Breakout Session G

Session G1

Paul Krogmeier
        Normal Community High School
Room: Fell A
Audience: Middle/High School

New Strategies for Close Reading
Too often we can get caught up in the latest technology craze when it doesn’t truly improve student learning. See why getting back to the basics should be a priority, then learn how to infuse exciting new strategies and mediums into your practice.

Session G2

Shannon McMullen
Patricia Maxwell
Laura O’Brien
    Northern Illinois University
Room: Fell B
Audience: Middle/High School

Deliberate Dialogues: Converting Classroom Conversation to Composition
When structured carefully, conversation can function as an important classroom tool, empowering students to read deeply while practicing the procedures necessary to generate effective writing. In this session, panelists will present Common Core-aligned activities, demonstrating how to plan, facilitate, and sustain conversation that equips students to construct interpretive insight and interact meaningfully with one another, converting their dialogues into thoughtful written arguments.

Session G3

Janice Neuleib
        Illinois State University
Room: Fell C
Audience: General

What Do You Mean By “Revision”?
College students often enter my classes thinking that revision means fixing a text and that peer review means copy editing a text. Rather, to revise is to re-see a text with fresh eyes and to give the author new information or a new take on the topic. Revising a text means to consider where that text might go or might have gone. The author can and should ask leading questions for the revising reader to move toward a new vision.

Session: G4

Claire Lamonica
      Illinois State University
Room: Redbird E
Audience: High School

What College Professors Expect from Student Writers and Why Authentic Writing Assignments Can Help
College professors in every discipline share some basic expectations for student writers.  Unfortunately, even good students don’t always meet those expectations, resulting in frustration for professors and students alike.  Find out what college professors expect and how providing authentic writing opportunities for your students can help them meet those expectations.

Session G5

Bryan Dunn
    Carbondale Community High School
Room: Redbird F
Audience: High School

Their Words, Their World
Lost in the litany of character analysis, research papers, and short stories is perhaps the most authentic writing a student can do: personal writing.  Using their own personally-created websites, students develop, critique, and ultimately publish their own pieces of writing in this project that could be adapted to different grades levels for a variety of purposes.