…inspiring Ghanaian teachers

PRESENTS

THE EDUCATORS’ NETWORK 2ND LITERACY FORUM An intensive, wide-ranging series of workshops designed for educators who are seeking to improve students’ reading and writing skills.

under the theme,

THE READING-WRITING CONNECTION: BOOSTING CHILDREN’S LITERACY SKILLS

Saturday 24th November 2012 8:00 am – 5:30 pm

at

Lincoln Community School, Abelenkpe

P.O. Box OS 1952, Email: [email protected]

…inspiring Ghanaian teachers

THE PURPOSE OF THE EDUCATORS NETWORK LITERACY FORUMS

Effective educators are life-long learners. Of all the factors that contribute to student learning, recent research shows that classroom instruction is the most crucial. This places teachers as the most important influence on student performance. For this reason, teachers must be given frequent opportunities to develop new instructional skills and methodologies, and share their knowledge of best practice with other teachers. It is imperative that such opportunities are provided to encourage the refining of skills, inquiry into practice and incorporation of new methods in classroom settings.

To create these opportunities, The Educators’ Network (TEN) was established as a teacher initiative to provide professional development opportunities for teachers in . Through this initiative, TEN hopes to grow a professional learning community among educators in Ghana.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE EDUCATORS’ NETWORK

TEN was founded by a group of Ghanaian international educators led by Letitia Naami Oddoye, who are passionate about teaching and have had the benefit of exposure to diverse educational curricula and standards. Each of these educators has over ten years of experience in teaching and exposure to international seminars and conferences. They are all highly experienced, internationally trained and qualified teachers from the , in Accra, Ghana. Their collective teaching experiences range from pre-school to secondary school levels. These teachers share a desire to contribute to the pool of knowledge in the teaching profession in Ghana and their ultimate goal is to improve learning among Ghanaian students.

THE TEN MISSION

TEN’s mission is to provide Ghanaian teachers in local and private schools with training in research-based literacy and instructional pedagogy. Our aim is to improve the standard of teacher instruction in Ghanaian schools and ultimately heighten student achievement scores at all levels.

P.O. Box OS 1952, Accra Email: [email protected]

…inspiring Ghanaian teachers

A LETTER TO EDUCATORS

”Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. They are engines of change, windows on the world, lighthouses erected in the sea of time.” Henry David Thoreau

Dear Ghanaian Educators,

THE READING-WRITING CONNECTION: BOOSTING CHILDREN’S LITERACY SKILLS

The Educators' Network is excited to announce that registration is open for the 2nd TEN Literacy Forum, titled 'The Reading-Writing Connection: Boosting Children's Literacy Skills'. A total of eleven workshops have been provided under this theme for teachers of grade levels spanning Early Childhood through Secondary school.

We are honoured to have Dr. Mrs. Margaret Nkrumah and Prof. Ama Ata Aidoo as guest speakers for the 2nd TEN Literacy Forum. Dr. Mrs. Nkrumah is currently the Vice-President of SOS Kinderdorf International (KDI), and the acclaimed former principal of SOS-Hermann Gmeiner International College in Tema, Ghana. Prof. Aidoo is a renowned Ghanaian professor, playwright and author of Dilemma of a Ghost and The Girl Who Can & Other Stories among many others.

Included in this packet is the following information: • All-new workshop description and profiles of our Workshop Facilitators • The Forum Program Schedule • Details on how to register and pay for participation in the Forum

We leave you with a thought as you select your workshops: teachers can be most effective in helping students become better readers, writers and thinkers when they weave integrated reading and writing activities into their literacy instruction.

TEN hopes that these workshops enhance your teaching experiences and enrich your students. Please feel free to contact us for more information.

We hope to see you at The Educators’ Network 2nd Literacy Forum.

The Educators' Network ...inspiring Ghanaian teachers.

Accra, Ghana www.theeducatorsnetwork.net

P.O. Box OS 1952, Accra Email: [email protected]

…inspiring Ghanaian teachers

NOVEMBER 2012 WORKSHOPS

Reading Response - Demonstrating Understanding Beyond the Obvious (Grades 1-3) Presenters: Juliette Awua-Kyerematen & Elizabeth Osei

This workshop will focus on; What a text says: What a text does: What a text means. During this workshop participants will discover how to explore and interpret text from various perspectives. As shared by Sharon Taberski, “children also need to engage in real reading, writing and talking experiences, and within that context, expand their oral language and vocabulary, develop accurate fluent reading, acquire and use background knowledge, and sustain reading-writing connections.” As teachers and learners our goal for this workshop will be to formulate our own questions from texts, and to our classrooms to nurture inquisitive learners.

Everyday Literacy: How to use Everyday Classroom Routines to Teach Reading and Writing (Grades Pre K–K) Presenters: Rebecca Narnor & Winifred Atta-Mensah

In this workshop participants will learn how to capitalize on opportunities for reading and writing throughout the Pre Kindergarten/Kindergarten day. All classroom routines can be embedded with rich experiences, so that young children learn emergent literacy skills along with the desire to use them. Let’s explore the journey of early literacy together!

Using the Writing Cycle to Inspire Student Writers (Grades 3-5) Presenters: Naami Oddoye & Sylvia Ampofo

Traditionally, students have been taught writing via the technical aspects of grammar, punctuation, spelling and other conventions. In recent years research has shown that this rote approach fails to engage and inspire student learning, and the content of writing has been proven to be more of an intuitive process (Hicks, 1993; Hillocks, 1986). It is no surprise then that many students suffer a mental block when required to write. In this workshop participants will discover how to use the writing cycle to train confident and independent writers who are able to express themselves freely through creative, unique and fluent written essays.

Writing and Reading within Social Studies and Science (Grades 3-5) Presenter: Rosie Upson

Have you ever wondered how you could teach reading and writing through your science and social studies lessons? Through this hands-on workshop, learn how to develop a fully integrated program in which students learn not only content but also skills to help deepen their understanding. Learn and practice reading skills for decoding non-fiction texts in Social Studies and Science. Use skimming and scanning, note taking and summarizing skills to help unpack a piece of non-fiction text. Uncover the structure of a non-fiction report and use non-fiction reading skills to help write a report.

P.O. Box OS 1952, Accra Email: [email protected]

…inspiring Ghanaian teachers

Writing as a Response to the Reading Experience (Grades 6-8) Presenter: Shula Glymin

One way to generate richer writing abilities in the classroom is to relate the writing activity directly to text that has been read in class. This can be done through various reading response activities and teaching strategies, which will be shared in this workshop.

Daily Reading and Writing Connections in the Early Elementary Classroom (Grades 1-2) Presenters: Gloria Quarmine & Belinda D. Hammond

In our daily lives there are lots of opportunities for reading and writing. Students who read and write daily are being prepared for real life. In this workshop, teachers will walk away with strategies that will help them plan, teach and enjoy reading and writing moments with their students. They will also understand the connection between reading and writing in the early elementary classroom.

Children as Authors (Grades 2-4) Presenter: Sage McCormack

This workshop explores how all children can become authors in the classroom. While making the link between reading and writing, teachers will learn how to facilitate the engagement of children in the craft of writing by encouraging them to identify their favorite authors, discuss why they love certain books and transfer this knowledge into the writing process. Using a student-centered, balanced literacy approach to writing, teachers will be encouraged to acknowledge that all of their children are authors.

Using Low Cost/No Cost Resources to Boost Literacy Skills (Grades K-3) Presenter: Jane Zohoungbogbo

Do you ever think that you could provide more stimulating and interesting literacy lessons if only you had some fantastic and /or expensive resources? It is possible to deliver enriching and meaningful literacy lessons using everyday objects and your surroundings. In this hands-on workshop teachers will have the opportunity to share their ideas and begin to develop resources that may be useful to them.

Interactive Strategies for Teaching Student Writing in Response to Literature (Grades 6 - 10) Presenters: Carolyn Mason Parker and Tricia Wagner

Students who engage in frequent discussions about what they read are more motivated and have higher achievement scores than students who do not interact with books. Mullis, Campbell and Farstrup 1993 Engaging students in writing about their responses to reading leads to better reading achievement. Tierney and Shanahan, 1991

This workshop will use a hands-on approach to reading and writing. It will introduce participants to a variety of techniques and strategies that can be used in the classroom to help make the connection between reading a text and then breaking it down in order to use the same techniques in writing. During the course of this session we will take a Grade 7 level text and look at the structures, engage in writing patterns and structures and finish with a successful written assessment.

P.O. Box OS 1952, Accra Email: [email protected]

…inspiring Ghanaian teachers

Using Technology to Support Reading and Writing in the Elementary School (All grades) Presenter: Jeffery Adjekum Adjei

In this workshop, participants will look at some of the cutting edge resources for encouraging students to read and write. These include resources for desktop publishing such as Pages and MS Word; online publishing tools for creating websites, blogs and wikis; note taking tools such as Wallwisher and Endnote; and Inspiration as a concept-mapping tool. We would also look at resources for helping students with citation and detecting plagiarism as educators.

Using School Libraries to Support Reading/Writing (All grades) Presenter: Rhona Polonsky

There will also be a course on how to use your school library to support a Reading/Writing program (details to be supplied on the day of the forum).

P.O. Box OS 1952, Accra Email: [email protected]

…inspiring Ghanaian teachers

Workshop Facilitators

Naami Oddoye Naami is a primary school teacher and has been teaching for over 24 years both in international and local schools in Ghana. She has taught different subjects in various grade levels ranging from preschool to grade 5. She is currently working as a learning support specialist at the Lincoln Community School. She is an internationally certified teacher and holds a Masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the United States International University in San Diego. She also trained as a PYP (Primary Years Program) teacher with the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) and regularly attends various international conferences and workshops. Naami has been running a Reading Club since 2004 and spends a lot of her free time encouraging children to read books, listen to stories and most importantly, discover the joy of reading. She also provides consultancy services for private international schools in Accra and is the founder of The Educators’ Network.

Shula Glymin Shula teaches secondary school French at the Lincoln Community School, where she has been working for the past 10 years. She holds a Bachelors degree in French and Linguistics, as well as a certificate for teaching French as a foreign language, from the University of Montreal, Canada. She has benefited from years of elementary and secondary teacher education offered by the International Baccalaureate Organization. She is currently completing a Masters of Secondary Education program with the University of Phoenix, Arizona.

Sylvia Ampofo Sylvia has been teaching at the Lincoln Community School for the past ten years as an elementary school teacher and learning support specialist. She is an internationally certified teacher with a Masters degree in Education from the College of New Jersey in the United States, and trained as a PYP (Primary Years Program) teacher with the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO). Sylvia continues to hone her teaching craft by regularly attending professional development conferences such as the Heinemann Institute in Washington DC, the Columbia University Teacher's College in New York and the Teacher Training College in Miami Florida, where she studies research based teaching methodologies and best practice in education.

Juliette Awua-Kyerematen Juliette is an early years and primary school teacher and has been teaching for 4 years at the Lincoln Community School. She is an internationally certified teacher with a Post Graduate Certificate in Education from the UK where she taught for five years. Over the years she has gathered ample experience from various training workshops, which she has attended in different parts of the world, organized by International Teacher Training Organizations such as the Teacher Training Center in Miami and Reggio Emilia in Italy. She has also been running a Reading Club since 2008.

Rebecca Narnor With a Master’s Degree in Education and an Elementary teachers Certification from the College of New Jersey, and a B.Sc. from the , , Rebecca comes with a wealth of knowledge, skills and experience as an Early Childhood Educator. She has attended several educational workshops in different countries around the world, which has enhanced her abilities as an international educator. She has taught in the Pre-School, Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten classes at the Lincoln Community School over a period of 20 years. Rebecca’s goal is to educate children to be independent minded, to be inquirers and to develop life-long learning skills at an early age.

P.O. Box OS 1952, Accra Email: [email protected]

…inspiring Ghanaian teachers

Elizabeth Osei Elizabeth is currently a kindergarten teacher at Lincoln Community School. She has a total of 24 years of teaching experience ranging from high school to toddlers. She taught English language and literature in School, Kindergarten in London, and Preschool and First Grade at the United Nations International School in New York City. She holds a B.A in Education from the University of and has a certificate in Early Childhood Education, and a QTS (Qualified Teachers Status) from the UK. She has attended numerous workshops on reading and writing, the latest being the ECIS Conference in Nice, France and The Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University in New York City. Elizabeth grew up listening to Ananse stories and developed a love for reading through those. She is a chief advocate for using traditional stories and folktales to encourage student learning.

Belinda Dowuna-Hammond Belinda holds a diploma in Education and is working towards completing a Masters in Education program in 2013. She has been teaching for 12 years, 8 years of which have been at Lincoln Community School, where she teaches the Pre-Kindergarten class. Belinda is a life long learner. She has attended many workshops and training sessions, which have enhanced her skills as an Early Childhood educator. Recently she attended a study tour of the world-renowned preschools and infant toddler centers of Reggio Emilia in Italy as well as workshops organized by the Teacher Training Center for International Educators in Florida USA. She believes that an emphasis on play does not detract from academic learning but actually enhances it.

Gloria Quarmine Gloria is currently a first grade teacher at Lincoln Community School where she has been teaching for the past 8 years. She holds a Masters degree in Multidisciplinary Studies in International Education from Buffalo State University (SUNY), and an undergraduate degree in Education from the University of Cape Coast. She is also a certified international school teacher with IB experience in the Primary years Program (PYP). To update her teaching skills, she has attended courses at the Teachers’ College Reading Program (Columbia University, New York) and participated in various conferences organized by the Association of International Schools in Africa.

Jane Zohoungbogbo Jane is an EAL (English as an Additional Language) Teacher with a background in youth work and youth counselling. As well as youth work and counselling qualifications Jane holds both a Certificate and Diploma in teaching EAL from Trinity College, London. She has been teaching for over ten years in both international and local schools in the UK, China and Ghana. Jane worked at LCS from 2004 - 2008 in Learning Support and EAL and she continues to be a substitute teacher there. Jane currently returns to the UK each summer to work at Millfield, a private co-ed school where she is the Manager for the English Language Holiday Course and responsible for 1,200 international students aged 6 - 17yrs who come there from all over the world to learn and improve their English. Jane, along with her husband, founded the Kokrobite Chiltern Centre, an NGO based in Kokrobite that works to enable children and young people from the local communities to gain and sustain an education. They also work with a number of local schools and help to provide teacher training and resources.

Rosie Upson Rosie Upson has been working at Lincoln Community School for the last three years. Prior to being in Ghana, she taught in Sudan and her home country of New Zealand. She holds a Bachelor of Education from the University of Auckland and is currently studying for her Masters in Educational Leadership from the University of Southern Queensland. She is a trained and qualified PYP teacher, who believes that students learn best through taking ownership for the learning and doing their own inquiries. Rosie Upson has attended Lucy Calkin’s Readers and Writers Workshop in New York City, and uses this model to teach reading and writing. As an elementary school teacher, Rosie sees the importance of students developing a firm foundation in literacy skills. She is passionate about instilling excitement for reading and writing in her students, through constant encouragement as they develop into “authors.” P.O. Box OS 1952, Accra Email: [email protected]

…inspiring Ghanaian teachers

Carolyn Mason Parker Carolyn is a British teacher who has previously worked in the UK, the USA and is currently the MYP Coordinator at Lincoln Community School, Accra. As well as a B.A. degree from the University of Kent, she holds a Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) from UCN, a Post Graduate Diploma in Special Needs Education (PGDE) and a Masters Degree in Applied Linguistics and Education. Carolyn has been involved in running workshops and presenting programs in Literacy development for teacher professional development programs, student mentors, parent volunteers, and parents in the UK and the US, and she is looking forward to being part of this forum. She believes that strong skills in reading and writing open the door to life long learning.

Tricia Wagner Tricia has a Masters degree from New York in Drama and Education. She enjoys using many modalities to talk about reading and writing, specifically for those students who are not served by formal desk and chair education. She has been an educator for 20 years and taught in Seattle, seven years in Costa Rica and she is currently the Grade 8 English and Drama teacher for Middle School here at LCS. She has led workshops on integrating theatre into education but is looking forward to teaming up with Carolyn to share their interactive strategies for teaching student writing.

Winifred Atta-Mensah Winifred is an internationally certified teacher with a Qualified Teacher Status from the UK where she trained and taught for eight years. She holds a bachelors degree from KNUST, Ghana and has taught for the past eleven years. As a life–long learner, she continues to attend workshops to broaden her horizons and remain abreast with current educational trends. She works consistently to improve upon her delivery of the best practices she has been exposed to, and ensures that the children she works with succeed in their endeavors. Winifred worked as a Reception (Kindergarten) teacher for three years at Ghana International School (GIS) and currently works as a Kindergarten teacher at Lincoln Community School.

Sage MacCormack Sage is in her 8th year as a teacher and has a wide range of teaching experiences, from the United States, West Indies and Mexico, and considers herself a global citizen. Sage’s educational background includes a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs, and a Master’s in Curriculum & Instruction with an emphasis on Linguistically Diverse Education. She is proficient in French and Spanish, and feels passionate about teaching and language acquisition. This summer Sage attended a Writer’s Workshop Institute with Education specialist Stephanie Parsons. She is excited about being a part of this forum.

Jeffery Agyekum Adjei Jeffery joins The Educators Network with a wealth of teaching experience from the international school setting. He studied for the Ordinary and Advanced Level certificates at Aquinas Secondary School in Accra, read Economics and Business Administration at the University of Ghana, Legon and holds a Master of Arts in Educational Technology from Michigan State University. This is his 9th year at Lincoln Community School, where he has collaboratively integrated technology into elementary and middle school lessons. Outside of his work at Lincoln School, Jeffery has provided IT training for teachers from the Abelemkpe Primary School and the Association International School.

P.O. Box OS 1952, Accra Email: [email protected]

…inspiring Ghanaian teachers

FORUM SCHEDULE

8:00 – 8:40 - Arrival, Welcome, Sign-up for workshops

8:40 – 8:45 - Welcome Address by TEN Executive Director

8:45– 8:50 - Opening Remarks by Dr. Dennis Larkin (Head of School, L.C.S)

8:50– 8:55 - Message from a sponsor

9:00 – 9:30 - Guest Speakers:

Dr. (Mrs.) Margaret Nkrumah Prof. Ama Ata Aidoo

9:35 – 11:00 - Session 1

11:00 – 11:25 - COFFEE BREAK / Book Browse

11:30 – 1:00 - Session 2

1:00 - 2:00 - LUNCH

2:00 – 3:30 - Session 3

3:30 – 3:55 - COFFEE BREAK / Book Browse

4:00 – 5:00 - Job Alike / Open Discussion

5:00 – 5:30 - Reflections by Participants Closing Remarks by TEN Executive Member

Teachers may sign up for a maximum of three different workshops – one per session

WHAT TO BRING • Laptop computer/tablet e.g. iPad with wireless internet access (optional) • Reading and writing program from your school • Samples of student writing

P.O. Box OS 1952, Accra Email: [email protected]