2006 Keynote Speakers

 

Ann McGill-Franzen

 

 

Anne McGill-Franzen is Professor and Director of the Reading Center at the University of Tennessee.  Prior to joining the faculty at UT, Anne was a professor of literacy at the University of Florida.  Anne earned her Ph.D. at the University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY) where she was a professor in the Reading Department and associate dean of the Graduate School of Education.  Before earning her Ph.D. Anne was a classroom teacher, Title 1 remedial reading teacher, and a special education consultant teacher.  She has been a partner in many district-university collaborations and evaluations as well as community-based efforts to improve reading achievement.  The focus of Anne’s professional work has been struggling readers-including policy that supports or constrains teachers’ efforts to support children at-risk.

 

Anne’s research with low-achieving children has been published in many journals including The Reading Teacher, Language Arts, Reading Research Quarterly, Educational Researcher, Learning Disabilities Quarterly, Elementary School Journal, Journal of Educational Research.  She was recipient of the International Reading Association Nila Banton Smith Award to disseminate the results of a longitudinal study of the development of literacy in children from 4-7 years old, and co-recipient of the IRA Albert J. Harris Award for research published in the field of reading disabilities.

 

Keynote Session

Literacy in Kindergarten

Teaching That Can Change Lives

 

Effective first teaching builds on strength - what children know - and develops what children need.   Based on her work as a kindergarten teacher, a reading teacher, and a researcher, Anne will demonstrate tools for powerful, research-based teaching and engaged learning for all kindergartners. Beginning with a "template" for systematic observation and assessment, Anne will present ways to identify patterns in reading and writing development and group your class into "letters and sounds kids," "almost readers," and "readers" for targeted instruction.  Anne's approach puts teachers in the drivers' seat, not programs, and shows that teachers can differentiate instruction and scaffold even struggling kindergartners' understandings of how reading and writing work. Anne will show how explicit language, mental modeling, and open-ended tasks, particularly writing, within a language-rich environment of stories and informational trade books, read alouds and shared reading, can support all kindergartners at the edge of their development.

 

 

 

 

 

Steve Swinburne

 

 

Steve Swinburne was born in London England.  When he was 7, he left England with his family and sailed on the Queen Mary to New York.  Steve holds a bachelor of Arts degree in Biology and English from Castleton State College in Vermont.  He has worked as a ranger in a number of national parks.  He loves to travel and observe nature and wildlife.  A safari in Africa, hiking in Scotland, monitoring sea turtles on a Georgia Island, a winter trek through Yellowstone and watching shorebirds in New York have all led to book projects.  He lives in South Londonderry, Vermont with wife Heather and daughters Hayley and Devon.  When Steve is not writing and photographing children’s books, he loves to sing and play Beatle songs on his guitar, garden, read, travel with his family and take pictures.

 

Keynote Session

From Blank Page to Book—

 

Steve takes us on a tour of some of his children’s books from the original idea and the blank page through stages for writing, editing, rewriting, illustrating to printed book.  Steve will engage us in a discussion about writing, editing, rewriting, journal keeping, photography, children’s books and the publishing process.  His show and tell includes his first manuscripts, rough sketches by the illustrator, color proofs and copies of the printed books.  He includes his personal history and anecdotes about how he came to “the writing life.”  He performs his bird-beak rap/poem called UNBEATABLE BEAKS on African drum.  You’ll learn about the publishing process and where authors get ideas.