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I submitted a proposal to speak at the United Way’s Early Literacy Symposium here in Atlanta and they have accepted me! The symposium is on April 15th at the Loudermilk Center here in Atlanta.

The Early Literacy Symposium brings together more than 300 education professionals from early care and education through 3^rd grade levels.  The Symposium features the latest innovations in literacy instruction, research and practice to foster children’s early reading proficiency.  Reading proficiency by the end of third grade is widely recognized as a critical educational benchmark.  This year’s theme is Extending Conversations With Children – exploring ways that meaningful talk, while employing new words and concepts, can be intellectually stimulating to children of all ages and contribute to early literacy and academic success.

Who attends the Symposium?

Teachers of young children from birth through 3^rd grade

Program directors and administrators

Early Reading First grant teachers and project leaders

Georgia Pre-K teachers

Curriculum and instructional coordinators

Early childhood specialists

University students in ECE and K-3 programs

Clearly I will be more along the lines of entertainment at this symposium, but as always, I will try and give my audience something they can use in their classrooms outside of what I do in my work. Hopefully my interest in visual communication will be of interest to the educators and childhood specialists in the bunch. My proposed talk will be given in two parts:

Visual Storytelling and Making Connections

Part one is about my work, process, and goals in creating images for picturebooks stressing the way I use of reference to support the ideas in my work; and part two will focus on strategies using visual aids and technology that teachers can implement in their classrooms to help enrich and support the learning process.

from my talk at the 23rd Annual Conference on Children’s Literature,
“Framing Social Issues in Books for Children”

A special “thank you” to Jan Miller Burkins, literacy consultant and co-founder of Literacyhead.com for involving me with UWMA. It should be fun~

I will be doing a live-draw alongside Jan Miller Burkins (of literacyhead fame) in her keynote address at tomorrow’s United Way Summit, “How Coaching Promotes Excellence in Education”. It’s my first time drawing live in front of adults, but I’m all rehearsed and ready to go. It should be a great event. If Jan’s talk is any indication of the way the rest of the summit will be, I’m looking forward to a treat!