Annual Literacy Conference

Grades PreK-12
Dr. Karen Maher, ACSD Teacher, Adjunct Professor, NYSRA President

This session will share how students used process drama to respond to social issue picture books. As readers stepped into the shoes of characters and reenacted scenes, tableaux represented their embodied responses, while "hot seat" interviews took their understandings of character choices even deeper.

Grades PreK - 12; All
Rebecca Quackenbush, CUFSD Teacher & Adjunct Professor

Over years of writing and teaching classes, I have come to see that words are one vital form of medicine that we humans can offer to each other - individual to individual - although not the only one. Tell me, what is your medicine and how will you offer it to the world today, this year, this lifetime?  Together, we'll explore poetry and a process called loop writing as a means to discover/uncover our most passionate social issues and the impact we can make through our written intentions.  There will be time for composing and sharing our work. Please feel free to bring your own notebook and pen or laptop.

Grades PreK-12
Janette Aiello, Art Educator

Art enables learners of all backgrounds, ages, and cognitive abilities to engage with the complex responses of our modern existence. Learn how science supports this and studies explore the ramifications in education.  See for yourself when you create an art piece in response to your choice of a modern poetry prompt.

Grades PreK-12
Christina Bartley and Alexis McKoy-Yakle , Empower to Elevate Consulting 

Centering Joy, Building Literacy explores the impact of prioritizing Black Joy in literature to foster rigorous literacy skills. This session highlights the transformative power of diverse, authentic storytelling. By emphasizing stories told by those within the community, we aim to empower BIPOC children and all children; ensuring all students see themselves in joyful, nuanced narratives. Backed by research, this presentation offers strategies to create inclusive, affirming literacy experiences.

Grades K-6
Michell Wright Jumpp, NECSD School Librarian
Chrissy Rivers, Howland Public Library
Kelly Garcia-Omana, NECSD Teacher

Using mentor texts with mixed-media collage, award-winning authors' and artists’ inspiration, we will explore storytelling. Bring enthusiasm into your teaching and learning space, while working at the intersection of literary, artistic and cultural expression, empathy and equity.  Experience this lesson from the students’ perspective and reinforce the importance of representation of all identities in the print and non-print texts we read and love, and the world around us. Activities include creating a rubric and collage. 

Grades K-5
Meredith Inkeles, WCSD School Librarian

What if you surrounded your students all school year with words such as love, fierce, determined, bold, and persisting? What if you could discuss the words humiliation, fearful, or confusing? And these words were present in their space?  Learn about connecting your read-aloud, contextual vocabulary, and student artistic design stemming from the book Love is Loud by Sandra Neil Wallace and illustrated by Bryan Collier. 

Grades PreK-6
Dr. MaryAnn Reilly,  President of Data Informed Solutions, Megan Rohmann, Grade 2 teacher,  Julie Tepper, Special Education teacher, Melissa Goad, Principal

In this presentation, participants will learn through video, sample lessons, student writing and teacher, principal, and consultant accounts about Text Talk (Beck & McKeown, 2001), a research-based vocabulary method. They will see through classroom video taken in grade 2 how the Text Talk method helps teachers to systematically build vocabulary learning. When combined with paragraph writing, it also becomes a powerful method for general and content knowledge building in a public school inclusion classroom. 

Grades K-8
Dr. Merle Rumble, Retired Educator
Angelique Robinson, FCSD Paraprofessional

This session will delve into the compelling stories of African Americans whose extraordinary contributions to social activism have shaped the world. This session highlights often-overlooked achievements of men and women who courageously championed social justice. Through a focused exploration of how these individuals leveraged the arts as a transformative tool for change, attendees will deepen their understanding of social justice and how they and their students can be agents of social change in their communities.

Grades K-12
Mitch Peterson, Library Media Specialist, Ridgefield High School, CT

This session focuses on how to create a peer-mentoring environment that supports all students through risk-taking, community involvement, and inclusion. With the support of my NHS students, we established a way in which students can empower one another through hands-on projects that support life skills, math, and reading. Most importantly, it allows kids to be kids and peers to be peers outside the bounds of leveled classes and across grade levels

PreK-Grade 5
Sandy Bastien, Community Volunteer, Founder of the Reading is Eating™️ initiative

Reading is Eating™️  redefines how children and families engage with literacy by drawing parallels between the nourishment of food and the nourishment of the mind. Just as food fuels physical growth, stories and ideas fuel intellectual and emotional development. This reframing transforms reading from a chore into a treat—an essential, enriching act that becomes a vital part of everyday life, like breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Through this session, participants will explore how to engage learners with texts in ways that reflect their identities, connect with others, and transform their perspectives through the power of words and the stories they tell.