SWATCA2018

Ours is a species of builders. Since our evolutionary ancestors tamed fire and fashioned the first stone tools, humanity has been driven to construct increasingly elaborate and ingenious solutions to meet its needs and address its problems. Simply put, ‘we were made to make’. But we shouldn’t forget that we are also a species of storytellers. If we were to trace any one of our collective accomplishments back to its point of inception, almost immediately we would find a group of individuals gathered around a campfire, a meal, or a drawing on the wall talking. In this presentation, the ATA’s expert on innovative learning spaces will explain how you can tap into your inner builder and storyteller to bring curricula to life in your classrooms. In this time of significant change, meaningful teaching may not require the latest technogadgetry, but may draw instead on our ancestral urges to build stuff out of sticks and talk about it.

Join the UofL Bookstore ladies as they book talk new and upcoming titles that will get you and your students excited about reading! Do you have that nagging feeling that hidden out there – somewhere – is a book or two that just must get into the hands of your young readers? Well, who better than to help you mine those hidden gems than Becky Colbeck and Kari Tanaka from the University of Lethbridge Bookstore! With over 30 years of trade book experience between them, Becky and Kari not only know what’s hot, but what should be, in the K-5 market. Their book talks will include new releases, teaching resources, and books for every reading ability, including a few that haven’t even hit store shelves yet! This session will be jam packed with information but, don’t worry, you will leave with a comprehensive list of all of the titles that were book talked…and then some. Plus, it will be fun! Like speed dating, but with books!

How Much, How Many, How Often, How Long?.... Linking Literature to Math Join me as I sample through a variety of excellent children’s literature, both fiction and non fiction choices. Each year I use a new batch of books and sample a new set of tips, tasks and techniques for infusing foundational reading, writing and arithmetic skills into the explorations and problems that can be teased from the books. My theme this year: how the questions How Much, How Many, How Often, How Long sit at the heart of what truly are the BASIC SKILLS in math. Engage your students with new ideas on Monday.

Join this session to learn about a curated collection of authoritative digital Language Arts and Social Studies resources licensed on behalf of all K-12 staff, students and parents learning/teaching/supporting the Alberta curriculum. Regardless of your school location, student population, or budget, ORC resources provide superior support for your students and staff at no cost to the school.

In 2007, Alberta became the first province in Canada to mandate global citizenship in K-12 educational curriculum. Working with youth and educators from around the world, CGCER has created a curriculum which educators can access in order to teach students about global citizenship. The curriculum is framed through the learning objectives for understanding global citizenship, as identified by UNESCO (http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002329/232993e.pdf). Key ideas in the curriculum for exploring global citizenship are: 1. Considering local, national, and global systems and structure 2. Understanding underlying assumptions and power dynamics 3. Difference and respect for diversity 4. Ethically responsible engagement In this workshop, facilitators will walk participants through the curriculum and discuss how all or parts of the curriculum and activities can be utilized in conjunction with ALL programs of studies in order to facilitate teaching and learning of global citizenship.

Do you have that nagging feeling that hidden out there – somewhere – is a book or two that just must get into the hands of your young readers? Well, who better than to help you mine those hidden gems than Becky Colbeck and Kari Tanaka from the University of Lethbridge Bookstore! With over 30 years of trade book experience between them, Becky and Kari not only know what’s hot, but what should be, in the 6-12 market. Their book talks will include new releases, teaching resources, and books for every reading ability, including a few that haven’t even hit store shelves yet! This session will be jam packed with information but, don’t worry, you will leave with a comprehensive list of all of the titles that were book talked…and then some. Plus, it will be fun! Like speed dating, but with books!

One of the best ways to teach a lesson is to tell a story. In this workshop, you will learn simple storytelling techniques, identify important ‘teachable’ stories in your life, and craft a successful oral tale. The focus will be on telling the stories that demonstrate the positive environmental future we all want to see. Not only that – you’ll thrill to a gripping story of struggle, competition, life, and death that took place in Christina’s worm composter!

Let the ORC help take away your concerns about young students using internet resources while enriching your curriculum. Never heard of the ORC? The ORC is a $1.3 million collection of digital resources licensed on behalf of all K-12 students, parents, school staff and pre-service teachers in Alberta. Join this session to learn about the wonderful resources available for young learners through the ORC, and get tips on the logistics of using them with your division I students.

Build literacy, numeracy and math skills as you teach students how to comprehend and solve word problems. This is a school wide approach. Throughout this interactive session, participants will engage with an approach to teaching problem solving built not from giving problems, but from using student responses to build comprehension, communication and content knowledge with your students. Across all the grades, students benefit from learning how to analyze and evaluate the work of others. YES, at every grade! It’s not just “doing” math, it’s learning how to search for sense, how to communicate effectively both orally and in writing. This is truly balancing literacy.... learning how to apply basic reading & writing skills into the thinking, reasoning and doing of mathematics. Designed around samples of student work, participants will leave with problems and criteria that can be used to develop literacy and numeracy skills across a range of grades. You will want to try this on Monday!

There are too many quality teaching resources and not enough time to explore them all! Enjoy some time to interact with print and digital sources relevant to your teaching context. The session will start with our new search tool for easily locating books, videos and kits. Featured items: professional support in all subjects and Fountas and Pinnell Leveled Literature Intervention kits. Next, we will explore our new guides at www.uleth.ca/education/curr, which identify resources most useful for each subject/grade. Sources include cross-curricular literature lists, LearnAlberta Resources, Specific databases in LearnAlberta’s Online Reference Centre, new platform on Ninjaplans lesson sharing site, Education for Reconciliation supports, streaming video and more. Participants can then choose to either seek specific instruction in one or more sources, or to explore sources independently. Participants can bring a device (such as a laptop) or can borrow one of the Curriculum Lab Laptops. At the conclusion of the session, participants will identify how at least one source can add to their current teaching practice. Note: U of L Almuni are eligible for a free Library membership. Non-Alumni can purchase a Community card to borrow Curriculum Lab items ($30). To activate any membership bring a U of L ID card (former student card or get a new card at Campus IT, TH 218).

This workshop is designed to be an introduction to some basic First Nations, Métis and Inuit worldviews, cultural beliefs and values. It is neither a comprehensive nor exhaustive exploration of Indigenous ways of knowing, but rather a series of focused conversation starters for groups of educators engaged in reconciliation. The foundational knowledge activities are to support educators through the concepts of reconciliation as part of ongoing professional learning. The intent is to build awareness and curiosity in teachers to explore more on their own. Worldviews and Ways of Knowing are like stones thrown into the water from which other circles grow. Learning about the traditional and contemporary experiences unique to First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples helps to gain understanding and appreciation.

In this session you will walk away with a wide range of ideas on different Visual Journal pages you can do with your students that focus on Science, Math, Social Studies and Language Arts. The visual journal pages that you will see use a wide range of different art mediums and have an art focus to them. Teachers will also have the opportunity to do a hands on visual journal page, that will allow them to walk away with a page that they can then re-create in their classroom with their students.

Are you wondering what will work for your struggling students? Snapword Flashcards can help! Students will easily learn 600 sight words, visualize for recall, learn related body movement, increase reading, and expand reading fluency. Whether you have a kindergartener who is falling behind or an older child who is working too hard on reading, the right-brained teaching resources and tips will help your child be successful! The answer for children who struggle lies in teaching children using materials that are uniquely designed using right-brained elements such as visuals, body movement, and stories. The resources are designed specifically for children who need visuals and movement to learn: English as Second language, learning disabilities, visual and kinesthetic learners, those labeled with dyslexia, autism, Asperger’s, auditory processing disorder, right-brained learners and ADHD. These resources can easily be used successfully by Teachers, Educational Assistants, and Parents.

Research confirms, using literature in science class can improve student achievement. Ideas to try on Monday? You bet. “I wonder” prompts abound in children’s literature! Join me as I jump into some wonderful books, both fiction and non fiction that can become a source of inspiration and engagement for even the most reluctant reader. As we sample from a variety of new and old favourites I will share tips, techniques and tasks that prompt connections to literacy, numeracy and the competencies. Comprehension matters and is best developed through authentic reading, writing and problem solving. I will suggest ways you can use literature prompts to develop science inquiries that weave together foundational skills for language arts and mathematics and align to a range of outcomes across the grades in the Science curriculum. Research confirms, using literature in science class can improve student achievement. Ideas to try on Monday? You bet.

It seems that grade three is a crucial time for students to develop confidence as readers or writers, and that the self-image they form during this time is the one they tend to keep for years to come. Convince a student at that age that he or she is a Story Ninja, and this motivation can have a lasting impact. So, as Writer-In-Residence for schools and school divisions across Canada, author Sigmund Brouwer developed a highly successful Story Ninja program that fits will all writing curriculums and goals. While the program’s primary focus is on grade three and four, the foundational aspects of the Story Ninja approach, as well as specific Story Ninja tricks to use in the classroom, broadly apply to all teachers involved in the writing process. This session explores the importance of separating the delivery system (writing) from what it delivers (story or information), and how a teacher’s awareness of this importance can help motivate and inspire students to this crucial confidence and positive self image. Plus, come on, isn't it way more fun to be a Story Ninja teacher than a writing teacher? Each attending teacher will receive a Story Ninja folder and teacher guide.

In this session you will walk away with a wide range of ideas on different Visual Journal pages you can do with your students that focus on Science, Math, Social Studies and Language Arts. The visual journal pages that you will see use a wide range of different art mediums and have an art focus to them. Teachers will also have the opportunity to do a hands on visual journal page, that will allow them to walk away with a page that they can then re-create in their classroom with their students.