ECEC 2025 CONFERENCE

Planning for and teaching language arts is overwhelming for many! Unlike content-area subjects, the teaching of the language arts curriculum is not a linear process. Whether you are new to the elementary classroom, new to teaching language arts, or looking to improve your literacy instruction, Karen will provide many practical strategies grounded in research and strong pedagogy. Learn how a weekly schedule can make both your planning and instruction more effective.

Melanie discusses the many facets of the Scaredy Squirrel character and the inspiration behind her heartwarming worrywart. Melanie shares how Scaredy Squirrel has taken on different formats such as picture books, a TV show and most recently, graphic novels.

Laurie will seamlessly infuse this workshop with 5 powerful picture books that speak to these topics, to social emotional learning and to discovering our own why and passion within our school communities.
This session is all about the connection. Teachers can expect to leave with strategies especially surrounding connection to themselves, their school community, their learners and the families they serve.
What people will remember most about you, your legacy, will have so much more to do with a felt sense than it ever will with words or numbers. It will remind our teachers that their job is to shine the incredible light that brought them into this profession in the first place. It will remind them that whatever you got on any given day is (more than) enough which is something all teachers deserve to hear right now.

Planning for and teaching language arts is overwhelming for many! Unlike content-area subjects, the teaching of the language arts curriculum is not a linear process. Whether you are new to the elementary classroom, new to teaching language arts, or looking to improve your literacy instruction, Karen will provide many practical strategies grounded in research and strong pedagogy. Learn how a weekly schedule can make both your planning and instruction more effective.

*This is a repeat session*

It is not enough to just “talk” about vocabulary words when you read a story or text. This session will explore WHY being explicit about vocabulary instruction is important. HOW to teach and review vocabulary words as well as a routine or structure you might consider within your class to be effective with teaching tier 2 vocabulary words.