MRA Adolescent Literacy Summit 2019

Welcome to the 5th Manitoba Reading Association Adolescent Literacy Summit.

Group Registration - For schools or school division groups.  To register more than one person at the same time, choose Register Now and register the first person.  Check the ADD button to include additional colleague registration information.  You can  up to 15 people at one time.  Receipt and confirmation will be sent to the first person on the list.  Please check with your group to include information about food allergies adn dietary concerns when you register.

Meals - Lunch is included in your registration fee.  If you have food allergies or dietary concerns, please indicate this when you register.  Meal adjustments will not be made after March 31, 2019.

Refunds

Hotel Accomodations:   The following hotels have a block of rooms held for April 10-12, 2019.   

Victoria Inn - $129/night    Call 1-204-776-4801   Quote # 838692 discount    

HIlton Inn & Suites - $149/night     Call 1-204-786-0929     Quote "MRA Summit" for discount

Breakout Sessions - There will be a variety of breakout sessions held throughout the day as outlined in the conference program.  These sessions will be on a first come first serve basis for seating. 

Scent Free - We respectfully request that you refrain from wearing perfume/cologne/scented products at the summit.  Thank you for your consideration.

Thurs, AM Keynote - Visible Learning for Literacy          Keynote Speakers:  Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey 

Educators have been in search of “what works” for decades. The truth is, not everything works. Only a few things work at ensuring that students gain a full year’s worth of growth for a year of enrollment in school, and we think it’s time we focused on what works, what doesn’t work, and what can’t hurt.  In this interactive session, we focus on specific approaches that work at the surface level of learning and note that they are different from strategies that work at the deep and transfer levels.  Importantly, we will clarify which approaches work at which phase of learning.  

Thurs, AM 1 - Assessment-Capable Learners          Featured Speakers:  Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey

We all know that collective efficacy is the new number one influence on students’ learning.  And there is good reason for that. In part, efficacious teachers ensure that their students are assessment-capable, which means that students understand their current level of performance and compare that with the desired level of learning. Assessment-capable learners and their teachers select direct, dialogic, and independent learning approaches they know will help attain their shared learning goals.  They also seek feedback from others, provide others with feedback, and monitor their learning from acquisition through consolidation to mastery.

Thurs, AM 2 - Voices From the Field: Empowering Educators and Students Through Curriculum      Speakers:  Shelley Warkentin and Angie Burdett     

 Join this exciting group of Manitoba educators to see how they are using the new English Language Arts curriculum to design rich learning experiences.  Hear how educators’ experiences transformed their teaching and leadership practices. Peer into schools and classrooms where students are empowered to interact with complex ideas about themselves, the world, and society

Thurs, AM 3 - Power in Places and Pedagogies          Speaker: Katya Adamov-Ferguson     

Literacy is a powerful and power-filled practice. At the heart of this session is one teacher's personal response to reconciliation. Katya will share some of her art/research, which explored how language provides resistance to reconciliation in everyday educational environments. Participants will explore practical critical literacy strategies such as creating multi-modal identity texts, designing in/equity inventories, and ideas for dispelling otherness to support both teachers and learners.

Thurs, AM 4 - Schoolwide Literacy Plans          Featured Speakers: Mike Babb, Staff from Elmwood School

Our seven-year literacy journey at Elmwood High School began by supporting staff members who discovered that many students’ literacy skills were very low, hindering their success in acquiring course credits. Our whole-school, cross-grade journey began with a Words Their Way initiative after which a multi-disciplinary Literacy Committee was formed. The guiding philosophy was Equity Through Literacy and the team had the wisdom to develop different approaches for ELA classes and other subject areas.

Thurs, Keynote - Disrupting Misconceptions: Unleashing a Larger Trugh         Speaker: Linda Christianson

Unleashing the power of literacy means learning to read as an activist, to read to learn, but also to talk back to texts that don’t tell a fuller truth about our homes, our language, our religion, our identity. In this workshop, participants will examine two views of a First Nations reserve—one from an outsider and one from a student who tells a larger truth about his home. Using stories and examples from her own classroom, Christensen will demonstrate ways she has grounded the curriculum in the lives of students, helping them pose critical questions about society, valuing the cultures of historically-oppressed groups while teaching them how to access the language and tools of power.

Thurs, PM 1 - Engagement by Design: Creating Learning Environments Where Students Thrive         Speakers: Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey   

Classroom dynamics are inherently complex, as multifaceted as the personalities in the room, so where should a teacher begin? Engagement by Design gives you a framework for making daily improvements and highlights the opportunities that will bring the greatest benefit in the least amount of time. You’ll learn about relationships, teacher clarity, and academic challenge.  Understanding engagement—and actively pursuing it—can make all the difference between forging a real connection with students and having a classroom that’s simply going through the motions. Engagement by Design puts you in control of managing your classroom’s success and increasing student learning, one motivated student at a time.

Thurs, PM 2 - From Composition Book to Published Book         Speakers: Vindra Jain and Students   

This session will look at the journey of Glenlawn Collegiate’s own Literary Arts magazine and how teachers were transformed to coach and students to writers/editors. Students will discuss their process with selection and compilation of text, and creative writing strategies will be shared. The students will participate in the discussion and through spoken word.

Thurs, PM 3 - Becoming Writers: The Power of Writing in our Lives, Classrooms and Communities         Speaker: Michelle Honeyford, Dr. Jennifer Watt and teachers from Manitoba Writing Project

How do we unleash the power of literacy? How do we create classrooms and communities where students effectively develop and use their powers as authors, multimodal composers and media makers? This session will feature a panel of teachers who have realized the power of writing in their own lives, and who have cultivated powerful writing in their classrooms with their students. With the renewed ELA curriculum as a backdrop, we’ll share examples of what we are learning about the power of literacy when students have choice, when their writing is relevant to their identities and everyday lives, when they have real audiences, and when they feel their writing can make a difference in the world.

Thurs, PM 4 - The Classroom Story          Speaker: Brent Schmidt

The Classroom Story is a hands-on, creative, and interactive instructional approach that has no acronyms, makes writing fun, is closer to play than work, and must be experienced to be understood. The teacher acts as narrator by creating a setting, inciting event, general plot, and any game elements. Students engage with the story by creating characters, and becoming authors, thinkers, and creators. Students get opportunities to write, create, mess-up, try again, work together, and move around. The result will be a shared experience that you could never plan totally and will produce work you could have never expected!

Friday, AM Keynote - What is Disciplinary LIteracy and Why is it Important?       Speakers:  Timothy Shanahan and Cynthia Shanahan   

This session introduces important concepts of disciplinary literacy and contrasts them with those of content area reading. The session explores the research on disciplinary literacy and argues for an approach to subject matter literacy that is aligned with the unique practices and beliefs of each discipline.

Friday, AM 1 - Reading and Writing in the Discipline of Science     Speaker: Cynthia Shanahan 

This session discusses the specialized nature of the reading and writing practices of scientists and how they are changing our language. This exploration will consider how to teach students the implications of these specialized practices and how to negotiate them to become better readers, writers, and thinkers in science.

Friday, AM 2 - Voices From the Field: Empowering Educators and Students Through the Curriculum      Speakers: Angie Burdett and Shelley Warkentin   

Join this exciting group of Manitoba educators to see how they are using the new English Language Arts curriculum to design rich learning experiences.  Hear how educators’ experiences transformed their teaching and leadership practices. Peer into schools and classrooms where students are empowered to interact with complex ideas about themselves, the world, and society. 

Friday, AM 3 - Beyond the Pages: How to Use Social Media to Promote Reading          Speaker:  Kathie MacIsaac 

Reading is a solitary activity, but there is a vibrant community of book lovers who use social media to connect with one another. This session will explore how to use Instagram and Twitter to find "your" book people to both enhance, and promote, your reading life.  

Friday, AM 4 - Writing and Teaching the Holocaust          Speaker: Carol Matas    

Carol will focus on her most recent Holocaust book, Pieces of the Past to describe an effective way to teach and to read this difficult topic. Using Pieces of the Past, purposefully set in Winnipeg, Carol will demonstrate ho.w teachers can make local and Canadian history relevant to Holocaust studies

Friday, PM 1 - Storytelling Through Graphic Novels and Comics - Panel Discussion         Speakers: David A. Robertson, Hope Nicholson, Scott Henderson, GMB Chomichuk

In this session, moderated by award-winning author David A. Robertson, local Manitoba authors and illustrators Scott Henderson, Hope Nicholson and GMB Chomichuk will be discussing the benefits of using graphic novels in the classroom, the process of creating comics and graphic novels, as well as their own experience in the comics industry.

Friday, PM 2 - Teaching Students to Read Complex Text          Speaker: Timothy Shanahan

For decades, literacy educators have been told that they must teach students to read at their instructional levels. However, research increasingly is revealing problems with this approach—particularly in content area classes. This session will explore that research, explain the nature of text complexity, and will demonstrate how instruction can enable students to read such texts successfully.

Friday, PM 3 - Book Speed Dating: Finding Your Next Book Love          Speaker: Tara McLauchlan

Are you struggling to make a connection and find your next great read? Looking for a way to find awesome books to put in the hands of your students? Why not try book speed dating! In this fast-paced session, you will "speed date" your way through a variety of curated texts (graphic novels, picture books, YA fiction) to connect you with the next book love of your life.

Friday, PM 4 - Promoting a Growth Mindset through Literacy Across the Disciplines        Speakers: Cathy-Ann Winters and Kimberley Adair-Gagnon

Are you looking to deepen student engagement with and ownership of learning? Join us to inquire about how to unleash the power of literacy to promote a growth mindset for all. Participants will walk away with high impact strategies that foster metacognitive conversations and support our ongoing inquiry into a strength-based approach to student success. 

Friday, Keynote - The Path To Reconciliation          Speaker: David A. Robertson

The path to reconciliation is paved with story. Story is the truth part of reconciliation, the integral piece in this walk towards healing. David A. Robertson will tell stories about his own life, and that of his father, and how their journey reflects the process of reconciliation in Canada. He will also discuss the importance of voice and literacy, of encouraging the sharing and telling of truth through story in the coming generations, and how our most important role is ensuring that youth are prepared to be leaders in this long-term movement.