The March IRA Member of the Month is Cory Lemoine from Louisiana. The Baton Rouge Center for Visual & Performing Arts (BRCVPA) third-grade teacher was given the Master Teacher Award in 2011. He tells Reading Today his thoughts on teaching literacy, technology in the classroom, and how IRA councils got him out of his "bubble!"

What made you want to become a teacher?

After exploring a variety of ideas, I decided that teaching was the best use of my various talents. My interests lie in many content areas, so I knew I would be knowledgeable and hoped to inform my students on how to become successful citizens in our world.

As a literacy educator, how do you motivate kids to want to read?

To motivate kids to read, I generally make reading aloud part of everyday instruction. I try to make it fun in many ways, be it through questioning techniques, relating the content to their life experiences, or making sure to find reading that is not only at their independent reading level, but is also within their interests as well. For boys especially, I work to try to stock my classroom library with lots of nonfiction books and magazines at varied levels to help motivate them to read. 

What books or genres do you recommend to parents/families looking help their kids become better readers?

This question depends on what level reader a child is. For those below their grade level, I recommend parents find books that are easy readers to help motivate a child to become fluent in lower reads so that the joy of reading can gradually grow as the child grows as a reader. Any series or genres are great for this, especially if they are what the child/children are interested in. I do find that fiction tends to lend itself more to helping students work at reading more fluently because children typically are familiar with how stories work. For those who are on grade level, I suggest fiction books such as the Magic Tree House series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, or the Big Nate series. These have proven successful, especially the latter two, in motivating and helping average readers to be successful at a higher level. I also suggest any nonfiction books in which students have an interest. As an elementary teacher, I enjoy pushing my top readers to reach as far as I can. I have been known to work with this small group on middle school books to continue to push them upward. These are generally fictional, many of which are more in the realm of fantasy (these tend to entice their imaginations). 

You were given the Master Teacher Award and your school received the ACHIEVE3000 Power of Technology Reading and Writing Award. Plus, you have a great classroom website. How do you see technology playing a role in education for elementary school children, both now and in the future?

Since I began teaching 10 years ago, technology in my classroom has changed greatly. With the amount of technology in the classroom, generating data and being an efficient instructor are two huge outcomes of the continued wave of technology. At present, using an interactive whiteboard on a daily basis in my classroom has allowed me to be able to more efficiently make connections to concepts from the past than ever before. Technology also helps me to reach students through different modalities to ensure a greater student success rate. No longer do I have to go and find an encyclopedia to show a picture to a student of a volcano. The internet is right at our fingertips so that not only can we see pictures of volcanoes, but we can also see a video of one erupting, someone’s personal experiences with one, and even a satellite imagery of one from different angles. Technology also allows the current generation to learn in a manner that is more consistent with the world that they are growing up in. In the future, I think a time will come when we no longer have textbooks in the classroom taking up so much space. Instead each student will have some sort of electronic reader or tablet computer where all textbook information, worksheets, notes, etc. will be stored on. A new wave of electronic tables/desks is beginning to rise, and the adoption of these and various other technologies that are around make many teachers feel that we are truly in a science fiction movie that we never thought would come true in our lifetimes.

How did you become involved in the International Reading Association (IRA) and the Louisiana Reading Association (LRA)? What do you value most about your membership?

When I was in my fifth year of teaching, I was contacted by a supervisor in my school district that asked if I would consider being vice-president of my local reading council. The idea was that I would learn for two years becoming president of the council after that. Well, things don’t always work out the way they are expected to. The next year I became the president of a council that had decreased in membership and activity for several years, so I was tasked with working to build back up to a historically prosperous council. It is through the work that I did with my local organization that I became familiar with the state and international organizations. My five years in the organizations have been a treat! I have become part of a community of teachers and learners from not only around my state, but also my world. No more getting stuck in the little bubble that I lived in! I have made relationships with so many wonderful people that I never would have if it weren’t for the reading councils. I value the dedication, service, and learning from members of these great councils that have helped me to become a better organization member as well as teacher.

What do you consider to be your proudest career moment?

This is too difficult to pinpoint. Every time one of my current or former students receives any kind of award or recognition at my school, or any time my students work in a production of some sort and I see their joy, dedication, and success, I get teary eyed and feel very proud. No matter what awards, accomplishments, or successes I achieve, my proudest moments will always be seeing all of my students excel in some way. I love all of my students and they make every day the proudest moments in my career.

What’s the best advice you could offer someone new to the profession?

For those new in the field, I suggest staying informed and connected to other professionals beyond their school assignment. Also, keep your chin up and your attitude positive! Times will get tough and stressful! Remember that you are in your first year and that you are doing the best you can. No one is super teacher, not even after ten years. We are all constantly learning. If you are having trouble, don’t be afraid to ask. There are a multitude of websites and blogs out there dedicated to making teaching more fun and creative at the same time as meeting the rigorous standards that our students face. No need to reinvent the wheel when someone out there is willing to share their knowledge and activities. I also suggest making sure to have a life outside of teaching. This will help life to stay balanced keeping teaching from becoming all-consuming. I LOVE teaching, but I also cherish the time I get to spend with family and friends.

What do you like to do when you’re not wearing your educator hat?

I enjoy two things the most when I’m not in teacher mode. Firstly, I enjoy spending time with my family, especially my two nieces and two nephews. Seeing their happy loving smiles and playful attitudes toward life help me to stay young. Secondly, (but really tied for first) I exceedingly enjoy gardening. I love being outdoors, and nothing brings me more at peace than working in dirt to create something beautiful. Be it vegetable or flower gardening, or even raising five chickens, being outdoors centers me and completes the balancing in my life that I need.

Institute 11: The Role of Fluency in the Common Core: Viewing Fluency as a Developmental Continuum for Literacy Achievement

David D. Paige

Reading Today Online asked all of the Institute Chairpersons for IRA San Antonio to respond to three questions designed to give our readers and all prospective attendees a better understanding of the insights and benefits they will gain from attending these day-long programs. Below are responses from Institute 11 Chair David D. Paige.

What is the professional urgency that this institute is designed to address?

A “Reading Tsunami” is coming soon! With the implementation of the Common Core across the country, knowledgeable administrators and teachers are beginning to recognize the importance of effective fluency in all readers. More urgently, the quickly approaching “Reading Tsunami” in the form of the assessment of complex text in the Common Core suggests that students with inadequate fluency skills will very likely struggle. Evidence suggests that inadequate fluency skills including little reading stamina, poorly developed word identification skills, and languid automaticity with text will result in poor ability to construct meaning. In other words, reading scores may well decrease before they get better! “Fluency and the Common Core” will provide attendees with a jump-start on the knowledge and tools to implement effective fluency instruction in their districts and schools.

What types of literacy professionals is this institute designed for?

Content teachers, reading teachers, special education teachers, and literacy coaches from elementary, middle, and high school will benefit from this institute. Central office personnel responsible for reading initiatives across the district will also benefit through a deeper understanding of how fluency instruction should fit into the larger curriculum. Undergraduate and graduate students will gain understanding of reading fluency and its importance in effective reading instruction from national experts.

How will attendance at this institute help those literacy professionals “make a difference” in their work?

Those attending this institute will take away the following “difference makers” that will help in their work with students:

1. Greater understanding of the role that fluent reading plays for students at all grade levels
2. The demands of the Common Core relative to reading fluency and complex text
3. Specific strategies that can be employed across elementary, middle, and high school to encourage the development of fluent reading in students.

Registration Information: This preconference institute will be held at the Grand Hyatt in San Antonio, Texas from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 19 before the 58th International Reading Association Annual Convention begins on Saturday, April 20. Register online for this or another institute and/or to register for the annual convention. Call 888-294-9167 or 415-979-2278 to find out how to register by phone, fax, or mail. To learn more about convention events in San Antonio, visit the annual convention website and the online itinerary planner (iPlanner), or read more Reading Today annual convention articles.

 

 

 

Full-Day Professional Development Institutes for Literacy Educators

Personalize Your Convention Experience with the iPlanner

International Reading Association Annual Convention Program

Institute 12: Meeting the Differentiated Needs in Early Literacy Using the CCSS: Assessment and Instruction

Reading Today Online asked all of the Institute Chairpersons for IRA San Antonio to respond to three questions designed to give our readers and all prospective attendees a better understanding of the insights and benefits they will gain from these day-long programs. Below are responses from Institute 12 Chairs Lesley Morrow, Billie Enz, Diane Lapp, and Judith Schickedanz. 

What is the professional urgency that this institute is designed to address?

We know that if our children are on level by grade 3 they are likely to stay on level and succeed in reading. Only 10% of those who are not will ever reach grade level. With the addition of perks we can save $7.00 a child on additional preventative measures in the future. Early Literacy has the responsibility to help our children be fluent by third grade. There is no necessity for the fourth grade slump which in many schools is now being called the third grade slump.

What types of literacy professionals is this institute designed for?

This institute is a must for teachers, supervisors, librarians, coaches, and administrators who deal in early literacy.

How will attendance at this institute help those literacy professionals “make a difference” in their work?

In this institute we emphasize the necessity for engaging children in the language arts all day long. Reading is a skill from which we learn new things—new things that are exciting, relevant, and that children want to read. Reading needs to be about children’s interests such as sports, pop culture, technology, nutrition, etc.

In an outline of an excellent Language Arts Program foundational skills, oral language, listening, vocabulary, visual literacy, comprehension, and fluency will be modeled in content area lessons. This will be done by the best researchers, practitioners, and entertaining speakers in the country. The BIG message is we must teach literacy purposefully all day long in in explicit instruction and intentionally through art, music, science, play, social studies, and math in early childhood.

Our keynote speaker is an author of children’s literature, an academic, and a consultant. Dr. Lester Laminas will motivate you with his dynamic presentation on "Flirting with Literacy: Sparking a Life-Long Love Affair with Literature." We will have nine different workshops throughout the day from which you have to choose. The workshops are interactive, and will be filled with strategies. In the workshops there will be:

• videos demonstrating best practice
• town meeting style presentations to get you to tell us what you think, and
• discussions to share your ideas

A new feature in our institute is a panel of distinguished experts each speaking briefly about key topics in early literacy multicultural literature, new Head Start Literacy Initiatives, and classified children in early literacy. Richard Allington will address the following: “We could Teach Them All to Read, But Will We?”

The day also includes a keynote at the end by William Teale, who will tie up loose ends that deal with our theme of the CCSS, diversity, and an integrated curriculum. 

We end with our lovely “High Tea” for refreshments and reflections. 

We have no formal presentations but the purpose is to interact with the speakers. This has been a highlight of our program every year. The institute with its many features, speakers, and topics will address the Common Core with young children, differentiated instruction, the joy of literacy, and the diversity of our students.

This early literacy institute has been an institution at IRA for at least 25 years. We feel we have brought you the best, the brightest, and the most informed speakers to talk about the most crucial topics about early literacy today. We know you will leave with a wealth of information to turnkey into your school programs.

Registration Information: This preconference institute will be held at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 19 before the 58th International Reading Association Annual Convention begins on Saturday, April 20. Register online for this or another institute and/or to register for the annual convention. Call 888-294-9167 or 415-979-2278 to find out how to register by phone, fax, or mail. To learn more about convention events in San Antonio, visit the annual convention website and the online itinerary planner (iPlanner), or read more Reading Today annual convention articles.

Institute 5: Vocabulary Instruction That Makes a Difference: Meeting Standards and Beyond with a Multiphase Comprehensive Vocabulary Instruction Program (MCVIP) in Grades 4-9 

Reading Today Online asked all of the Institute Chairpersons for IRA San Antonio to respond to three questions designed to give our readers and all prospective attendees a better understanding of the insights and benefits they will gain from attending these day-long programs.

What is the professional urgency that this Institute is designed to address?

Are you confused about how best to integrate vocabulary instruction into your curriculum? Are you working on the kind of instruction in vocabulary that the Common Core State Standards and best-practices research calls for? Are you dissatisfied with compartmentalizing vocabulary in your curriculum with a free-standing program, workbook or other set of commercial materials?  Then this is the institute for you!

What types of literacy professionals is this Institute designed for?

This institute is designed for educational professionals (teachers, literacy specialists, interventionists, curriculum directors. professional developers) wanting to build strong, integrated vocabulary instruction in their schools and classrooms. Four nationally known experts on vocabulary—Michael Graves, author of The Vocabulary Book (2005); Jim Baumann, co-editor of Vocabulary Instruction, Second Edition: Research to Practice (2013); Camille Blachowicz, co-author of Teaching Vocabulary in All Classrooms (2010); and Patrick Manyak, former Reading Teacher columnist and conceptualizer of Character Trait Analysis (2007)—will present the foundations of research-based vocabulary instruction which has shown to make a difference in student performance. Their session will include keynotes to orient participants to the research on vocabulary and classroom instruction and 3 different breakouts with teachers and professional developers from their federally funded Multifaceted Vocabulary Instruction Project.  Participants will attend all three breakouts, with video examples of teaching, and then have a chance to Q & A with the experts and master teachers.

How will attendance at this Institute help those literacy professionals "make a difference" in their work?

This institute is designed by researchers, authors, professional developers and teachers with a deep commitment to teacher empowerment and professional growth.  They are passionate about what they have learned and developed together and want to share it with you, the school literacy professional. 

You will leave the institute with handouts and other resources reflecting all four essential components of a multifaceted program and with concrete, teacher-tested ideas that resulted in standardized test and performance gains for students.

You will have a chance to ask specific teachers, professional developers and researchers about what they have seen and experienced and will have time to network with other engaged and dedicated educators throughout the interactive sessions.

This is your chance to learn about vocabulary instruction that makes a difference. The institute is limited in size to maximize interaction so, if YOU want to make a difference in the vocabulary learning of your students, sign up soon.

Registration Information: This preconference institute will be held at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 19 before the 58th International Reading Association Annual Convention begins on Saturday, April 20. Register online for this or another institute and/or to register for the annual convention. Call 888-294-9167 or 415-979-2278 to find out how to register by phone, fax, or mail. To learn more about convention events in San Antonio, visit the annual convention website and the online itinerary planner (iPlanner), or read more Reading Today annual convention articles.

The good news is that IRA’s annual convention offers over 500 sessions, including full-day institutes, symposiums, and author luncheons. The bad news is that selecting which sessions to attend can be overwhelming!

That’s where the iPlanner comes in. The iPlanner (short for “itinerary planner”) is an online directory of the latest information about convention events. It includes three sections: the Itinerary Planner, the Program Grid, and the Event Search.

Create a Personalized Itinerary

The first screen you see when you visit www.reading.org/iplanner has information about the iPlanner and a place to login and enter your password. While everyone is free to browse convention offerings on the Program Grid and to use the Event Search, creating a login and password allows the iPlanner to “remember” sessions you save to your itinerary.

If you have never used the iPlanner, simply click the “Create Profile now!” link toward the bottom of the page. The login and password for the iPlanner are different than your member login/password and any other logins and passwords you may have set up with IRA, so new iPlanner users should create a profile. It’s an extra step, but it’s worth it!

Once you create a profile and login, it is easy to search for sessions and add them to your itinerary.

Browse the Program Grid

One way to find sessions you’re interested in is to use the Program Grid. Clicking on underlined links at the top of the grid page display different days or all days. Session times run along the left side of the grid.

The grid is divided into 13 columns: Adolescent Literacy/YA Literature, Assessment, Children’s Literature, Common Core Standards, Early Childhood/Head Start, English Language Learners, International, IRA Council Activity, Literacy Leadership, RtI, Struggling Learners, Technology, and Title 1. If you are interested in one of these topics, review the sessions listed in that column.

Click on the underlined link to open a window with more information about that session, including date, times, presenters, capacity, clock hours, and more. This window also has options to print this information or add it to your itinerary.

Add Sessions to Your Itinerary with One Click

Once you are logged in, an “Add to Itinerary” link appears on each session on the iPlanner. Click it, and then click “OK” to place the session listing on your personal online itinerary.

Searching for Specifics

If you are interested in a specific topic or are looking for a session from a certain presenter, use the Event Search.

You can search by keyword (text search), speaker last name, date, category, event type (luncheon, symposium, Teaching Edge, etc.), and/or location. When your search results are displayed, click on the underlined link for a window with more session information and a link to add it to your itinerary. Or, simply add sessions to your itinerary using the “Add” checkbox on the right side of the search results webpage. Sessions that are already added to your itinerary will say “Added.”

Review Your Itinerary

To see items you’ve added to your itinerary, click on the “My Itinerary” link in the blue bar at the top right of the screen.

On your online itinerary, it is easy to review your convention plans and click on session links for more details. You can add one, two, or even three simultaneous sessions to your itinerary in case one is full or cancelled. Sessions can be removed from your itinerary at any time by clicking on the “Remove” link next to the session title.

Click on “View Day Planner” link at the top right of the “My Itinerary” page to see a colored chart of how sessions overlap.

Add Your Own Events

Having lunch with a colleague? Carving out time to visit the Exhibit Hall? Taking a side trip to the Alamo? The iPlanner has the option to add your own events to your itinerary. From the “My Day Planner” page, click on the “Add Personal Activity” link in the upper right. Personal activities that you created show in orange on your day planner.

Print and Go

The “My Itinerary” page gives you the option to produce a printer-friendly version of your schedule to bring to the convention. Simply click the “Print” link at the top right. You can also e-mail your itinerary to the address in your profile.

Adding Sessions Is Not Registering or Reserving Seats!

Please be aware of the room capacity for the selected sessions you wish to attend. The Itinerary Planner is simply a planning tool and is not used to register for sessions. Entry into each session at the meeting is on a first-come, first-served basis. IRA no longer issues tickets for sessions.

Payment is required for full convention or single days, pre-conference institutes and luncheons. Please note that placing these items in your itinerary does not constitute a paid registration. For more information or to register, please go to www.iraconvention.org.

The IRA 58th Annual Convention runs from April 19 to 22, 2013, in San Antonio, Texas. Visit www.iraconvention.org and the iPlanner Program Grid and Event Search for details.