PDTCA 2022

The history of Residential Schools in Canada was ignored for a long time. Now, there is a lot of information available, but it can be difficult to pick and choose where to start, and tricky to find appropriate material. This session will explore books about Residential Schools to share with students, and appropriate books to introduce the topic of Residential Schools in Canada with young readers. Additionally, teachers will gain more information to support their understanding and competency in updates to our Teaching Quality Standard, as teachers must demonstrate that they can apply “Foundational Knowledge about First Nations, Métis and Inuit".

Learning objectives:
Gain exposure to literature on Residential Schools
Understand more about history of Residential Schools in Canada
Feature of authors Christy Jordan Fenton and Margaret Pokiak Fenton

Avec la Covid et tout les interruptions des deux dernières années, nous nous demandons comment aider tous nos élèves à se rattraper en lecture. Je planifie de vous montrez pourquoi la lecture est tellement un defi, comment notre cerveau apprend à lire, et comment enseigner explicitement la lecture pour que tous les élèves puissent améliorer. Je croix que cette session sera bonne pour les enseignantes de division 1, incluant la maternelle, ainsi que les enseignantes qui ont des élèves qui ont besoin d'apprendre à décoder pour être capable de bien comprendre.

Reading and writing can be challenging for some kids, especially when they are asked to learn the parts of speech. Start by teaching them simple definitions and checks, show them why it will make them better readers and writers then give them a chance to use these skills. They will learn which words they should change in a sentence, how the smallest ones can carry the biggest meaning and how to arrange them to make their writing exciting and interesting. Nouns, adverbs and prepositions will no longer be a random topic, but an integral part of language learning. Teach your students about the power of words.

Mix Crayola crayons with watercolor paints to create a series of seasonal celebration cards. From Valentine’s Day to Easter, Mother’s Day and Christmas; this technique will be your go to favourite for many classroom projects! Learn how to craft basic shapes from your painted papers for collaging. Add some fun letters to complete your designs! Card making has never been so enjoyable!
You have a choice of how you would like to do this art class. If you wish to create the projects, you will need the supplies. There are only 20 supply packages available so it's first come first served. You can purchase the supplies by etransfer to sally@sallytowerssybblis.com. They will be mailed to you. YOU MUST ORDER THEM AT LEAST TWO FULL WEEKS BEFORE the start of the conference of they may not arrive on time. The cost of the supplies is $25 including shipping. Alternatively, you can provide your own supplies. Here are the supplies you will need should you choose to bring your own:
- 1- box of Crayola crayons
- 1 - set of watercolor paints (any brand) At least 6 colors. You won't need black or white
- 1 round watercolor brush size 7-12 or a 1/2" flat brush
- a water container
- rag
-scissors
- ruler
- glue stick
- pencil
- eraser
- a very fine black pen such as an ultra fine sharpie or black micron pigma pen size 01
- a fine tip black sharpie
- 1 - 9x12" sheet of mixed media paper
- 3 sheets of computer paper
- 4 - 8.5x11" sheets of white cardstock

Lively Letters™ is a research-based and clinically-proven, multi-sensory reading program that turns plain, abstract letters and sounds into lively characters. Created by Nancy Telian, MS, CCC-SLP, forty-seven letters and letter combinations are embedded into colorful pictures that show students what to do with their mouths when making the letter sounds.

For nearly 30 years, educators have relied on Lively Letters to accelerate reading achievement and close gaps for struggling readers. In January, we’re excited to release a new generation of the clinically-proven Lively Letters program.
www.readingwithtlc.com

Humane education is an approach to teaching that fosters empathy and compassion for every living thing. Animals, people and the environment are interdependent and interconnected and fostering compassion and respect for animals, can also bolster prosocial behaviours among people and greater reverence for the environment. In this session we will discuss what humane education is, and how it can help foster empathy, respect and kindness to others and the environment. We will look at the benefits (to both students and animals) of including humane education into teaching and offer ideas and examples of how to incorporate it, while meeting curricular objectives. Finally, we will explore the free resources the Alberta SPCA education department has to offer.

In this session we will discuss:
• What humane education is and why it is important
• How including humane education in teaching can foster positive character traits, such as compassion, respect, and kindness in students
• Ideas and examples of incorporating humane education into your classroom while meeting curriculum objectives
• Resources available to teachers including a free book lending program that helps build literacy while promoting empathy, character education themes, and
• Information for teachers related to animals in teaching including classroom pets, the use of animals in science, and more!

Why is this session relevant to teachers:
• Incorporating humane education into the classroom is relevant to teachers as it fosters positive character traits in students to help them grow and further develop into contributing members of the community
• Key take a ways include: discussion of what humane education is and the benefits of including it in teaching, how it can be incorporated into lesson plans while meeting cross-curricular objectives, examine the variety of humane education resources available for teachers
• Teachers will have an opportunity to explore the free resources available to them so they can use in their classrooms.

Come prepared to play hands-on literacy games that are perfect for your differentiated learning centers, chole class or small group instruction. Games integrate the use of easily found manipulatives including literacy dice, letter tiles and word decks. Games and strategies will help you students practice the following concepts: learning the alphabet and its' sounds, rhyme, work families, building vocabulary, fun with all kinds of words including homonyms, synonyms, antonyms, integrating children's literature into your centers and more. You will receive literacy journal masters, handout will include gameboards for your centers, and you will receive ideas for adapting the manipulatives with easy dollar store alternatives. Come prepared to play!

The mental health and wellbeing of both students and teachers is at the forefront of conversation around education. EdTech can help to increase a teacher’s capacity to support their student’s SEL journey by increasing the amount of time they have to work with students, while addressing this very important aspect.

The use of technology to get a quick snapshot of how each student is feeling on a given day, or over the course of a week, can give teachers the insight they need to focus their attention and tailor their lessons to meet the needs of their students in real time.

By leveraging cross curricular lessons, teachers are able to integrate essential SEL goals into their literacy teaching; effectively meeting two outcomes with one lesson. The integration of reading and writing skills into lessons centered around a particular SEL theme, gives teachers the chance to focus on foundational skills while at the same time looking after their students’ mental health needs.

Prepared lesson plans and purposefully crafted activities also free up educator prep time to focus on individual student needs and improve their own mental wellbeing.

How young can writers begin to create literary works? This workshop will give early to mid-elementary writers the foundation that will lead up to the literary devices and techniques they’ll learn later on. As a lead-up to junior high creative writing and beyond, this workshop will review hands-on activities and ideas to get your students dabbling in sensory language, comparisons, defamiliarization, tone, and more.

With the inundation of literacy programs, strategies, practices, and research that we see and hear about, deciding what to prioritize and how to structure your literacy classroom so you can ‘fit it all in’ can be a challenge. In this session, we will share some of the evidenced-based practices to consider when building your program and dig into ways to organize your classroom from the earliest years to grade 2. The focus will be on building a balanced literacy program that meets the needs of your students and particular context, looking at the big ideas and components that are a must in developing the foundations of literacy. From read-alouds to independent reading and writing, you will leave with concrete ideas/ways to structure your literacy program!

Story Workshop is an approach supporting young children's literacy built upon on four pillars: the sharing of stories; immersion in the arts; time for play; and a focus on meaning-making.  The approach - which has since flowered in schools and districts around the world - started at Opal School with a simple question embraced by our teacher-researchers: What is the connection between literacy and the arts?  That question took us from a practice of Writer's Workshop into new terrain. (Opal School, 2018)

Most kids count on their fingers to add. This method will not only correct this ineffective habit but it will lay the foundation for multiplication using the same method. Your students will learn to see natural patterns in numbers that will make it easy to see the answer to basic addition questions quickly, allowing their brain the time and energy to focus on the rest of math. This method is similar to the abacus style of addition, but with more connections and shortcuts to make it easy for kids to understand. Kenzy Math has been developed and refined in the classroom for years with record breaking results. Even children with special needs or learning disabilities can master this method and learn to love math. Every concept like geometry, fractions or algebra depends on a solid foundation of math facts. Students who struggle with basic skills like addition and multiplication will generally struggle with the rest of math. This is the first step to success with numbers.