Each year I look forward to going to the local reading teacher's conference (CCIRA). Each year it is a bit larger.
One of my highlights is hearing what Jim Burke has to say. He is one of my heros in teaching. I think he is amazing.
I also look forward to meeting some of the authors whose books we read. This year the speaker was T.A. Barron. You might now him through his Young Merlin series. I have many of his books in my classroom. I have also had to replace a few of them as they got so much use. He was the lunch time speaker. He was enchanting and thought provoking. He talked about his family and how his five kids responded to the death of their grandfather. That part made me weep. The stories became, Where is Grandpa? He talked about writing Heartlight while his first baby girl slept next to him. He wanted to write a book with a female hero so that his daughter would know that women could be heros, too. That character's name is Kate. Kate was so compelling that she demanded three books be written about her. I find it a magical way to shoe your love for your daughter. He talked about letters he had received from his readers. One woman wrote to him about how that book helped her describe her young son's look in his eyes when her daughter asked about him. I had not known about this series, but am looking forward to reading them with Ellie. I wish I had the first book in the series, signed by him to give her as a special gift. He also talked about The Hero's Trail. It is a book about young heros, some who you might know about and many who would be new to you. I got a signed edition of this for our friend, Emily. He also talked about the young heros award he has created and named after his mother. I think Mr. Barron and his lovely family would make great dinner guests.
The evening ended with a person from Walden Media sharing copies of Prince Caspian and showing us the movie trailer. We also watched the trailer for Nim's Island. I had not been excited about that movie, but I have changed my mind.
I hope you enjoy the links. Perhaps it can help you feel a little like you got to go to the conference, too, minus that academic content, of course.
One of my highlights is hearing what Jim Burke has to say. He is one of my heros in teaching. I think he is amazing.
I also look forward to meeting some of the authors whose books we read. This year the speaker was T.A. Barron. You might now him through his Young Merlin series. I have many of his books in my classroom. I have also had to replace a few of them as they got so much use. He was the lunch time speaker. He was enchanting and thought provoking. He talked about his family and how his five kids responded to the death of their grandfather. That part made me weep. The stories became, Where is Grandpa? He talked about writing Heartlight while his first baby girl slept next to him. He wanted to write a book with a female hero so that his daughter would know that women could be heros, too. That character's name is Kate. Kate was so compelling that she demanded three books be written about her. I find it a magical way to shoe your love for your daughter. He talked about letters he had received from his readers. One woman wrote to him about how that book helped her describe her young son's look in his eyes when her daughter asked about him. I had not known about this series, but am looking forward to reading them with Ellie. I wish I had the first book in the series, signed by him to give her as a special gift. He also talked about The Hero's Trail. It is a book about young heros, some who you might know about and many who would be new to you. I got a signed edition of this for our friend, Emily. He also talked about the young heros award he has created and named after his mother. I think Mr. Barron and his lovely family would make great dinner guests.
The evening ended with a person from Walden Media sharing copies of Prince Caspian and showing us the movie trailer. We also watched the trailer for Nim's Island. I had not been excited about that movie, but I have changed my mind.
I hope you enjoy the links. Perhaps it can help you feel a little like you got to go to the conference, too, minus that academic content, of course.
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