During summer 2008, Mary Dunn attended the World Congress on Reading in San José, Costa Rica. What a great opportunity it was to meet teachers from around the world and acquire new ideas to incorporate into her presentations, especially books about "reading the rainforest."

Click here to access the International Reading Association's web page for useful presenters' handouts from the World Congress.

Click on the image for a larger view.

Presentations

Mary Dunn is willing to customize her presentations to accommodate specific audiences. Based on the Illinois writing curriculum, she suggests one of the following workshop presentations for children in the elementary school.

Fiction Writing Workshop

Students will:

• participate in a grade appropriate read-aloud of a short fiction selection

• discuss the characters, setting, plot, and other literary elements of the story

• use a chart to record examples of elements suggested by the class

• use the elements listed on the chart as a framework to create a class story

Nonfiction Writing Workshop

Students will:

• participate in a grade appropriate read-aloud of a short nonfiction selection

• discuss the content of the text

• use a graphic organizer to record the content of a read-aloud

• write a retelling of the article using the content from the graphic organizer

Mary Dunn has taught students at the elementary and college levels. She is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, the International Reading Association, and Off-Campus Writers' Workshop. Contact her for presentations at mdunn@marydunnbooks.com.