CCGA prepares for 3rd Annual Literacy Forum
Brunswick, GA – The College of Coastal Georgia will host its 3rd Annual CCGA Literacy Forum on Friday, March 3, 2017, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Southeast Georgia Conference Center on the Brunswick campus.
It is offered free to regional educators, administrators, our students and the public, and is sponsored through a grant funding the Community-Supported Professorship in Early Childhood Reading and Language Arts at the College. Coffee and snacks will be provided from 9:30 to 10:00 a.m. but lunch is at the discretion of the attendee, which will be between noon and 1:00 p.m.
Dr. Ron Reigner, event coordinator and CCGA Associate Professor of Literacy Education, said the daylong program is an opportunity for educators, both near and far, and aspiring teachers to promote the importance of literacy at home, discuss innovative education and learning techniques, and develop new tools and strategies that support literary activities.
“Attendees at this year’s Literacy Forum are in for a truly exciting day as we celebrate the uses of language and especially children’s literature to foster that all-important love of reading for every child,” Reigner said. “Our ‘job’ as parents and educators involves teaching children not only how to read but, just as importantly – even if lost in all the mandated accountability – to want to read. This year’s attendees will surely leave with some wonderful new ideas and new book selections to cover both vital aspects of literacy education.”
The featured morning speaker will be Illinois author John Gile. His presentation, “Using Imaginative Literature to Motivate Students in Reading, Writing, and Thinking Skills,” will expand on the motivational approaches in his books, “Oh, How I Wished I Could Read!” and “What Is That Thing? Whose Stuff Is This” for helping children read and develop their vocabulary power. Gile’s beautifully illustrated fable, “The First Forest” (in English, Spanish, and Chinese), has a timeless message of respect and sharing appropriate for all age groups.
Following lunch, speaker Jane Feber, educator and author of several teacher-friendly manuals, will present her work on “Creative Book Reports: Fun Projects with Rubrics for Fiction and Nonfiction” and “Student Engagement is FUNdamental.”
The day will conclude with three concurrent break-out sessions: children’s author Nancy Raines Day (“Read-Aloud Techniques to Engage Students and Promote Learning”), children’s author/African animal photographer Patsy Smith Roberts (“Lions, Leopards and Warthogs, Oh My!”), and Drs. Beth Pendergraft and Kim Barker of Augusta University (“What If They Don’t Want to Read? Motivating the Older Reluctant Reader”).
For more information or to register for the free event, contact Dr. Ron Reigner at rreigner@ccga.edu or 912-279-5987.
Contact: Brittany Tate
(912) 279-5938