2021 Montana State Literacy Conference Official Schedule

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G
1	2021 Montana State Literacy Conference
2	Look toward the bottom of the spreadsheet for recorded sessions.
3	Date	Time (Mountain)	Presenter	Session Title	Session Description	Session Link	OPI Renewal Units

4	October 22	2:15- 3:15 PM	Dr. Ann Ellsworth, Montana State University	Be a Writing Wizard: Working Through the Revision Process with Results	Teachers assign writing to get students to grow in their writing fluency, but how do we offer precise, helpful feedback about how to take those rough ideas and polish them? This session will share 5 must-know revision tips that work across all writing genres and grade levels.	Click here to watch.	Click here
5	October 22	1-2 PM	Dr. Sarah Pennington, Montana State University	Considering What Counts as "Real Reading"	Discussion and investigation of texts students engage with outside the classroom (appropriate for all grade levels). Chat Transcript	Click here to watch.	Click here
6	October 22	10:15- 11:15 AM	Mike Thayer, author of The Techno Wizard	Nurturing Creativity and the Novel Writing Process	Inspirational, motivational, educational. This will explain how kids and adults can nurture their creativity and will explore my creative process on how to write engaging, fun, funny, and surprisingly profound novels.	Click here to watch.	Click here
7	October 22	9:00- 10:00 AM	Randall Klein, Early Reading Mastery	Intervention Games & Activities for Beginning and Struggling Readers	Early reading specialist Randall Klein will demonstrate intervention games and activities that give beginning and struggling readers a concrete understanding of the alphabetic principle and launch them into strong alphabet knowledge, confident decoding and proficient word identification. This session is geared toward instruction for beginning and struggling Pre-K & K-2 readers with the goal of preventing the risk of reading failure and of providing effective intervention activities. Handout 1 Handout 2 Order form	Click here to watch.	Click here
8	October 21	2:30- 3:30 PM	Colby Sharp, co-author of Game Changer, fifth-grade teacher, & co-founder of The Nerdy Book Club	A Classroom Library Tour	Fifth grade teacher Colby Sharp brings you into his classroom for this session. He'll give you a tour of the classroom library, share tips for creating and managing a classroom library that meets the needs of your readers, and answer any questions you have about classroom libraries.	Click here to watch.	Click here
9	October 21	1-2 PM	Dr. Stacy Vaught & Dr. Lindy Gaudiano, Grand Canyon University	Musical Connection to Literacy, Learning, and Motivation for Diverse Learners	This presentation empowers educators to utilize music as a motivator for literacy. It provides a connection for how to integrate music while supporting and motivating diverse learning needs to successfully engage with literacy. Participants will interact with musical elements to capture the components of literacy when creating engaging learning experience. Chat Transcript	Click here to watch.	Click here
10	October 21	8:00- 9:00 AM	Padma Venkatraman, author of The Bridge Home & Born Behind Bars	When Compassion is the Compass: Delving into Complex Questions of Diversity without Distrust	How can we advocate for diversity, beyond the first step of including books that showcase diversity in our classrooms and libraries? How do we proceed when there are ongoing debates (e.g. whether to continue using the hashtag #OwnVoices or not, or what to do with problematic classics)? Honoring diversity requires that we constantly learn and unlearn, that we are as sensitive and aware as we can be, and that we appreciate the importance of nuance. Padma Venkatraman will begin with a talk that highlights times in her journey as an author as well as aspects of her process that forced her to delve into questions of diversity that have no simple answers. During the breakout session, she will encourage attendees to discuss these issues and engage in Q & A and will suggest some resources and approaches that may be of use to educators and librarians as the kidlit community grapples with important and complex questions.	Click here to watch.	Click here
11	October 21	9:30 AM- 10:30 AM	Laurie Sharp, ILA Board Member	Looking Beyond the Crisis and Towards the Future: Reimagining Literacy Leadership in a Post-Pandemic Era	In a post-pandemic era, literacy leaders must reimagine how to address challenges and leverage opportunities for teaching and learning. This session will focus on the recovery and revitalization side of the recent pandemic and share information about ways in which the International Literacy Association may support related efforts.	Click here to watch.	Click here
12	Recorded		Padma Venkatraman, author of The Bridge Home & Born Behind Bars	Identity, Intersectionality, Internationality and Inclusiveness: An immigrant author's perspective	Walt Whitman suggested that each of us contain multitudes of identities. How are these senses of identity shaped by the stories we read or the stories we tell? What is the importance of intersectionality? Why should we make space for international perspectives? Padma Venkatraman will present a talk in which she highlights issues of identity in reference to her personal journey as an author, while placing this in the larger context. Then, in the breakout session, maybe she will lead a discussion on issues of identity and how they play into our gut reactions when it comes to questions of diversity? She will focus on the need filled by global narratives, and encourage attendees to engage in activities to help explore intersectional and internationally-themed books in a manner that integrates rather than others these stories.	Click here for the recording.	Click here!
13	Recorded		Mike Jetty Montana Office of Public Instruction's Indian Education for All Specialist	Evaluating American Indian Literature: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly	This workshop will provide examples of best practices for implementing Indian Education for All and show how culturally relevant literature can have a positive impact for students and communities. Ideas, resources and strategies for evaluating books for potential bias will be shared. Workshop participants will also be provided with opportunities to see how IEFA curriculum resources can be utilized to promote culturally respectful and creative programming in your ongoing literacy education efforts.	Click here for the recording.	Click here!
14	Recorded		Kari Yates, an author, speaker, consultant and staff developer with a passion for helping busy literacy educators thrive.	Shifting the Balance: Bringing the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom	Based on Kari’s groundbreaking book with Jan Burkins, this keynote tells the story of their journey into the body of reading research often referred to as the science of reading, acknowledging that rethinking our practices is not only academic and practical work, but it is definitely emotional work as well. In this humorous, engaging, and science-filled keynote, Kari shares strategies that can build a bridge between the “science of reading” and classroom practice on behalf of students. We definitely have work to do. But bravely embracing science and balance will ensure that more children learn to read with less struggle. Kari will leave you with both clarity and energy for the journey ahead.	Click here to watch.	Click here!
15	Recorded		Kari Yates, an author, speaker, consultant and staff developer with a passion for helping busy literacy educators thrive.	Sight Word Success	Tired of teaching “sight words” one day, only to have kids stare at them blankly the next? Get ready to rethink everything you thought you knew about teaching sight words! In this session, Kari Yates will invite you to rethink sight word instruction, ultimately learning to depend on the secret sauce for word recognition--orthographic mapping. We’ll untangle several common misunderstandings about high-frequency word learning and get crystal clear on the brain science that can clear up these confusions. You’ll leave this session confidently equipped with tools for prioritizing and ordering sight word instruction, as well as with tried and true instructional routines that ensure the words you teach get stored for instant and automatic retrieval so that students can focus on the ultimate goal of reading - comprehension.	Click here to watch.	Click here!
16	Recorded		Colby Sharp, co-author of Game Changer, fifth-grade teacher, & co-found of The Nerdy Book Club	Book Access & Building a Culture of Reading	Session will be based on book access and building a culture of reading.	Click here to watch.	Click here!
17	Recorded		Colby Sharp, co-author of Game Changer, fifth-grade teacher, & co-found of The Nerdy Book Club	Books!	Colby shares great resources for finding classroom books, tips for creating your own reading life, and some of his favorite books.	Click here to watch.	Click here!
18	Recorded		Sarah Rainey, Billings Public School Technology Integration Specialist	Digital Citizenship for all ages	Good Digital Citizens recognize the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world. As teachers we must help our students behave in ways that are safe, legal and ethical. In this session we will dive in to Google’s Be Internet Awesome curriculum as well as Common Sense Education to develop lessons to empower students to become successful digital citizens.	Click here to watch.	Click here!
19	Recorded		Nikki Vradenburg, Director of Education & Digital Learning Specialist for MontanaPBS	Power Up with PBS	What if there were just one website you could use for all of your lesson planning that holds a variety of resources, tools AND is easy to use? Sounds too good to be true? Think again! The PBS Learning Media site is a powerful FREE tool for teachers who are interested in using video, online games, primary sources and self-paced digital lessons with their students. If you are a teacher in a K-12 classroom, a librarian, a technology specialist or an administrator there is something for you on PBS Learning Media. The real power comes when PBS Learning Media is paired with your favorite digital assessment and presentation tools to create engaging and fun activities for students of all ages and abilities. Bring your favorite device and come ready to launch the power of PBS in your classroom! Audience: K-12	Click here to watch.	Click here!
20	Recorded		Nikki Vradenburg, Director of Education & Digital Learning Specialist for MontanaPBS	All the Feelings! Social Emotional Learning with PBS	Encourage social, emotional, and character development in elementary children. This engaging, interactive workshop will guide you through how to find and implement FREE resources created by PBS stations including apps, websites and other digital resources for a variety of devices and learners. Make trusted PBS characters your co-teachers as you use media to support the social and emotional development of your students. Audience: PK-4	Click here to watch.	Click here!