Literacy Conference Broadens Focus
Contact: Kay Hyatt at (207) 581-2761
ORONO, Maine — Keynote addresses and dozens of workshops exploring strategies for connecting the varied components of reading and writing instruction will highlight the 2005 Seamless K-12 Literacy Conference and Reading Recovery Institute at the University of Maine. Taking place Aug. 1-3, the annual conference brings together the teachers, specialists and administrators involved in teaching literacy from preschool through high school. The Aug. 1 session is for Reading Recovery teachers only.
This year’s conference theme, “To the Heart of Reading: Literature Across Our Lives,” emphasizes that reading and writing in all forms is fundamental to success in school and life. Techniques and activities to produce independent readers and writers will examine the broad dimensions of a balanced literacy program, ranging from picture books to poetry and conversation to digital text.
Among featured speakers are nationally recognized educators and award-winning authors, including: Ardith Cole, literacy consultant and author from Port Townsend, Wash.; Lester Laminack, author and children’s literacy professor from Western Carolina University; children’s book author Lois Lowry of Cambridge, Mass.; and from Maine, poet and anthologist Paul Janeczko and children’s picture book writer Lynn Plourde. The authors will participate in a reception and book signing for conference participants the evening of Aug. 2.
The Aug. 1 program for Reading Recovery teachers will feature early literacy intervention specialists Mary Lose of Oakland University, Rochester, Mich., and Mary Rosser of the University of Maine.
Traditionally a K-5 conference, this year’s gathering is also underscoring the important role of adolescent literacy with a strand of sessions designed for middle school and high school teachers.
The annual Seamless Transitions conference is sponsored by the Center for Literacy at UMaine’s College of Education and Human Development
For more information and to register for the conference, contact the Center for Literacy, (207)-581-2438; bonny.harris@umit.maine.edu.