Upcoming Events for Adolescent Literature Enthusiasts

Just because I am not blogging daily doesn't mean I'm slacking! I'm certainly reading, writing lesson plans and I'm currently preparing for a few conferences. I just finished reading Frey & Fisher's (eds) Teaching Visual Literacy: Using Comic Books, Graphic Novels, Anime, Cartoons, and More to Develop Comprehension and Thinking Skills. In the 21st Century, students must become critical readers and visual literacy is an essential part of literacy development. As teachers we must address this in our classrooms. I tried out one of the lessons in Rocco Versaci's chapter, "'Literary Literacy' and the Role of the Comic Book". The focus was the analysis of panel layouts in comic books. The lesson worked so well that I was actually disappointed that we weren't being observed. The last chapter by Paula Kluth addresses the need for visual supports for students with disabilities who are visual learners. She directly address the needs of deaf students.

Below are some upcoming events for adolescent literature enthusiasts. Not all of the conferences have presentations focused on Deaf Characters but I do try to branch out a little AND the more involved we are in these organizations, the more others realize that there is a unique genre that is often underrepresented.

March 14- 27, 2008: Pulse Blogfest. Over 110 authors have committed to this project. Each day of the blogfest will be devoted to one question submitted by a teen. For information, visit The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents: ALAN

April 2-5, 2008: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Convention, Worlds of TESOL: Building Communities of Practice, Inquiry, Creativity held in New York City. For information, visit: http://www.tesol.org/ I'll be presenting my research on Deaf Characters in Adolescent Literature on Thursday, April 3 and then leading a discussion group on analyzing Deaf Characters on Friday, April 4.

April 17-19, 2008: "Young Adults and Their Literature: An Inquiry-Based Forum" in conjunction with the 30th Youngstown State University English Festival in Ohio. Featured speakers include Joan Bauer, Chris Crutcher, Naomi Shihab Nye, and Christopher Paul Curtis, as well as Scott Dikkers, editor and co-founder of The Onion. For information, http://www.ysuenglishfestival.org/

May 7, 2008: International Reading Association's Special Interest Group for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Readers Presentation by Myron Uhlberg For information, http://www.reading.org/

June 12-15, 2008: "ReImagining Normal," Illinois State University is hosting the 2008 Children's Literature Association Conference at the Chateau Hotel and Conference Center in Bloomington, Illinois. For information about the conference, visit http://www.english.ilstu.edu/ChLA2008/

November 7-9, 2008: YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association, the fastest-growing division of ALA) will have its first Literature Symposium on the topic "How We Read Now," in Nashville, TN. For information, http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/yalitsymposium/symposium.cfm