V), Fresh fruit martini, Chocolate & Vanilla Tuxedo Cake

THURSDAY 12:40pm-1:30pm Carmen Agra Deedy: The End of the Story Join award-winning children’s author, Carmen Agra Deedy as she shares rousing tales of her own families’ life experiences and how the most unlikely of teachers coupled with a series of seemingly small events, made an enormous impact in shaping generations of lifelong learners.

Carmen Agra Deedy is the author of eleven books for children, including The Library Dragon, The Cheshire Cheese Cat, Martina the Beautiful Cockroach, and 14 Cows for America, a New York Times Best-Seller. Her personal stories first appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered; funny, insightful, and frequently irreverent, Deedy’s narratives are culled from her childhood as a Cuban refugee in the all-but-sleepy Southern town of Decatur, Georgia. She is also host of the four-time Emmy-winning children’s program, Love That Book! An award-winning author and storyteller, Ms. Deedy is also an accomplished lecturer, having been a guest speaker for both the TED and TEDx Conferences, the Library of Congress, Columbia University, The National Book Festival, Kennedy Center, among other distinguished venues. In the fall of 2016, she opened the Art of the Book Lecture Series, for the Smithsonian Libraries, and was a keynote speaker at the Association of International Baccalaureate Schools of Costa Rica Conference. A new picture book, The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet! (Scholastic Press) was released in 2017 and two new books are set to be released in 2020 and 2021.

LUNCHEON CHOICES: Atlantic Cod - Potato chip crusted, served with dill cream sauce, Roasted potatoes with herb butter, Honey glazed baby

carrots, Traditional Caesar salad with shaved Asiago, herbed croutons, Key Lime Tart Portobella Mushroom - Grilled and stuffed with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes, served over yellow rice and a tomato

coulis (V, GF, Vegan), Wild rice pilaf (V), Green beans in garlic butter, Fresh fruit martini, Key Lime Tart

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FEATURED SPEAKERS:

Jeff Anderson THURSDAY 10:20am-12:20pm - Institute C2 AND THURSDAY 1:40pm – 3:40pm - Institute D2 Gr. 1-5 • Patterns of Power: Inviting Young Writers into the Conventions of Language Meaning is made when reading and writing crash together in the conventions of language. Where do concept formation and mentor texts fit in? Come discover brain-based, practical ways to use the reading and writing connection to teach grammar and editing in a way that enhances composition and comprehension.

Jeff Anderson, author and staff developer, spends his days writing and sharing strategies from his latest book Patterns of Power: Inviting Young Writers into the Conventions of Language, as well as his other bestsellers Mechanically Inclined, Everyday Editing, 10 Things Every Writer Needs to Know, and Revision Decisions. His new joy is talking to students about his humorous middle-grade fiction series, Zack Delacruz: Me and My Big Mouth and Zack Delacruz: Just My Luck.

Nancy Boyles WEDNESDAY 10:20am-12:20pm Institute A6 • Gr. K-6 • Thinking Outside the Box to Connect Social Emotional Learning and Literacy How can we use the texts that are already part of our literacy curriculum to support students’ Social Emotional Learning (SEL)? In this institute, identify five essential SEL skills and the focus areas so important to children’s social and emotional development—areas like impulse control, respect for others, relationship building, and more. Identify storybook characters and real-life heroes hiding in plain sight on our library shelves who are perfect mentors for thinking deeply about social and emotional issues. Then learn to use a simple strategy to engage students in rich conversation around key SEL concepts by “thinking outside the box.”

WEDNESDAY 1:40pm-2:40pm Session 3-3 • Gr. 2-8 • Close Reading in Small Groups: Learning to Read Closely and INDEPENDENTLY in the Intermediate Grades The rigor is in the answer, not in the question! In this session that presents highlights of Nancy’s new book Reading, Writing, and Rigor, develop a deeper understanding of rigor in literacy—what it is, and what it looks like in today’s standards-based instruction and assessment. Explore the connection between rigor and depth of knowledge and identify questions and tasks that require rigor at all levels of complexity. Learn about practices that promote rigor and resources to support both teachers and students. Determine your next step in making rigor a classroom and schoolwide priority. Receive a classroom-ready handout that includes a summary of key points, sample anchor chart, strategy guidelines, rubric, and more.

Dr. Nancy Boyles was a classroom teacher for many years and is now Professor Emerita at Southern Connecticut State University where she was Professor of Reading and Graduate Reading Program Coordinator. She currently consults with districts and other organizations and agencies, providing workshops, modeling best practices in classrooms, and assisting with curriculum development. Workshop topics include Close Reading, Small Group Differentiated Instruction, Rigorous Assessment, and Depth of Knowledge. Nancy is the author of three books on close reading all published by Corwin. Her new book on Depth of Knowledge: Reading, Writing, and Rigor: Helping Students Achieve Depth of Knowledge in Literacy was published by ASCD in spring, 2018. Nancy has also written six other books related to comprehension, and many articles. She has a new program for small group close reading instruction in grades 3-5, Close Reading Links, published by Capstone. She is currently working on a product to connect literacy to social emotional learning.

Kathy Collins THURSDAY 10:20am-12:20am Institute C3 • Gr. 2-8 • Welcome to the Reading Club! Ideas to Engage Children Who are Reluctant, Resistant or Hesitant Readers

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In every classroom, there are children who just seem to ‘go through the motions’ with books. They read because it’s reading time in class or because it’s an assignment for home. These children may even be strong readers, but they just haven’t found a place for reading in their lives. In this workshop, Kathy will share some ways we can support these children to open their hearts and lives to reading in conferences, small groups and through personalized inquiries. THURSDAY 1:40pm-3:40pm Institute D3 • Gr. K-8 • Small Group Instruction That Can Change Readers: Mini-Inquiries and Little Courses of Study Teachers work hard to support their readers through whole group, small group and individual instruction. Sometimes, however, it can feel like we’re working in so many different directions, and we worry that our teaching efforts aren’t sticking for learners. In this session, Kathy will provide ideas for meeting children’s needs by implementing series of small group sessions with an inquiry mindset. She’ll expand our vision of small group instruction beyond the tried-and-still-true methods such as guided reading and strategy lessons. Kathy will provide practical tips and show examples from classrooms where children are working on all aspects of their reading through small group work that fits seamlessly inside reading workshop classrooms.

Kathy Collins is coauthor with Matt Glover of the Heinemann title I Am Reading. Kathy is the beloved author of Growing Readers as well as Reading for Real. She presents at conferences and works in schools all over the world to support teachers in developing high-quality, effective literacy instruction in the elementary school grades. Kathy has worked closely with the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University, and she was a first grade teacher in Brooklyn, New York.

Shawna Coppola THURSDAY 11:40am-12:40am - Session 5-1 AND THURSDAY 1:40pm-2:40pm - Session 6-1 Gr. K-5 • RENEW Your Writing Instruction! Most of us make frequent tweaks to our practice. But how many extensively revise our practice in light of new understandings, novel situations, & most importantly, in response to our student writers? This session will show you how to do just that—and will leave you feeling revitalized & full of possibility.

Shawna Coppola’s passion for engaging students in authentic, inquiry-based learning experiences makes her a sought-after consultant, writer, and speaker. An educator for almost two decades, Shawna has worked as a middle school language arts teacher, a children’s librarian, and a literacy specialist/coach. Her first book for Stenhouse Publishers, Renew! Become a Better—and More Authentic—Writing Teacher was released in 2017. Shawna’s next book for Stenhouse is due out in the fall of 2019.

David Dockterman WEDNESDAY 10:20am-11:20am Session 1-1 • Gr. K-8 • Monitoring the Mindsets, Habits, and Skills of Curious Readers We aim to produce readers who are curious, competent, and confident. We have experience assessing and tracking reader competence, but what about curiosity and the beliefs and behaviors that fuel confidence? This session will introduce tools for defining, measuring, and intentionally developing traits like curiosity, self-regulation, and productive persistence in literacy. WEDNESDAY 1:40pm-3:40pm Session 3-1 • Gr. K-5 • Nudging Students and Teachers toward Literacy Success Our lives are peppered with little nudges to influence our behavior. Timed discounts tempt us to buy now. Charts from our home energy provider try to compel us to be more like our most energy efficient neighbors. Counters show our progress toward daily step goals. These types of behavioral nudges have been used to support social policy, and in this session, we’ll explore how to nudge students to be more engaged and productive literacy learners. We’ll play with examples of nudges to establish academic identities, reinforce norms for learning behaviors, motivate student engagement, and more.

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David Dockterman is a Lecturer on Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education focusing on the translation of research into innovative and effective practice. His courses on evidence-driven innovation and adaptive learning draw students from around the world. In 1982, while getting his doctorate at Harvard, Dr. Dockterman helped found Tom Snyder Productions, an early pioneer in educational technology. At Tom Snyder, Scholastic, and HMH, he designed dozens of award-winning, research-based educational software programs, including serving as a key advisor for the development of MATH 180 and READ 180 Universal. In addition, Dr. Dockterman works with school districts to infuse the underlying research from behavioral psychology and cognitive science to foster productive struggle and growth mindset among students, teachers, and institutional leaders. He is a Fellow of the International Society for Design and Development in Education, an Editorial Board Member for the journal Science of Learning, a Senior Fellow for the International Center for Leadership in Education, and a judge for the Global Learning XPRIZE.

David Kilpatrick WEDNESDAY 10:20am - 12:20pm - Institute A-7 AND WEDNESDAY 1:40pm – 3:40pm - Institute B4 Gr. K-8 • Unlocking the Mystery of Word-Level Reading Difficulties (Dyslexia): Designing Highly Effective Interventions The presentation will focus on how children learn to read words and why some children struggle. Understanding the nature of word-level reading development and word-level reading problems will guide both assessment and intervention. Studies consistently show that the most commonly used intervention approaches provide limited benefits for weak readers. However, other studies have shown that some approaches can yield very large reading gains for such students, and these will be described in this presentation.

David A. Kilpatrick, PhD is associate professor of psychology for the State University of New York, College at Cortland. He is a New York State certified school psychologist with 28 years experience in schools. He has been teaching courses in learning disabilities and educational psychology since 1994. David is a reading researcher and the author of two books on reading, Essentials of Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties, and Equipped for Reading Success.

Brian Kissel WEDNESDAY 10:20am-12:20pm - Institute A5 AND WEDNESDAY 1:40pm–3:40pm - Institute B3 Gr. K-5 • When Writers Drive the Workshop What happens when students, rather than scripts, guide a Writer’s Workshop? This is the essential question that will be answered during this workshop as participants observe and discuss classroom interactions in which students drive the various components of a Writer’s Workshop. Participants will learn the types of questions to ask students so that conferences are meaningful and writer-driven. They will witness how an Author’s Chair can be led by the author who asserts his/her authority to receive response from peers. They will learn about the neglected component of Reflection and how to bring a student’s voice to the forefront of writing evaluation. Finally, participants will learn how to take all they learn from conferring and listening to create relevant, meaningful mini-lessons. Students are the curriculum in the writing classroom and teachers can create the necessary conditions to ensure that writers drive the writing instruction.

Brian Kissel, an educator for 20+ years, is a professor of Literacy and Elementary Education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. A former elementary teacher and literacy coach, Brian teaches courses in K-6 writing development, writing instruction, and literacy development and instruction. He works with schools and school districts by providing professional development over the summer and throughout the school year. Brian is the author of several book chapters and journal articles such as The Reading Teacher, Language Arts, Educational Leadership, Young Children, Childhood Education, and Journal of Research in Childhood Education. He is the author of four books: The Literacy Coach’s Companion, Perspectives and Provocations in Early Childhood, and What’s New in Literacy Teaching. His fourth book, When Writers Drive the Workshop, is now available through Stenhouse Publishers.

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Patty McGee WEDNESDAY 10:20am-12:20pm Institute A3 • Gr. 3-8 • Feedback for Writers: Words and Ways to Empower ALL Students Student writing is only as good as the feedback we give. Corrective feedback, the most common response to student writing, limits—even squashes—student voice, passion, and agency, and also often leaves the teacher feeling ineffective, overworked, and despondent. But, as many teachers know who have spent hours correcting writing, this approach has little impact on student writing and can wallop the writer within. It is a cycle of frustration: the teacher feels ineffective in this futile approach to feedback and the writer feels defeated. The good news is there is an alternative to corrective feedback. Put down the red-pen, fix-it mindset and join this session to help your writers embrace the power of their voice. WEDNESDAY 1:40am-3:40pm Institute B2 • Gr. K-2 • Feedback for Young Writers: Words and Ways to Empower Emerging Writers There is an art to giving feedback to our youngest writers that takes into account the ways emerging writers communicate on paper. With too much emphasis on, say, conventional spelling, the writer can feel whalloped and defeated while not enough can have the same outcome. Together we will explore the different phases of writing development, embrace a new definition of writing in the primary grades, and consider innovative feedback moves that empower.

Patty McGee is the author of Feedback That Moves Writers Forward (Corwin 2017) and Literacy Consultant with Gravity Goldberg, LLC. Patty brings a vision for creating learning environments where teachers and students discover their true potential and power. It is in the moments when teachers are working collaboratively with students that Patty sees great growth, change, and success. Experience as a Staff Developer, fourth grade teacher, a Library Media Specialist, and a Literacy Coach has given Patty a variety of perspectives, which are key in her ability to support and guide educators.

Kristi Mraz WEDNESDAY 1:40pm-3:40pm Institute A2 • Gr. K-8 • Kids First: Crafting Classrooms With a Culture of Empathy, Joy, and Impact Participants will first learn the research based mindsets that can help them become the most effective and impactful teacher they can be. We will take a look at integrating play, empathy, growth mindset, belief systems and reflection into our daily practice as teachers and humans. We will then use these mindsets to study how physical environments can impact learning and community. Moving from a study of classroom design to the learners that inhabit them, teachers will learn the latest research on teaching socials skills, building community, helping children with trauma, and supporting children with emotional needs. Finally we will turn our lens to teaching structures and responsive planning to ensure our classrooms center on children. Participants will gain practical step-by-step strategies appropriate for a range of learners. WEDNESDAY 1:40pm-3:40pm Institute B1 • Gr. PK-3 • Purposeful Play: Igniting Deep and Joyful Learning Across the Day Too often play is set in direct opposition to work, when in reality, play is the engine of learning for children. This session will help teachers reclaim a playful and joyful spirit by teaching the myriad of ways play can be used to facilitate social emotional and academic growth. This session will outline the ways play can be infused within a day, as well as the instructional strategies teachers can utilize to support children's learning at this valuable time. Teachers will learn how strategies like focused lessons, conferring, small group play, and whole class conversations can build literacy skills, STEM skills, and critical social emotional skills. Charts and tools will be shared alongside lessons that can be used in classrooms. Teachers will see demonstrations and photographs of how a playful spirit can extend to any teaching by utilizing student interests, props, videos, and joy.

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Kristi Mraz is a teacher, writer, pun nerd and consultant. She is coauthor—with Christine Hertz—of the Kids First from Day One, which provides a practical blueprint for increasing the child-centeredness of your teaching practice. She and Christine previously teamed up for the bestselling A Mindset for Learning, which provides practical and powerful strategies for cultivating optimism, flexibility, and empathy alongside traditional academic skills. Kristi has also co-authored—with Alison Porceli and Cheryl Tyler—Purposeful Play, the book that helps you make play a powerful part of your teaching. She and Marjorie Martinelli wrote Smarter Charts and Smarter Charts for Math, Science, and Social Studies to get the most out of this classroom staple. Kristi works in a New York City Public School as an instructional coach. In addition to writing and teaching, she consults in schools across the country and as far away as Taiwan. She primarily supports teachers in early literacy, play, and inquiry based learning. On the off chance she has free time, you’ll find Kristi reading on a couch in Brooklyn with her dog, her husband, and baby Harry. You can follow all of her adventures on twitter @MrazKristine or at kristimraz.com.

Patty Vitale-Reilly THURSDAY 10:20am-12:20pm Institute C4 • K-8 • Support Struggling Readers Through Powerful and Purposeful Small Group Instruction As classroom teachers, we are asked to implement whole class, small group, and individual teaching. In addition, we are frequently asked to deliver additional support for struggling readers, and often, we are asked to figure out exactly how to do that. In this workshop, Patty will demonstrate how to incorporate powerful and purposeful small group instruction. She will unpack the why, when, what, and most importantly the how of small group instruction that best supports our striving readers. THURSDAY 1:40pm-2:40pm Session 6-2 • Gr. 1-8 • Interventions that Work: Supporting Reading Engagement and Motivation, Accuracy and Fluency, Comprehension, and Vocabulary Development Struggling readers benefit from classroom-based interventions, but only when those interventions are authentic and needs-based. In this workshop, Patty will share her tried and true classroom interventions. She will demonstrate how to determine need by asking the question: What is getting in the reader’s way? She will then share interventions that build skills, strategies, habits, dispositions, and concepts in struggling readers.

Patricia Vitale-Reilly (@pattyvreilly) has spent the last 27 years in education as a classroom teacher, a graduate professor, a consultant, and a staff developer at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. Patty is the founder of LitLife West Hudson, and is currently an author and educational consultant for schools nationwide. Patty is the author of Time for Kids teacher training materials, a contributor to Write Time for Kids (TCM, 2000), co-author of The Complete Year in Reading and Writing Grade 2 (Scholastic, 2008), and the author of Engaging Every Learner: Classroom Principles, Strategies, and Tools (Heinemann, 2015), and Supporting Struggling Learners: 50 Instructional Moves for the Classroom Teacher (Heinemann, 2017). Patty is also co-authoring a book with Lisa Eickholdt on the art of the minilesson to be released in the Heinemann Classroom Essentials Series in 2019. Patty’s vision for teaching and learning is founded on the belief that every child has the right and the capacity to learn, and that learner engagement, both student and teacher, is key to learning success. Ideas about teaching and learning can be found on Patty's blog at http://www.pattyvitale-reilly.com/blog.html.

William Van Cleave WEDNESDAY 10:20am-12:20pm Institute A4 • Gr. K-8 • The Power of the Sentence! The Link Between Writing & Understanding In this hands-on, interactive workshop, Van Cleave will first provide participants with a brief overview of the research regarding syntax instruction. He will then focus on parts of speech and sentence parts as they apply to the act of writing. Participants will learn about the components of a good lesson and strategies for developing sentence sense in student writers. They will examine parts of speech as a method of understanding the way words interact with each


other and sentence parts as building blocks for creating different kinds of sentences. During this engaging workshop, they will work with gradual release instruction and teacher modeling of the writing process. At all levels, they will practice with the elements introduced and model the strategies suggested. THURSDAY 1:40pm-3:40pm Institute C5 • Gr. K-8 • Developing Foundational Paragraph Skills In order to succeed in coursework as well as on various assessments, students must have an understanding of basic and expanded paragraphs. Participants in this hands-on, interactive workshop learn a structured, sequential approach to teaching the basic and expanded paragraph, including idea generation, categorization, and writing topic, supporting, and concluding sentences as well as transitions. They work with gradual release instruction and teacher modeling of the writing process. To conclude the workshop, Van Cleave makes the connection between the basic paragraph and writing multi-paragraph essays in expository-text genres.

William Van Cleave is in private practice as an educational consultant whose specialties include morphology and written expression. An internationally recognized speaker with an interactive, hands-on presentation style, William has presented on effective teaching practices at conferences and schools both in the United States and abroad since 1995. Recent projects include consulting with three schools as part of a literacy grant in Montana; participating on the MTSS Writing Standards Committee for the State of Pennsylvania; implementing several Trainer of Trainers projects using his sentence structure approach; and writing a series of workbooks and a companion book on developing composition skills to complement his sentence approach. The author of three books, including Writing Matters and Everything You Want To Know & Exactly Where to Find It, as well as a number of educational tools and activities, William has served as a classroom teacher, tutor, and administrator in the private school arena at various points in his career.

Julie Wright THURSDAY 10:20am-12:20pm - Institute C6 AND THURSDAY 1:40pm-3:40pm - Institute D4 Gr. 3-8 • Empowering Students Through Small Group Learning Opportunities Whether you are just beginning your teaching career or you’ve been with it long enough to have seen the pendulum swing a few times, kids aren’t the same today as they used to be. Thank goodness, because the world isn’t the same as it used to be either. What we need now, more than ever, is to go to the source that can give us the most powerful data there is – our students and their work. Julie will use ideas in her new book, What Are You Grouping For? How to Guide Small Groups Based on Readers – Not the Book ( August, 2018 - Corwin) as a backdrop for empowering teachers and kids alike. This session will focus on an overview of five teacher moves:

• kid watching 2.0, • pivoting into flexible groups, • assessing using student work, • curating, and planning which creates opportunities for... • planning small group learning based on students’ interests, curiosities, and needs.

Julie Wright is a teacher, instructional coach, and educational consultant with over twenty-five years of experience in rural, suburban, and urban education settings. She holds National Board Certification as well as a B.S. in education, a master’s in language arts and reading, a reading endorsement, and extensive school leadership post-graduate work, including a pre-K through grade 9 principal license from The Ohio State University. She has served as an adjunct faculty member at Ashland University and University of Wisconsin, teaching graduate courses focused on curriculum, instruction, and assessment and instructional coaching respectively. Julie gets her inspiration from her husband, David, and their three children, Sydney, Noah, and Max.


Learning Lounge Come to recharge your brain and your devices!

The Learning Lounge, located in the Jersey Room, is intended as a space for informal conversations and collaboration. In addition to these scheduled conversations open to all conference participants, feel free to stop by to see who else is in the Learning Lounge, to continue a dialogue with someone you met in another session, or just to collect your thoughts. There’s room for all kinds of learning here! A drawing will be held for #ProjectLIT titles – visit the Learning Lounge to enter to win! A Little Free Library will be set up for professional books. Take a Book. Leave a Book. Share the learning! Charging stations for your devices will be available!

TIMES WEDNESDAY THURSDAY

7:00am-7:30am

Soft Start Come chat with others in the lounge. Post ideas or questions on our graffiti wall. Visit the Little Free Library for professional books. Preview the Project LIT titles & book award lists.

7:30am-8:00am

Teachers as Writers To teach writing it helps to live a writerly life. Share ideas about how to make time, where to find fellow writers, support & more.

Building Literacy Communities Let’s share ideas for celebrations of reading & writing, family outreach, book clubs, writing clubs & more.

8:00am-8:30am

Project LIT Bookclubs/ Community What is #ProjectLITCommunity and how might it help you to grow a community of readers?

Growing a Digital Professional Learning Network: Using Social Media for Professional Learning

12:40pm-1:30pm

Title Talk Book Talks for soon-to-be-released titles, recent favorites, and award winners. Come hear titles and share your favorites too.

Student Centered Coaching with Julie Wright For coaches. We’ll form our own think tank to tackle our coaching challenges and hurdles together.

2:45pm-3:15pm

Book Club: Being the Change: Lessons & Strategies to Teach Social Comprehension by Sara K. Ahmed Read before you come to be part of the conversation, or listen in to see if it’s a book you’d like to explore.

Book Club: Project LIT-inspired title Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson Read before you come to be part of the conversation.

3:45pm-4:15pm

Book Club: Being the Change: Lessons & Strategies to Teach Social Comprehension by Sara K. Ahmed Read before you come to be part of the conversation, or listen in to see if it’s a book you’d like to explore.

Book Club: Project LIT-inspired title Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson Read before you come to be part of the conversation.


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AGENDA DESCRIPTIONS & PRESENTERS

WEDNESDAY MORNING INSTITUTES – 10:20am-12:20pm Institute A1 • Gr. 1-8 • Lifting the Chill from the Writing Workshop Ralph Fletcher In recent years, some of the energy has gone out of the writing workshop. Student engagement is down. This keynote will explore the reasons for this—test prep, prepackaged writing genres, heavy focus on Common Core. We’ll take a hard look at the disappearance of choice in writing, and we’ll explore ways we can embrace “greenbelt writing” to rekindle the spark in the writing classroom.

Ralph Fletcher has been a mentor to teachers and young writers everywhere. He frequently works with young writers in schools, and speaks at education conferences in the US and abroad, helping teachers find wiser ways of teaching writing. Ralph is the author of many bestselling teacher professional books including Writing Workshop: The Essential Guide; Craft Lessons; What a Writer Needs, 2nd edition; and Boy Writers: Reclaiming Their Voices. His most recent professional books include Joy Write: Cultivating High-Impact Low-Stakes Writing (April 2017) and The Writing Teacher’s Companion: Embracing Choice, Voice, Purpose and Play (July 2017). Students know Ralph as the award-winning author of more than 20 books for children and young adults, including Fig Pudding, Flying Solo, Twilight Comes Twice, The Writer’s Notebook, Marshfield Dreams: When I Was a Kid, Also Known As Rowan Pohi, and Guy-Write: What Every Guy Writer Needs to Know. Ralph’s second memoir, In-Betweener: More Stories about Growing Up in Marshfield, will be published in winter 2019.

Institute A2 • Gr. K-8 • Kids First: Crafting Classrooms with a Culture of Empathy, Joy, and Impact Kristi Mraz Participants will first learn the research based mindsets that can help them become the most effective and impactful teacher they can be. We will take a look at integrating play, empathy, growth mindset, belief systems and reflection into our daily practice as teachers and humans. We will then use these mindsets to study how physical environments can impact learning and community. Moving from a study of classroom design to the learners that inhabit them, teachers will learn the latest research on teaching socials skills, building community, helping children with trauma, and supporting children with emotional needs. Finally we will turn our lens to teaching structures and responsive planning to ensure our classrooms center on children. Participants will gain practical step by step strategies appropriate for a range of learners.


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Institute A3 • Gr. 3-8 • Feedback for Writers: Words and Ways to Empower ALL Students Patty McGee Student writing is only as good as the feedback we give. Corrective feedback, the most common response to student writing, limits,—even squashes—student voice, passion, and agency, and also often leaves the teacher feeling ineffective, overworked, and despondent. But, as many teachers know who have spent hours correcting writing, this approach has little impact on student writing and can wallop the writer within. It is a cycle of frustration: the teacher feels ineffective in this futile approach to feedback and the writer feels defeated. The good news is there is an alternative to corrective feedback. Put down the red-pen, fix-it mindset and join this session to help your writers embrace the power of their voice.


Institute A4 • Gr. K-8 • The Power of the Sentence! The Link Between Writing & Understanding William Van Cleave In this hands-on, interactive workshop, Van Cleave will first provide participants with a brief overview of the research regarding syntax instruction. He will then focus on parts of speech and sentence parts as they apply to the act of writing. Participants will learn about the components of a good lesson and strategies for developing sentence sense in student writers. They will examine parts of speech as a method of understanding the way words interact with each other and sentence parts as building blocks for creating different kinds of sentences. During this engaging workshop, they will work with gradual release instruction and teacher modeling of the writing process. At all levels, they will practice with the elements introduced and model the strategies suggested.


Institute A5 • Gr. K-5 • When Writers Drive the Workshop Brian Kissel What happens when students, rather than scripts, guide a Writer’s Workshop? This is the essential question that will be answered during this workshop as participants observe and discuss classroom interactions in which students drive the various components of a Writer’s Workshop. Participants will learn the types of questions to ask students so that conferences are meaningful and writer-driven. They will witness how an Author’s Chair can be led by the author who asserts his/her authority to receive response from peers. They will learn about the neglected component of Reflection and how to bring a student’s voice to the forefront of writing evaluation. Finally, participants will learn how to take all they learn from conferring and listening to

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create relevant, meaningful mini-lessons. Students are the curriculum in the writing classroom and teachers can create the necessary conditions to ensure that writers drive the writing instruction.


Institute A6 • Gr. K-6 • Thinking Outside the Box to Connect Social Emotional Learning to Literacy Nancy Boyles How can we use the texts that are already part of our literacy curriculum to support students’ Social Emotional Learning (SEL)? In this institute, identify five essential SEL skills and the focus areas so important to children’s social and emotional development—areas like impulse control, respect for others, relationship building, and more. Identify storybook characters and real-life heroes hiding in plain sight on our library shelves who are perfect mentors for thinking deeply about social and emotional issues. Then learn to use a simple strategy to engage students in rich conversation around key SEL concepts by “thinking outside the box.”

Dr. Nancy Boyles was a classroom teacher for many years and is now Professor Emerita at Southern Connecticut State University where she was Professor of Reading and Graduate Reading Program Coordinator. She currently consults with districts and other organizations and agencies, providing workshops, modeling best practices in classrooms, and assisting with curriculum development. Workshop topics include Close Reading, Small Group Differentiated Instruction, Rigorous Assessment, and Depth of Knowledge. Nancy is the author of three books on close reading all published by Corwin. Her new book on Depth of Knowledge: Reading, Writing, and Rigor: Helping Students Achieve Depth of Knowledge in Literacy was published by ASCD in spring, 2018. Nancy has also written six other books related to comprehension, and many articles. She has a new program for small group close reading instruction in grades 3-5, Close Reading Links, published by Capstone. She is currently working on a product to connect literacy to social emotional learning.

Institute A7 • Gr. K-8 • Unlocking the Mystery of Word-Level Reading Difficulties (Dyslexia): Designing Highly Effective Interventions David Kilpatrick The presentation will focus on how children learn to read words and why some children struggle. Understanding the nature of word-level reading development and word-level reading problems will guide both assessment and intervention. Studies consistently show that the most commonly used intervention approaches provide limited benefits for weak readers. However, other studies have shown that some approaches can yield very large reading gains for such students, and these will be described in this presentation.


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WEDNESDAY MORNING SESSIONS – 10:20am-11:20am Session 1-1 • Gr. K-8 • Monitoring the Mindsets, Habits, and Skills of Curious Readers David Dockterman We aim to produce readers who are curious, competent, and confident. We have experience assessing and tracking reader competence, but what about curiosity and the beliefs and behaviors that fuel confidence? This session will introduce tools for defining, measuring, and intentionally developing traits like curiosity, self-regulation, and productive persistence in literacy.


Session 1-2 • Gr. 1-4 • The Fluency Development Lesson (FDL): Essential Instruction for Struggling Readers Jane Logie Dr. Timothy Rasinski characterizes the Fluency Development Lesson (FDL) as an effective daily instructional routine to help students overcome difficulties in the foundational areas of reading: word recognition, vocabulary, and fluency. The presenter will discuss her experiences collaborating with teachers in grades 1-3 to implement the FDL with struggling readers.

Jane Logie is a Reading/Language Arts Consultant who currently works at Mill Hill Elementary School in Southport, CT. She has served as a Reading Recovery teacher and earned her Ph.D. at the University of Connecticut, Storrs campus.

Session 1-3 • Gr. K-5 • Using the Generative Vocabulary Strategy Kristen Pereira Vocabulary is often called the number-one factor in reading comprehension success, yet the number of words that students encounter in a day is too limited to build the vocabulary needed to read increasingly complex text. A breakthrough instructional approach, Generative Vocabulary provides a way to learn the large number of words needed through connections. In this session, teachers will interact with a variety of connections among words that can be taught. This session will change the way teachers approach vocabulary instruction. Just for attending, participants will receive a research paper written by Freddy Heibert, the creator of Generative Vocabulary, as well as activities they can start using in their classrooms the next day.

Kristen Pereira is a Literacy Specialist, M.Ed, CAGS.

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WEDNESDAY MORNING SESSIONS – 11:40am-12:40pm

Session 2-1 • Gr. K-12 • Centering Joy in Literacy Coaching and Leadership Kristin Rainville and Katie Cunningham This presentation draws on design thinking and positive psychology to help literacy coaches and administrators design intentional literacy communities that center joy and happiness. Design thinking (Burnett & Evans, 2016) offers literacy leaders tools to help peak teachers and students curiosity, reframe challenges as opportunities, and build teams that thrive on optimism and happiness. Positive psychology helps literacy leaders to create spaces that lift the level of achievement for all teachers and students while also bringing joy and meaning back to classrooms (Achor, 2018). Combined, these frameworks support coaches and leaders with specific ways to empower teachers, students, and families.

Kristin Rainville teaches at the Isabelle Farrington College of Education at Sacred Heart University, where she also Directs the Teacher Preparation Programs. Kristin is a former classroom teacher, literacy coach, and Coordinator of the Office of Early Literacy for the New Jersey Department of Education. Kristin’s research focuses on literacy leadership, teaching, and learning, and can be found in journals such as The Reading Teacher, Educational Leadership, Young Children, and Reading & Writing Quarterly. Kristin is the co-author of two books, Changing Suburbs, Changing Students: Helping School Leaders Face the Challenges (Corwin, 2012) and Literacy Leadership in Changing Schools: Ten Keys to Successful Professional Development (Teachers College Press, 2015) and several book chapters. Kristin’s love for teaching and learning is most evident when she is exploring with her four curious and thoughtful young children. Katie Cunningham worked in independent and public schools in New York City as a classroom teacher and literacy coach working with grades K–8. Her scholarship has appeared in Educational Leadership, Language Arts, New England Reading Association Journal, and The English Record. She has book chapters in research volumes focused on professional development schools, bilingual learners, and contemplative practices in higher education. Katie is the author of Story: Still the Heart of Literacy Learning (Stenhouse, 2015) and co-author of Literacy Leadership in Changing Schools (Teachers College Press, 2016). She is also co-author of the The Classroom Bookshelf, a School Library Journal blog. Katie supports schools and districts nationwide as a literacy consultant and staff developer supporting curriculum development and joy-driven instructional methods. She strives to make children’s literature and students’ stories the heart of literacy learning.

Session 2-2 • Gr. 3-8 • Book Tasting: Thematic Book Club Ideas to Develop Critical Thinking Skills and Student Voice Melissa Thom and Jennifer Slifer Tired of students faking reading? Book clubs are a way to engage students in real reading and real conversations. We will discuss student choice, the power of student-led discussions and how students can develop critical thinking skills. Additionally, we will have a variety of books, based on theme, available for you to sample in this interactive workshop.

Melissa Thom is a middle school teacher librarian and former classroom teacher. She has a passion for many things—especially books, joyful reading, and makerspaces. Currently, she serves as the Vice President Intern of the Connecticut Association of School Librarians and is a member of various state organizations such as CT-CTE and GHAC. Jennifer Slifer is a curriculum specialist at a K-5 school. She has experience teaching Language Arts and Reading Intervention at the middle school level. She is passionate about reading and sharing her passion with students. Jen is the President of the Greater Hartford Area Council of the CT Reading Association.

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Session 2-3 • Gr. K-3 • A Toolkit for Assessing Word Identification Steven Rosenberg The ability to identify words accurately and fluently is a necessary prerequisite for comprehension. It is for this reason that teachers need to assess these skills to help them plan for instruction. The best way to begin such an assessment is by listening to students read graded passages. Teachers can use the results of running records to begin determining students’ strengths and weaknesses of word identification. For those at the beginning stages of learning to read as well as older struggling students, teachers need to supplement them with the results from phonics, sight word, phonemic awareness, and letter identification assessments.

Steven Rosenberg is the Director of Literacy in the Teacher Certification Program at the University of Bridgeport. He has taught in public schools as a regular and special educator and literacy consultant in NYC, Ontario,Canada and Greenwich CT.

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON INSTITUTES – 1:40pm-3:40pm

Institute B1 • Gr. PK-3 • Purposeful Play: Igniting Deep and Joyful Learning Across the Day Kristi Mraz Too often play is set in direct opposition to work, when in reality, play is the engine of learning for children. This session will help teachers reclaim a playful and joyful spirit by teaching the myriad of ways play can be used to facilitate social emotional and academic growth. This session will outline the ways play can be infused within a day, as well as the instructional strategies teachers can utilize to support children's learning at this valuable time. Teachers will learn how strategies like focused lessons, conferring, small group play, and whole class conversations can build literacy skills, STEM skills, and critical social emotional skills. Charts and tools will be shared alongside lessons that can be used in classrooms. Teachers will see demonstrations and photographs of how a playful spirit can extend to any teaching by utilizing student interests, props, videos, and joy.


Institute B2 • Gr. K-2 • Feedback for Young Writers: Words and Ways to Empower Emerging Writers Patty McGee There is an art to giving feedback to our youngest writers that takes into account the ways emerging writers communicate on paper. With too much emphasis on, say, conventional spelling, the writer can feel whalloped and defeated while not enough can have the same outcome. Together we will explore the different

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phases of writing development, embrace a new definition of writing in the primary grades, and consider innovative feedback moves that empower.


Institute B3 • Gr. K-6 • When Writers Drive the Workshop Brian Kissel What happens when students, rather than scripts, guide a Writer’s Workshop? This is the essential question that will be answered during this workshop as participants observe and discuss classroom interactions in which students drive the various components of a Writer’s Workshop. Participants will learn the types of questions to ask students so that conferences are meaningful and writer-driven. They will witness how an Author’s Chair can be led by the author who asserts his/her authority to receive response from peers. They will learn about the neglected component of Reflection and how to bring a student’s voice to the forefront of writing evaluation. Finally, participants will learn how to take all they learn from conferring and listening to create relevant, meaningful mini-lessons. Students are the curriculum in the writing classroom and teachers can create the necessary conditions to ensure that writers drive the writing instruction.


Institute B4 • Gr. K-8 • Unlocking the Mystery of Word-Level Reading Difficulties (Dyslexia): Designing Highly Effective Interventions David Kilpatrick The presentation will focus on how children learn to read words and why some children struggle. Understanding the nature of word-level reading development and word-level reading problems will guide both assessment and intervention. Studies consistently show that the most commonly used intervention approaches provide limited benefits for weak readers. However, other studies have shown that some approaches can yield very large reading gains for such students, and these will be described in this presentation.


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Sorry, Institute B5 has been cancelled. Institute B5 • Gr. PK-12 • Navigating the Science and Engineering Practices Using Authentic Children’s Literature Beryl Irene Bailey This workshop will provide educators with a functional knowledge of the K-12 Science and Engineering Practices through reading and discussing the children’s book, Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor. Authentic student work demonstrating knowledge of the practices and interdisciplinary learning will also be shared.

Dr. Beryl Irene Bailey has 34 years of educational experience, within Connecticut; New Haven, Bridgeport, Hartford, and now, Bloomfield CT Public Schools. Along with being CEO of from Pages to Pedagogy, LLC, author and a national literacy consultant, she is the Director of Literacy for Bloomfield, CT Public Schools.

Institute B6 • Gr. K-2 • What Are You Working On as a Reader? Three Instructional Tools to Encourage Students to Find their Voices Jennifer Scoggin One of the most powerful ways to engage readers in joyful reading is to help them discover their own voices and identities as readers. Based on recent research, we know that when students are aware of expectations and set their own goals, they are more likely to succeed in reaching those goals. It follows that a student’s ability to articulate and reflect on his or her reading work is a critical step in succeeding as a reader. Often overlooked or undervalued, student talk about the work of readers is a vital way in which teachers can encourage student strengths and gauge opportunities for growth, nurture new understandings of themselves as readers and support students in taking ownership of their reading lives. We want students who can clearly and confidently answer the question, “What are you working on as a reader today?” In this session, learn three ways to encourage students to talk about their reading work in authentic ways: (1) using the read aloud as a model for how to talk about the work of readers (2) designing mini lessons that address the work of readers, and (3) guiding students during individual conferences. The interactive session will include an exploration of the research, transcripts and videos of students in action and practical takeaways for successful implementation. Using these instructional approaches, teachers can encourage our youngest students to take ownership of their reading.

Jennifer Scoggin is the director of LitLife CT. She is also the author of a teacher advocacy blog and has written two books about the classroom experience and the joyful teaching of reading. Jennifer has been a classroom teacher and holds a doctorate from Teachers College.

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON SESSIONS – 1:40pm-2:40pm

Session 3-1 • Gr. K-5 • Nudging Students and Teachers toward Literacy Success David Dockterman Our lives are peppered with little nudges to influence our behavior. Timed discounts tempt us to buy now. Charts from our home energy provider try to compel us to be more like our most energy efficient neighbors. Counters show our progress toward daily step goals. These types of behavioral nudges have been used to support social policy, and in this session, we’ll explore how to nudge students to be more engaged and productive literacy learners. We’ll play with examples of nudges to establish academic identities, reinforce norms for learning behaviors, motivate student engagement, and more.

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Session 3-2 • Gr. 3-8 • SHAKING THINGS UP: How Children’s Books are Inspiring the Next Generation of Activists Susan Hood This session explores the benefits of reading picture books to older kids to tackle tough subjects, discuss point of view, develop empathy, and build classroom community and engagement. The session will provide a reading list of new titles, a look at Jillian Heise’s #classroombookaday, and the stories of three young activists inspired by their books who model the power of student voice.

Susan Hood is the award-winning author of many picture books for young readers, including ADA’S VIOLIN: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay and SHAKING THINGS UP: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World. She is the recipient of the 2017 E.B. White Honor Award, the 2017 Christopher Award, the 2017 Américas Award and the 2017 Bank Street Flora Steiglitz Straus Award, given to “a distinguished work of nonfiction that serves as an inspiration to young people.” ADA’S VIOLIN is nominated for many state awards, including Connecticut’s 2017-2018 Charter Oak Children’s Book Award and the 2019 Nutmeg Award. When not writing, Susan spends summers sailing with her husband and is all too familiar with ocean storms and trouble at sea. That experience informed Susan’s first middle grade novel-in-verse – LIFEBOAT 12 – in bookstores this September. Visit Susan at susanhoodbooks.com

Session 3-3 • Gr. K-8 • Reading, Writing, and Rigor: Helping Students Achieve Greater Depth of Knowledge in Literacy Nancy Boyles The rigor is in the answer, not in the question! In this session that presents highlights of Nancy’s new book Reading, Writing, and Rigor, develop a deeper understanding of rigor in literacy—what it is, and what it looks like in today’s standards-based instruction and assessment. Explore the connection between rigor and depth of knowledge and identify questions and tasks that require rigor at all levels of complexity. Learn about practices that promote rigor and resources to support both teachers and students. Determine your next step in making rigor a classroom and schoolwide priority. Receive a classroom-ready handout that includes a summary of key points, sample anchor chart, strategy guidelines, rubric, and more.

Dr. Nancy Boyles was a classroom teacher for many years and is now Professor Emerita at Southern Connecticut State University where she was Professor of Reading and Graduate Reading Program Coordinator. She currently consults with districts and other organizations and agencies, providing workshops, modeling best practices in classrooms, and assisting with curriculum development. Workshop topics include Close Reading, Small Group Differentiated Instruction, Rigorous Assessment, and Depth of Knowledge. Nancy is the author of three books on close reading all published by Corwin. Her new book on Depth of Knowledge: Reading, Writing, and Rigor: Helping Students Achieve Depth of Knowledge in Literacy was published by ASCD in spring, 2018. Nancy has also written six other books related to comprehension, and many articles. She has a new program for small group close

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reading instruction in grades 3-5, Close Reading Links, published by Capstone. She is currently working on a product to connect literacy to social emotional learning.

Sorry, Session 3-4 has been cancelled. Session 3-4 • Gr. 3-8 • Your Thoughts Matter!: Writing About Reading: Strategies That Go Beyond “Right Answers”; Inviting Voice and Honoring Perception of Maturing Readers Justin Stygles Is Writing About Reading making your Reading Workshop difficult? Do you find readers need more time to think about responses and more time to write? Are they too busy trying to hard generate a correct or "perfect" response? In this session, we will explore Writing About Reading strategies that promote authentic voice and nurturing unique perceptions that best reflect each maturing readers' interaction with text. Come and see videos of readers' shift in affect about writing. Engage in writing like your readers. Finally, acquire strategies to implement in your workshop for the new school year!

Justin Stygles is a fifth-grade teacher in Wiscasset, Maine. He has taught for fifteen years at the intermediate level and Summer STEM/literacy intervention programs. He has presented at NCTE, ILA, and NEATE and is published in the Leaflet, Voices from the Middle, the Missouri Reader, and Literacy Today. Justin will soon be releasing his first book through Corwin Literacy.

Session 3-5 • Gr. K-8 • Are We Making Appropriate Program Decisions for our ELs? Catherine Bosco and Gina Kotsaftis All students, regardless of their primary language, need a voice. Please join us in learning how to support EL students in your classroom. From personal biases to culturally relevant instruction, Gina and Cathy will share their experience and expertise in how to create individual programs for our English language learners. Regardless of whether you are in a high or low incidence district, differentiation is essential in meeting the oral and literacy needs of our student acquiring additional languages. Discussion about different districts protocols for identification of dually identified students will be a part of our collegial conversations. Participants will also walk away with knowledge of how culturally responsive teaching impacts student engagement and success. You will be provided with research based resources that will assist in program development for speaking, listening, reading and writing. Please BYOD so you can access all of the online materials that will be shared.

Catherine Bosco and Gina Kotsaftis are Reading Consultants/EL Teachers for the Naugatuck Public Schools. Cathy has worked for 21 years as a fourth grade teacher, reading consultant and technology coordinator in Naugatuck. Gina has also worked for 21 years in the Waterbury and Naugatuck Public Schools as a Bilingual Teacher (Grade 3-5), Spanish Teacher (Grades 6-12), and Elementary Reading Consultant (K-5). Both teachers have also taught and/or assisted with the EL Adult Education classes at varying language levels and for the Family Literacy Program in Naugatuck. Providing professional development for teachers on second language acquisition for our English language learners is always a highlight of both of their professional responsibilities. As both educators look forward, Cathy is excited to pursue her sixth year degree in technology integration from the Dominican University of California while Gina continues to be active as the Vendor Coordinator for the CRA where she values her relationships with those committed to literacy instruction.

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THURSDAY MORNING INSTITUTES – 10:20am-12:20pm

Institute C1 • Gr. 1-8 • Operating Structures for the Curious Classroom Harvey Daniels In this practical, hands-on session, Smokey will demonstrate five specific inquiry structures that engage kids, honor their curricular and personal questions, and support them to put their thinking to work in and beyond school. Among the highlights: personal and curricular wonder walls, soft starts, modelling our curiosity, checking our newsfeed, and pursuing mini-inquiries.

Harvey Daniels also known as “Smokey,” was a teacher before many of you were born. He began his career at Westinghouse School on the west side of Chicago, then taught in Lake Forest, Illinois, and later in Santa Fe, New Mexico. These days, he serves as a guest teacher in schools around the country; in the past year, he worked with primary, intermediate, middle and high school students in 15 states. Smokey earned his Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD degrees, all from Northwestern University, which finally told him to go out and get a real job. He is the author or co-author of 15 books for teachers, the newest of which is The Curious Classroom.

Institute C2 • Gr. 1-5 • Patterns of Power: Inviting Young Writers into the Conventions of Language Jeff Anderson Meaning is made when reading and writing crash together in the conventions of language. Where do concept formation and mentor texts fit in? Come discover brain-based, practical ways to use the reading and writing connection to teach grammar and editing in a way that enhances composition and comprehension.


Institute C3 • Gr. 2-8 • Welcome to the Reading Club! Ideas to Engage Children Who are Reluctant, Resistant or Hesitant Readers Kathy Collins In every classroom, there are children who just seem to ‘go through the motions’ with books. They read because it’s reading time in class or because it’s an assignment for home. These children may even be strong readers, but they just haven’t found a place for reading in their lives. In this workshop, Kathy will share some ways we can support these children to open their hearts and lives to reading in conferences, small groups and through personalized inquiries.

Kathy Collins is coauthor with Matt Glover of the Heinemann title I Am Reading. Kathy is the beloved author of Growing Readers as well as Reading for Real. She presents at conferences and works in schools all over the world to support teachers in developing high-quality, effective literacy instruction in the elementary school grades. Kathy has worked closely with the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University, and she was a first grade teacher in Brooklyn, New York.

Institute C4 • Gr. K-8 • Support Struggling Readers Through Powerful and Purposeful Small Group Instruction Patty Vitale-Reilly

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As classroom teachers, we are asked to implement whole class, small group, and individual teaching. In addition, we are frequently asked to deliver additional support for struggling readers, and often, we are asked to figure out exactly how to do that. In this workshop, Patty will demonstrate how to incorporate powerful and purposeful small group instruction. She will unpack the why, when, what, and most importantly the how of small group instruction that best supports our striving readers.


Institute C5 • Gr. K-8 • Developing Foundational Paragraph Skills William Van Cleave In order to succeed in coursework as well as on various assessments, students must have an understanding of basic and expanded paragraphs. Participants in this hands-on, interactive workshop learn a structured, sequential approach to teaching the basic and expanded paragraph, including idea generation, categorization, and writing topic, supporting, and concluding sentences as well as transitions. They work with gradual release instruction and teacher modeling of the writing process. To conclude the workshop, Van Cleave makes the connection between the basic paragraph and writing multi-paragraph essays in expository-text genres.


Institute C6 • Gr. 3-8 • Empowering Students Through Small Group Learning Opportunities Julie Wright Whether you are just beginning your teaching career or you’ve been with it long enough to have seen the pendulum swing a few times, kids aren’t the same today as they used to be. Thank goodness, because the world isn’t the same as it used to be either. What we need now, more than ever, is to go to the source that can give us the most powerful data there is – our students and their work. Julie will use ideas in her new book, What Are You Grouping For? How to Guide Small Groups Based on Readers – Not the Book ( August, 2018 - Corwin) as a backdrop for empowering teachers and kids alike.

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This session will focus on an overview of five teacher moves:



Sorry, Institute C7 has been cancelled. Institute C7 • Gr. 3-8 • Teach Text Based Writing in a Writer’s Workshop Framework in Ways That Build Self-Regulation Leslie Laud Learn powerful, evidence-based ways to inspire student ‘essayists’ to use ‘text-based writing’ as a tool to discover what we think, inform others and express our voices in ways that can make the world a better place. Learn how to scaffold and stretch writers in ways that grow self-regulation.

Dr. Leslie Laud has taught at Bank Street College and Teachers College, Columbia University, coaches in several Massachusetts school districts and consults nationally on how to bring evidence-based practices into writer’s workshop. She has authored several books on literacy instruction, published peer-reviewed studies and presents often at ILA and NCTE.

THURSDAY MORNING SESSIONS – 10:20am-11:20am

Session 4-1 • Gr. 1-8 • Motivating Students to Improve Reading Fluency and Comprehension Debby Mossburg Learn how teachers can develop fluency, support vocabulary, and promote comprehension by combining the powerful, research-based strategies of teacher modeling, repeated reading, and progress monitoring. In this interactive multi-media session, participants will learn and experience this powerful 3-part strategy & receive a placement/procedural packet.

Debby Mossburg has over 20 years of classroom experience teaching students with special needs. For the last several years, she has provided professional development for teachers in her district and across the country in reading instruction and instructional strategies for helping struggling learners meet and master challenging content standards.

Session 4-2 • Gr. 6-12 • Beyond the Textbook: Book Clubs in the Science Classroom Barbara Robbins and Alexandra Krubski Book clubs are the ultimate answer to the question: “Why do we need to know this?” In science, students may see the subject as sterile and confined within the walls of the classroom. Students rarely see that literacy is the foundation for science. In order to forge the connection between science in the classroom and the real world, we integrated book clubs into the Biology curriculum. In the book club, students work in small

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book-alike groups over multiple weeks through a combination of in-class meetings and virtual Flipgrid responses. Through this workshop, participants learn about the book club structure and see examples of student work and reflection. Additionally, we will share both formative and summative assessments. Participants will also receive a list of possible texts to use to build a robust science book club.

Barbara Robbins has taught English for 20 years, 15 of which have been at Staples High School in Westport, CT. As an English teacher, she has co-written two English courses titled Gender, Sex, and Identity and Children’s Literature. As a science literacy coach at Staples High School, she provide professional development for the Westport Public Schools. She takes pride in being a teacher-leader and has enjoyed presenting at both the local and national level at NCTE, CRA, and The Ed Collaborative. Beyond the realm of education, Barbara spends free time raising two daughters, sailing with her husband, and hitting the spin bike. Alexandra Krubski has been teaching high school science for 9 years at Staples High School in Westport Connecticut. She currently teaches Biology and Anatomy & Physiology and has worked on curriculum development for Earth Science. Outside the classroom, she is a certified life coach and blogger, and loves rock climbing.

Session 4-3 • Gr. K-8 • Boost Academic Talk to Boost Learning Candace Carro Turn up the volume on academic talk! Give students the tools they need to develop their academic language skills Create effective learning opportunities that make reading and discussion more engaging and purposeful. From essential questions and language frames to collaborative projects, you can help students boost their learning through academic talk.

Candace Carro is an educator with over thirty years in classrooms, mentoring students from kindergarten through graduate school as well as coaching teachers in Best Literacy Practices. She has been a National Educational Consultant for National Geographic Learning for 18 years and provided professional development in local, national, and international forums including TESOL, NSTA, NCTE, and IRA (now ILA). Her most important goal is educational equity so that all students can become informed thinkers who care about the environment and contribute to the world.

Session 4-4 • Gr. K-5 • Connecticut Literacy Model: Implementing Systems for Effective Reading Instruction Joanne R. White This moderated panel discussion will explore the essential components of a comprehensive reading improvement model within a multi-tiered system of support/Scientific Research-Based Interventions framework, and strategies and actions for building district and school internal capacity to sustain effective reading practices over time. District administrators and school-based teacher leaders will share their experiences in supporting comprehensive literacy improvements, working with teachers to build knowledge in how reading develops, and using current reading research to sustain a comprehensive reading model.

Joanne R. White is the Language Arts Consultant in the Academic Office at the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) where she administers curriculum, instruction, and assessment. She is responsible for implementing reading/literacy policies carried out through State Board of Education rule and Connecticut statute. Additionally, Joanne R. White serves as the project manager for various literacy-related initiatives, including the

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statewide K-3 literacy professional learning series, ReadConn.

THURSDAY MORNING SESSIONS – 11:40am-12:40pm

Session 5-1 • Gr. K-5 • RENEW Your Writing Instruction! Shawna Coppola Most of us make frequent tweaks to our practice. But how many extensively revise our practice in light of new understandings, novel situations, and most importantly, in response to our student writers? This session will show you how to do just that--and will leave you feeling revitalized and full of possibility.


Sorry, Session 5-2 has been cancelled. Session 5-2 • Gr. 6-12 • Stop Blaming the iPhone for “Non-Readers”: 10 Ways to Turn Schools into Snappy Chat Hubs Berit Gordon In this presentation, you will see ten easy-to-implement strategies to create a culture of reading, to help students get to know one another and their teachers through books, and to help entire school communities take joy in becoming lifelong readers.

Berit Gordon, author of No More Fake Reading, brings over fifteen years of teaching experience at the middle and high school level to her literacy coaching work. She is a graduate and former professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. Whether running workshops, leading literacy coaching sessions, or working in classrooms, Gordon strives to help students fall in love with reading and writing, and to lay the groundwork so they are experts at both for life.

Session 5-3 • Gr. 6-12 • IMPACT: Authentic Literacy Assessments Jennifer DeRagon and Meredith Kirkpatrick This session addresses the shift toward performance based assessments in the high school English classroom. Based on the original acronym IMPACT (Innovative, Multidisciplinary, Performance-based, Authentic assessments and Collaboration for Today’s 21st century learner), presenters will share research and practical examples including student exemplars, rubrics, and outlines of projects. Examples include: Public Service Announcements, visual arguments, a proposal and call to action, and an argumentative speech.

Jennifer DeRagon is the K-12 Literacy Specialist for Coventry Public Schools. She has previously been the Reading Consultant at Coventry High School and a classroom teacher in 4th and 5th grade. She holds a M.S. in Special Education from Saint Joseph’s College, a 6th year diploma in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Connecticut and her 092 certification from Sacred Heart University. Meredith Kirkpatrick is an English teacher at Coventry High School, where she teaches AP Language, AP Seminar, and College 12 English. She is a graduate of the University of Connecticut and Harvard. She has taught more than 15 years in both urban and suburban environments, working with all high school grade levels. Most recently, Meredith was honored for her support of the BrainDance Awards and the work she has done to help stop the stigma of mental illness through her innovative curriculum.

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THURSDAY AFTERNOON INSTITUTES – 1:40pm-3:40pm

Institute D1 • Gr. K-8 • Stories Teach! NOTE: This session runs from 1:40pm-3:15pm Carmen Agra Deedy Join award-winning author Carmen Agra Deedy in a basic skills storytelling workshop. In this participatory event, the attendees will explore the fundamental components that comprise a solid oral story. Those who wish to tell a story and receive coaching help will be welcome to do so. Ms. Deedy believes storytelling is a natural pedagogical tool and an essential element in every great teacher’s tool box!

Carmen Agra Deedy is the author of eleven books for children, including The Library Dragon, The Cheshire Cheese Cat, Martina the Beautiful Cockroach, and 14 Cows for America, a New York Times Best-Seller. Her personal stories first appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered; funny, insightful, and frequently irreverent, Deedy’s narratives are culled from her childhood as a Cuban refugee in the all-but-sleepy Southern town of Decatur, Georgia. She is also host of the four-time Emmy-winning children’s program, Love That Book! An award-winning author and storyteller, Ms. Deedy is also an accomplished lecturer, having been a guest speaker for both the TED and TEDx Conferences, the Library of Congress, Columbia University, The National Book Festival, Kennedy Center, among other distinguished venues. In the fall of 2016, she opened the Art of the Book Lecture Series, for the Smithsonian Libraries, and was a keynote speaker at the Association of International Baccalaureate Schools of Costa Rica Conference. A new picture book, The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet! (Scholastic Press) was released in 2017 and two new books are set to be released in 2020 and 2021.

Institute D2 • Gr. 1-5 • Patterns of Power: Inviting Young Writers into the Conventions of Language Jeff Anderson Meaning is made when reading and writing crash together in the conventions of language. Where do concept formation and mentor texts fit in? Come discover brain-based, practical ways to use the reading and writing connection to teach grammar and editing in a way that enhances composition and comprehension.


Institute D3 • Gr. K-8 • Small Group Instruction That Can Change Readers: Mini-Inquiries and Little Courses of Study Kathy Collins Teachers work hard to support their readers through whole group, small group and individual instruction. Sometimes, however, it can feel like we’re working in so many different directions, and we worry that our teaching efforts aren’t sticking for learners. In this session, Kathy will provide ideas for meeting children’s needs by implementing series of small group sessions with an inquiry mindset. She'll expand our vision of small group instruction beyond the tried-and-still-true methods such as guided reading and strategy lessons. Kathy will provide practical tips and show examples from classrooms where children are working on all aspects of their reading through small group work that fits seamlessly inside reading workshop classrooms.

Kathy Collins is coauthor with Matt Glover of the Heinemann title I Am Reading. Kathy is the beloved author of Growing Readers as well as Reading for Real. She presents at conferences and works in schools all over the world to support teachers in developing high-quality, effective literacy instruction in the elementary school

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grades. Kathy has worked closely with the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University, and she was a first grade teacher in Brooklyn, New York.

Institute D4 • Gr. 3-8 • Empowering Students Through Small Group Learning Opportunities Julie Wright Whether you are just beginning your teaching career or you’ve been with it long enough to have seen the pendulum swing a few times, kids aren’t the same today as they used to be. Thank goodness, because the world isn’t the same as it used to be either. What we need now, more than ever, is to go to the source that can give us the most powerful data there is – our students and their work. Julie will use ideas in her new book, What Are You Grouping For? How to Guide Small Groups Based on Readers – Not the Book ( August, 2018 - Corwin) as a backdrop for empowering teachers and kids alike. This session will focus on an overview of five teacher moves:



THURSDAY AFTERNOON SESSIONS – 1:40pm-2:40pm

Session 6-1 • Gr. K-5 • RENEW Your Writing Instruction! Shawna Coppola Most of us make frequent tweaks to our practice. But how many extensively revise our practice in light of new understandings, novel situations, and most importantly, in response to our student writers? This session will show you how to do just that--and will leave you feeling revitalized and full of possibility.


Session 6-2 • Gr. 1-8 • Interventions that Work: Supporting Reading Engagement and Motivation, Accuracy and Fluency, Comprehension, and Vocabulary Development Patty Vitale-Reilly Struggling readers benefit from classroom-based interventions, but only when those interventions are authentic and needs-based. In this workshop, Patty will share her tried and true classroom interventions. She will demonstrate how to determine need by asking the question: What is getting in the reader’s way? She will then share interventions that build skills, strategies, habits, dispositions, and concepts in struggling readers.

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SPECIAL CONFERENCE HOTEL RATE Enjoy the convenience of staying at the hotel that is hosting the conference!

Get the special conference guest rate of $114 per night! Call the Red Lion Hotel Cromwell (formerly the Radisson) at 860-288-4985 and mention the CRA Conference or the code CTRE1106 when making your reservation or visit: http://www.redlion.com/cromwell. NOTE: Be sure to enter the dates of the conference then the code CTRE1106 before clicking the “GO” button to bring up the special rates!

Please dress in layers, as temperatures may vary from one section of the hotel to another.


Session 6-3 • Gr. K-8 • Are We Making Appropriate Program Decisions for Our ELs? Catherine Bosco and Gina Kotsaftis All students, regardless of their primary language, need a voice. Please join us in learning how to support EL students in your classroom. From personal biases to culturally relevant instruction, Gina and Cathy will share their experience and expertise in how to create individual programs for our English language learners. Regardless of whether you are in a high or low incidence district, differentiation is essential in meeting the oral and literacy needs of our student acquiring additional languages. Discussion about different districts protocols for identification of dually identified students will be a part of our collegial conversations. Participants will also walk away with knowledge of how culturally responsive teaching impacts student engagement and success. You will be provided with research based resources that will assist in program development for speaking, listening, reading and writing. Please BYOD so you can access all of the online materials that will be shared.

Catherine Bosco and Gina Kotsaftis are Reading Consultants/EL Teachers for the Naugatuck Public Schools. Cathy has worked for 21 years as a fourth grade teacher, reading consultant and technology coordinator in Naugatuck. Gina has also worked for 21 years in the Waterbury and Naugatuck Public Schools as a Bilingual Teacher (Grade 3-5), Spanish Teacher (Grades 6-12), and Elementary Reading Consultant (K-5). Both teachers have also taught and/or assisted with the EL Adult Education classes at varying language levels and for the Family Literacy Program in Naugatuck. Providing professional development for teachers on second language acquisition for our English language learners is always a highlight of both of their professional responsibilities. As both educators look forward, Cathy is excited to pursue her sixth year degree in technology integration from the Dominican University of California while Gina continues to be active as the Vendor Coordinator for the CRA where she values her relationships with those committed to literacy instruction.

67th annual cra conference november 7 & 8, 2018 · connecticut reading association 67th annual...

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