Literacy teachers take note!

University of Hawaiʻi
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Posted: Jan 30, 2001

With all the talk of education and literacy at the White House thesedays, local educators should note that an important literacy conferenceis taking place right here in Hawaiʻi.

The Aloha State Council, in conjunction with the International ReadingAssociation and the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Education, present "Horizons2001: Transforming Literacy Teaching and Learning," March 2-4, 2001at the Sheraton Waikiki. Early registration deadline is Friday, February9.

Addressing the need for transforming literacy teaching and learning,Dr. Allan Luke will be the opening keynote speaker on Friday evening, March2. Dr. Luke is the Dean and Head of Faculty at the University of Queenslandin Australia and also serves as the Deputy Director of General Educationin Queensland. His lifetime work is critical literacy as it has developedin Australia, a country highly regarded internationally for its progressivework in literacy education.

Dr. Jane Hansen, second keynote speaker, from the University of Virginia,will address the audience on Saturday morning, March 3. Dr. Hansen, a formerelementary school teacher, has done extensive work in reading, writing,and evaluation.

The ASC conference also features 14 breakout sessions on Saturday, March2, and a special closing session that will bring together Dr. Luke and Dr.Hansen. There are sessions for all teaching audiences, ranging from portfoliosof learning to stories of school community efforts in literacy education.

Four post-conference intensive sessions are offered on Sunday, March4, for conference participants who want to get hands-on experience withunderstanding Hawai'i reading performance standards and their implementationin the classroom; exploring folk tales as the means for helping studentssee themselves as part of a larger cultural story; learning how to bringpopular culture into classrooms as a way to transform our teaching and students'learning; and integrating literature and music to foster language development,auditory memory, and writing skills.

Conference participants will be treated to two other special events.On Friday evening the award-winning Pidg Latin, a comedy written by YokanaanKearns, will be performed by the Honolulu Theatre for Youth. The play looksat relationships of power and identity through language.

The conference is coordinated by the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo ConferenceCenter. For a registration packet, please call Judith Fox-Goldstein at (808)974-7555.