My Presentations & Signings at NCTE

It’s almost time for the annual NCTE convention, one of my favorite author/teacher events in the world.  (For the non-teacher-geeks among readers, NCTE stands for National Council of Teachers of English.)  I’ll be in Chicago for the convention Thursday through Saturday, and if you’re going to be there, too, I’d love it if you’d come say hi.  Here’s where to find me…

Thursday, November 17

I don’t have any public appearances Thursday, but I’ll be spending the afternoon with uber-librarian John Schumacher and his students!  I’m really looking forward to this because we Skyped last year, and I’m a follower of John’s terrific blog, so I’m delighted that we’ll get to meet in person and I’ll get to spend time in his terrific school library.

Friday, November 18th

11:00-12:15

Author Panel: Authors as Mentors for Peer Critique Groups
Chicago Hilton/International Ballroom South, 2nd Floor

Ever wonder how you can get your students to serve as more effective writing critique partners for one another? Educator Denise Johnson invited me to be part of this panel, along with authors Matthew Kirby, Eric Luper, and Linda Urban, to talk about our critique partners and groups, share some behind-the-scenes examples of how we’ve helped one another revise our now-published books, and offer guidelines for using those same strategies to set up critique groups in your classroom.

12:30-1:30

Signing SUGAR AND ICE (and possibly EYE OF THE STORM advance copies) at Bloomsbury/Walker – Booth #108


3:00-4:00

Signing MARTY MCGUIRE at Scholastic – Booth #900


5:30-7:30

Speaking at the BookSource Cocktail Party, along with Nikki Grimes.

6:30ish -9

Scholastic dinner

Saturday, November 19th

10:30-11:30

Signing REAL REVISION: AUTHORS’ STRATEGIES TO SHARE WITH STUDENT WRITERS at Stenhouse – Booth #303


12:00-1:00

Signing OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW at Chronicle – Booth #603


2:45-5:30

Middle Level Mosaic
Palmer House/Grand Ballroom/4th Floor

I’m one of four keynote speakers for the Middle Level Mosaic this year, along with Janet Allen, Teri Lesesne, and Gordon Korman. (And yes…just seeing my name on the program next to those names is enough to make me swoon a little.) This is an incredible, energy-filled workshop, and I’m so excited to be part of it. My talk is called “Bullfrogs, Tiaras, and Sticky Notes: The Power of Play in Writing for (and with!) Kids”

In between all those things, I’ll be attending some sessions with my teacher-hat on (the line-up is really incredible – you can click a link to see the full program here) and ogling new books.  I’ll fly home Saturday night with a backpack full of books, and a head full of ideas.

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