Sessions

LitCon attendees choose from dozens of powerful sessions and workshops from literacy experts, authors, and colleagues on topics from five learning strands. Designed by and for educators, LitCon sessions focus on best instructional practices for:

– Classroom teachers
– Literacy coaches & specialists
– Building & district administrators
– Title I teachers and coordinators
– Interventionists & teachers of Multilingual Learners
– Curriculum & language arts specialists
– Reading Recovery professionals

Strands

Proposals should focus on intensive literacy instruction through which classroom teachers can differentiate instruction to meet the needs of a diverse group of children. This strand will also focus on the classroom teacher’s role as they collaborate with interventionists to support students. Proposals focusing on theory to practice are encouraged.

The Children’s Literature Strand seeks proposals that promote current, diverse, high-quality literature for elementary audiences in conjunction with effective instructional practices. 

Sessions considered for the Leadership in Literacy Strand should be targeted to school and district administrators, school board members, curriculum directors, and Reading Recovery site coordinators and teacher leaders. Session content being sought includes supporting and sustaining Reading Recovery implementation as part of a comprehensive literacy model and sessions that will inform and assist educators in effective collaboration to achieve student success.

The Literacy Coaching Strand requests proposals that align with the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and the International Literacy Association’s (ILA) definitions of a literacy or reading coach or a reading specialist. 
 
Submissions are encouraged that focus on: 

  • Various aspects of the coach’s roles
  • Professional learning opportunities
  • Leadership in the literacy program processes that support both the development and implementation of a school-wide literacy program
  • The emerging role of the coach as a coordinator and collaborator
  • Coaching around assessments to lift teaching and inform instruction
  • Cultural relevancy in coaching for the use of informational text
  • Coaching for congruence across learning settings 

Sessions in this strand should provide an in-depth study of Reading Recovery teaching such as:

  • Supporting oral language learning
  • Literacy processing in reading and/or writing
  • Teacher Decision Making
  • Early learning
  • Acceleration
  • Collaboration with school and district literacy teams, classroom teachers, and other school and district personnel

*It is important to indicate the appropriate experience level (beginning, advanced, etc.) during the submission process.