Keynote Speakers
Lester Laminack, Children's and Professional Book Author
Thursday Keynote: 5:30–7:00pm
“Why Story Matters”
Lester L. Laminack is Professor Emeritus at Western Carolina University where he received two awards for excellence in teaching. He is the author of professional books including The Writing Workshop: Working Through the Hard Parts, Reading Aloud Across the Curriculum, Critical Comprehension, and others. He has written several beloved children’s books, including Jake’s 100th Day of School, Saturdays and Tea Cakes, Three Hens, a Peacock, and an Enormous Egg, and others.
This session is an exploration of the power of story in our lives, in our work, and in our culture.
Dr. Heidi Anne Mesmer
Friday Keynote: 8:45–10:00am
Heidi Anne Mesmer is a Professor of Literacy Education at Virginia Tech, who examines the impact of texts on readers. She has studied beginning reading materials, text difficulty, and struggling readers. Her research has been published in Reading Research Quarterly, The Educational Researcher, Elementary School Journal, and Reading Teacher. Dr Mesmer is the author of several books including Letter Lessons and First Words: Phonics Foundations That Work. Her recent book There’s Research for That: Your K-5 Literacy Questions Answered translates key research for K-5 educators.
In the current Science of Reading era, accurate and pragmatic translations of research for K-5 literacy instruction are needed. This keynote will address key findings and how they impact K-5 literacy practices from very recent work. The presentation will address findings in areas such as Set for Variability, “sound first” alphabet instruction, and text supports beyond decodability.
Concurrent Session Speakers
Dr. Katie Hilden
Katie Hilden, Ph.D., is a Professor of Literacy at Radford University. Her research interests include reading comprehension and cycles of professional learning. She regularly partners with school divisions to engage teachers and reading specialists in cycles of professional learning in K-8 schools.
Dr. Katie Kelly
Katie Kelly is an author, consultant, and Professor of Education at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. As a former teacher and literacy coach, Katie’s teaching and research interests include engaging children in meaningful literacy experiences and practices to foster critically curious and compassionate lifelong readers and writers.
Maryann McBride
Maryann is the Teacher Leader in Residence at the Early Literacy Center for South Carolina. She has worked in intervention services for young readers for more than 30 years. She frequently presents on teaching the children having the hardest with foundational skills needed for early reading and writing.
Jeffery Williams
Jeff is the Teacher Leader in Residence at The Ohio State University. He is the author of more than 120 children’s books in English and in Spanish with Hameray’s Fables and the Real-World Series. He writes paired books which include traditional tales/fables with related non-fiction books. Jeff has co-authored a book from NCTE and has written articles in numerous professional journals.