Teacher workshops
On the final afternoon of the conference, teachers who are not able to attend the whole conference are invited to participate free of charge in two hands-on professional development workshops on English language and literature in-depth learning, and in the closing Roundtable.
Gail Ellis
Exploring social issues through picturebooks in the primary English classroom
In this workshop, I will demonstrate how lessons can be created around picturebooks which address the theme of hardship and allow children to explore social issues such as living without a home, relying on foodbanks and turning to crime and bullying to survive or to save face. The picturebooks selected include a strong verbal and visual message of hope. They illustrate the importance of individuals and the community showing kindness and taking action, thereby offering a first step to raising awareness amongst children and to developing an emotional connection to the issues. The picturebooks link to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 2 and to several Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Gail Ellis is an independent teacher educator and adviser based in Paris. Her main interests include picturebooks in primary ELT, children’s rights, young learner ELT management and inclusive practices. Her recent publications include Teaching English to Pre-Primary Children with Sandie Mourão a 2021 ELTons winner (DELTA Publishing 2020), Teaching children how to learn with Nayr Ibrahim (DELTA Publishing 2015) and Tell it Again! with Jean Brewster (British Council 2014). She is a co-founder of Picturebooks in European Primary English Language Teaching (PEPELT), a finalist in the British Council’s 2020 ELTons awards.
Tools for teaching students to explore meaning in texts through reader response
Reading is a social, cultural, and personal experience. Ensuring that students interact with texts and make personally relevant (yet responsible) meaning is key. The broadest goal that language teachers have for their students is that they will read rich texts beyond the literal, and in doing so there will be a depth of understanding that will touch them and move them. My experience (of more than 40 years in classrooms) is that often students don’t know quite how to get beyond the shallow waters of literal reading, and teachers often struggle to find ways to help them. This workshop will allow you to experience a series of ‘signposts’ (both for fiction and nonfiction texts), developed by Kaylene Beers and Robert Probst (2013, 2016). These will help students (in both mother tongue and language learning classrooms) to focus on what is likely to be important in a text for comprehension.
Wendy King teaches as well as supervises student teachers at Bishop’s University (Education department). She worked as a high school teacher for 30 years, and then for 10 years as a school board Language Arts Consultant (responsible for support and professional development of teachers). Wendy’s focus has included assessment practices, trauma-informed schools resources, development of curriculum, effective feedback, as well as topics specifically related to Language Arts development from kindergarten through to the end of high school. Wendy worked on various projects and committees for the Quebec Ministry of Education in developing resources and professional development in the area of English Language Arts.
Wendy King
