The Vermont Council On Reading (VCR) invites you to attend this fabulous in person event with Ralph Fletcher, writer extraordinaire on Friday, May 5, 2022! Registration is open on our website! We are hosting this conference at the Sugarbush Resort in Warren, Vermont. Ralph is not only an author of many children’s books, he is also a teacher of writing with even more books to his name! As always, Ralph is a warm and personable presenter. He is sure to spark your interest and enthusiasm when it comes to supporting young writers in our classrooms, no matter the age. Take advantage of our early bird pricing of $195.00 until March 5, $225.00 after March 5th. Don’t miss this literacy event – food – fun and learning with others!
9:15-10:30:Lifting the Chill in the Writing Classroom.
In recent years the writing classroom has become more academic and less student-centered. Real choice in writing has become an endangered species. I’ll talk about how teachers can bring back the spark and sizzle to the writing classroom. This session will springboard off my book Joy Write: Cultivating High-Impact Low-Stakes Writing (Heinemann).
11:00-12:00 How Mentor Texts Lift Student Writing
Young writers need vision to get an idea of what good writing looks and feels and sounds like. The writing in a classroom can only be as strong as the literature that surrounds, supports, and buoys it up. This session will build on my book Mentor Author, Mentor Texts (Heinemann). It will include a short writing exercise.
12:00-1:00 Luncheon and Awards
1:00-2:00 Engaging Boy Writers
Empirical and anecdotal evidence shows that boys struggle in writing classrooms. Why is this so? What specific challenges (such as handwriting) handicap boys? How can we widen the circle and make the writing classroom a place where boys can find their stride as writers? Ralph is the author of Boy Writers: Reclaiming Their Voices.
2:00-2:45 Using Photography to Teach Writing
The world is becoming more visual. Students author their lives not with notebooks and pens but through the photos they take on their cellphones. The lexicon of photography (angle, focus, background, zoom) provides a language that is concrete and familiar to students, and one that will make it easier for us to explain the craft of writing. Ralph’s newest professional book is Focus Lessons: How Photography Can Illuminate the Teaching of Writing (Heinemann). Register on the Spring Conference page.
Join us for a day of lively professional learning with authors and literacy experts Donnalyn Miller & Kate Messner!
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Donnalyn Miller has taught upper elementary and middle school students in northeast Texas and received TCTELA’s 2018 Edmund J. Farrell Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to literacy education. She is the author of several books about engaging children with reading, including The Book Whisperer and Reading in the Wild. Donalyn is the co-founder of the popular blog, The Nerdy Book Club, and co-hosts the monthly Twitter chat #titletalk.
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Kate Messner is passionately curious and writes books that encourage kids to wonder, too. Her titles include award-winning picture books like Over and Under the Pond, Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt, Over and Under the Pond, The Brilliant Deep, and How to Read a Story; novels that tackle real-world issues like Breakout, All the Answers, and The Seventh Wish; mysteries and thrillers like Capture the Flag, Eye of the Storm, and Wake Up Missing; the Fergus and Zeke easy reader series; and the popular Ranger in Time chapter book series about a time-traveling search and rescue dog.
Chris has been a middle-school teacher; a high-school teacher; a literacy coach; and a Senior Staff Developer with the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University. Now, as Founding Director of the The Educator Collaborative, he is working to innovate the ways educators learn in-person and online, providing opportunities for teachers, coaches, and administrators to share their expertise so students can hold their brightest futures.
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