Summer Literacy Institute Reflection

July 17th-18th, 2014

On the weekend of July 17th, I attended the 11th annual two-day

Summer Literacy Institute at Longwood University. The institutes
theme these year was Inquiry to Make Connections. Approaching this
event, I wasnt sure what it would entail. However, as I went through
and experienced the Summer Literacy Institute, I was very pleased and
learned so much.
Over the event, the days were split up into sessions in which
multiple presentations were prepared and each individual was able to
choose which one he or she would like to most attend. I enjoyed that
we were able to read a little summary about each presentation and be
given the opportunity to make our own decision on which presentation
we felt resonated best with ourselves. One of the presentations that
stood out to me was Henry Coles Unspoken: Literacy Lessons by
Lynne Farrell Stover. During this presentation we were able to view
through the beautiful text, Unspoken, and discuss potential lessons
that would fit in well with this text or texts similar. A lesson that Stover
presented us was Resource Relay lesson in which the students are
active and participate in a relay to put together or match different
components of the text together. Another lesson that she presented
was one based on the students deciding which is morally the best

choice for a main character to make and why, as well as, ranking
character traits. I appreciated the various lessons that she explained to
our group because each involved the students being active and
thinking outside of the box. When I am given the opportunity to
prepare my future schools professional development, I would be sure
to make sure each individual is able to be active throughout the
activities as well as pushed to think outside the box. This is where
creativity flows and further discussions are brought up.
A second presentation that I attended and stood out to me was
by Jason Wright and was titiled, Gummy Bears and Group
Storytelling. In this presentation, Wright had high energy and was
focused on engaging the group. During this session, Wright, as the lead
narrator, guided the filled classroom through a collaborative story
telling journey. Almost each person in the room was able to add to the
story that we had all created, orally. It was entertaining and fun! As we
were going through this process, I quickly realized that this type of
activity could be adapted to all different age groups, as well as a great
source for creativity, safe-space, ideas, adding details, etc. The whole
session had everyone laughing!
Apart from the session that we are able to choose and attend on
our own, the whole group of attendees was able to listen to panels by
various authors. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Henry Cole, Meg
Medina and Jason Wright. Each of these talented authors had their own

interesting story and meaning to be made and heard, which made

them very engaging. I felt inspired by them and even purchased some
of their books and was able to meet them!
A component of this literacy institute that stood out most to me
was the eclectic group of educators that made up the population of the
room. There were full time graduate students, lower and upper grade
level teachers, librarians, professors, authors, and researchers. While
each of these people work similar or different jobs each day, they were
all there for the same reason: LITERACY! A continual focus and learning
of literacy is essential for all types of educators out in the field of
literacy. Also, this vast group of people allowed for networking and
talking about different experiences. I was able to talk to teachers and
librarians of different grades, regions and backgrounds. The Summer
Literacy Institute was very impressive and an event I would most
definitely attend in the future to learn more about literacy, network
and to just have fun!