Preschool & Primary Teachers Congress

Primary

The Digital Human: Making the Transition from Books to Digital Texts (L5 POSSIBILITY ROOM)

Janet Evans (Independent Scholar)

Janet Evans shares how children’s interest in picture books and moving image can be used to stimulate imaginative, creative and critical responses in relation to the underlying meanings in these thought-provoking texts.

Pre-school

“Where Are We Going Today, Teacher?” Drama Methods to Enliven Early Literacy (L5 IMAGINATION ROOM)

Jill Coombs (Headteacher, Lorna Whiston Schools Pte Ltd)

As students enter the class, they often ask, “Where are we going today teacher?” They know that they will be transported to another world and this excites them. In this fun, interactive workshop you will be exposed to various drama techniques that can be used to bring stories to life. Prepare to be transported to a different place through drama and literature!

Primary

Hey That’s Me! – Reading, Language and Identity (L1 VISITORS BRIEFING ROOM)

Maya Thiagarajan (Teacher, Author)

Maya delves deep into the politics of language, offering English teachers who teach Asian children a lens with which to examine the way our book choices impact our students’ identities. Maya will also offer teachers book lists of excellent Asian literature for children.

Pre-school Primary

Positive Education, Reading and Dialogue (L16 THE POD)

George Jacobs (Learning Support Advisor, James Cook University Singapore), Vadivu Govind (Founder, Joy Works)

With a focus on positive perspectives like gratitude and kindness, can Positive Education enable children to interact more deeply with reading and with fellow readers, including peers, parents and teachers? In this interactive session, participants get to experience strategies from a style influenced by Positive Psychology.

Tea Break

Pre-school

Why Wordless Books? (L16 THE POD)

Geraldine Zuzarte (Centre Director, The Caterpillar’s Cove Child Development and Study Centre)

In a wordless book, the whole story is in the pictures. With meaningful facilitation from adults, children can gain many skills in literacy development, building of vocabulary and directionality, an important pre-reading literacy skill for beginning readers. This session will present the benefits as well as some ideas for reading wordless picture books with very young children.

Primary

The Great Paradox of Reading: For Grades or Leisure (B1 MULTIPURPOSE ROOM)

Chitra Shegar (Director, Reading Edge Academy)

Findings on the reading habits of Singapore students, shows that majority of students read materials related to academia not for leisure. This is a paradox, as research findings show that school success comes with reading for pleasure. Dr Chitra argues that it’s time for teachers and parents to adopt a paradigm shift.

Pre-school

I Want to Create a Picturebook Just Like That (L5 POSSIBILITY ROOM)

Donna Lim (Lecturer, English Language and Literature Academic Group at NIE)

Picturebooks are a rich source of visuals and text help children gain a greater appreciation for and understanding of stories. This session explores using the richness of such texts to support emerging writers, capitalizing on authentic writing and providing children with high quality writing they can aspire towards. 

Pre-school

Why Bilingual? The Importance of Creating Bilingual Books for Early Learners (L1 VISITORS BRIEFING ROOM)

Coonoor Kripalani (Author)

Nuturing bilingual children helps prepare them for today’s multicultural world. Presenting culturally-sensitive colourful bilingual books with wit and humour, engages children, promotes self-identity, respect and joy in the use of different languages.

Break for Room Change

Pre-school

Books, Books and More Books: Reading for Pleasure, for Learning and for Life (L16 THE POD)

Janet Evans (Independent Scholar)

Janet will take a closer look at how young children’s playful learning can be supported by reading, sharing, interacting with, and talking about, books and non- book material at each and every stage in their development.

Pre-school Primary

Apps as Stepping Stones for Telling Stories (B1 MULTIPURPOSE ROOM)

Seán McHugh (Digital Literacy Coach, United World College of South East Asia)

‘App Overload’ is a common affliction for tablet users, avoiding the plethora of ‘skill and drill’ ‘educational’ apps. Instead, Seán will focus on just 8 apps for creation that children can not only consume, but use to tell their own stories.

Primary

Asking the Right Questions (L1 VISITORS BRIEFING ROOM)

Maya Thiagarajan (Teacher, Author)

How can we facilitate provocative and interesting discussions, where students are pushed to think deeply and critically about texts and issues? How can we help students formulate their own questions? Maya will share her insights on ways to lead students to “the thresholds of their own minds.”

Pre-school

Developing Interactive Spaces – With and For Children (L5 POSSIBILITY ROOM)

Anna Salaman (Executive Director, Playeum)

Hands-on spaces for children are on the increase, whether these are within museums, galleries, schools, libraries, and parks. But what is it that makes them appeal to children, and where does the real impact lie? This talk presents a range of interactive spaces, including, the Playeum’s Children’s Centre for Creativity. The presentation concludes with advice on how to collaborate with children creativity.

Lunch

Primary

[WORKSHOP] Children in Control (B1 MULTIPURPOSE ROOM)

Lachlann Carter (Co-founder and Program Director, 100 Story Building​ )

In this two part workshop, participants will take a close look at a program that has children acting as an editorial committee for a successful literary journal, and then explore strategies for developing child-directed literacy projects.

Pre-school

[PANEL] Put the Fun in Language Learning (L16 THE POD)

Cara Lee (Assistant Academic Head & Head of the Preschool Practicum Centre, St James’ Church Kindergarten), Li Li (Research Associate, Singapore Centre for Chinese Language, NTU), Liang Huiyu (Founder, Sprout Language Centre)

Focusing on Singapore’s Chinese context, Huiyu, Cara and Dr Li Li cook up a concoction of ideas to make language learning fun, authentic and holistic for children through stories and even music.

Primary

Reluctant Writers? Let’s Get Started! (L5 POSSIBILITY ROOM)

Oliver Phommavanh (Author, stand-up comedian, primary school teacher)

What stops a child from writing stories? Whether it’s lack of ideas, inability to write dialogue or just getting stuck halfway, listen to strategies will help overcome your child’s concerns. 

Pre-school

Superhero Me (L1 VISITORS BRIEFING ROOM)

Jean Qingwen Loo (Creative Lead, Photographer and Filmmaker, Logue)

SUPERHERO ME is a values-based craft movement inspiring children to develop a stronger sense of self through costume crafting. It aims to create awareness for early childhood education in Singapore and trigger children to discover the joy of creative confidence. This movement is in partnership with the Lien Foundation and In Merry Motion.

Break for Room Change

Pre-school Primary

Technology Inspires Children Storytellers (L5 POSSIBILITY ROOM)

Seán McHugh (Digital Literacy Coach, United World College of South East Asia)

In the minds of many of our students and parents, iPads are seen as gaming devices. Educators need to reframe these as learning devices through a focus on pedagogy not technology, by making much more effective use of the unique affordances of digital devices to amplify and transform storytelling.

Pre-school

Verbal-visual Interactions in Singapore Picture Books (L16 THE POD)

Nurul Huda Hassan (Associate Librarian, National Library Board)

Reading picturebooks requires readers to mediate the tension between pictures and words, which can deepen their interpretive abilities. This is an excellent way to support literacy.

Primary

[WORKSHOP] Engage Learners in Literacy, A Perfect MLEA Resource by LEGO Education (L1 VISITORS BRIEFING ROOM)

Duck Learning (Educational solutions provider)

Get a hands-on experience with how LEGO Education StoryStarter can enable your students to succeed in literacy. This 90 minutes hands-on workshop will give participants the opportunity to unfold the entire narrative power of the famous little bricks.

Tea Break

Primary

Class Clowns: Using Humour to Enrich Children’s Creativity (L5 POSSIBILITY ROOM)

Oliver Phommavanh (Author, stand-up comedian, primary school teacher)

Children love to laugh so inject some humour in their learning lives! Teach children how to write, perform jokes and use humour in their stories and conversations.

Primary

Creative Writing in the Classroom: A Teacher-Writer’s Perspective (B1 MULTIPURPOSE ROOM)

Trevor Kew (Author)

Can you teach creative writing? In this interactive session, writer and teacher Trevor Kew will tackle misconceptions about creative writing in the classroom and provide concrete teaching strategies, including assessment. Attendees will receive print and digital resources.

Pre-school

Puppets, Tools not Toys (For Teachers) (L16 THE POD)

Brian Zimmerman (Puppeteer)

Kids will listen to a puppet before they will listen to you. Recognising the art form of puppetry and learning to use it as a tool to interact with children.

Pre-school

[PANEL] Working Together: Fostering the Teachers-Parent Alliance (L16 THE POD)

Allan Menagh (General Manager, Kumon Asia & Oceania Pte Ltd), Jacqueline Chung (Senior Principal & Academic Director, St James Kindergarten), Kiyomi Akita (Professor, Graduate School of Education at The University of Tokyo)

In this panel, the speakers from Lorna Whiston, Kumon and St James Kindergarten share their views on how teachers, schools and parents can come together to build their children’s literacy skills and show that there is strength in unity.

Primary

The Narrative Art of Visual Storytelling: Equipping Our Students with Visual Literacy (L5 POSSIBILITY ROOM)

Ruth Wong (Associate Professor, English Language and Literature, NIE)

Technology has made it possible for children’s books to be published in new and exciting formats to entice reading. Participants will be treated to a whole suite of picture books which can be maximized to enhance our students’ visual literacy, an important skill in the 21st century when we are surrounded and bombarded with so many images around us. The increasingly critical role of the visual text, and how it complements the verbal text, will be shared.

Primary

Why Parents Shouldn’t Say No to Comics (L5 IMAGINATION ROOM)

Leonard Marcus (Historian, Writer, Book Critic, Exhibition Curator)

Comics have long been viewed with skepticism by the adult world. Yet these days, graphic novels and other kinds of comics-style storytelling are proving to be as educationally beneficial to children as they are entertaining. Join writer and book critic, Leonard Marcus, as he tells you more.

Break for Room Change

Pre-school

Word Power: Creative Approaches to Building a Vocabulary among Young Learners (L16 THE POD)

Marianne Dark (Headteacher, Lorna Whiston Schools Pte Ltd)

The more words young learners know, the more in-depth and complex subject matter they can understand. This workshop examines creative ways to develop vocabulary among young learners aged 8-16 years. It will also present a range of practical ideas that are guaranteed to have an impact on how well young learners understand and use a wide vocabulary.

Pre-school

Pop-up Books Facilitate Children’s Literacy Skills at Home or in Class (L5 POSSIBILITY ROOM)

Hans Hartung (Retired teacher and journalist)

Hans will speak about the quality and the thematic selection of movable books for children in preschool and primary school age. The diverse relationships in pop-up books increase brain activity and a sustainable long-term effect in learning. Hans will illustrate his speech with book examples.

Primary

It Starts with a Line (L5 IMAGINATION ROOM)

Nicola Choo (Co-founder & Lead Instructor, Drawing Right), Tricia Goh (Co-founder & Director, Drawing Right)

A fun workshop that will have you drawing in no time at all. But more importantly, learn how we can use drawing to enrich your relationship with your child and nurture positive perceptions of themselves for greater self-confidence.

Primary

To S.I.R (Socially Inclusive Reads) with Love (B1 MULTIPURPOSE ROOM)
A socially inclusive picture book for kids, with or without special needs

Tan Ai Khim (Design Lecturer / Designer-Illustrator, NAFA/ Helang Books), Hidayah Amin (Publisher, Helang Books), Lee Seow Ser (Writer & Editor, Helang Books)

Panel will discuss production of inclusive picture books imbued with values, containing Braille, dyslexia-friendly font and tactile illustrative elements, to meet the needs of readers with different needs and abilities.

Lunch

Pre-school

Being Honest About Difficult Issues with Stories (L16 THE POD)

Ruth Wong (Associate Professor, English Language and Literature, NIE), Melanie Lee (Author)

Why do writers and illustrators use animals with human characteristics in children’s books or use stories to talk about difficult topics? Melanie will share how different children’s books deal with adoption, while Ruth will share how anthropomorphism in children’s books eases the tension for children who are going through challenging experiences such as divorce, illnesses and death.

Primary

Dads, You Count Too (L5 POSSIBILITY ROOM)

Allan Menagh (General Manager, Kumon Asia & Oceania Pte Ltd)

Dads are as important as mums in raising book worms. As Mr Allan Menagh, the General Manager of Kumon, has found that dads often just don’t know what they can do to help their children build literacy skills. In this session, Allan will offer tips on “Maximizing Your Brand as Dads – Literally” which are all the small things their children will love them for.

Primary

StoryCode: Community of Narrative Pioneers (B1 MULTIPURPOSE ROOM)

Marco Sparmberg (Founder/organizer, StoryCode Singapore)

Story creation involves a variety of different technologies and media disciplines. Tap on the potential of New Media and interactive technology as Marco tells you about StoryCode, an international community of transmedia content creators, and gives you ideas of narrative activities you can do with your children.

Primary

Book Reading in Japan: Building up the Communities of Readers (L5 IMAGINATION ROOM)

Kiyomi Akita (Professor, Graduate School of Education at The University of Tokyo)

Kiyomi will share more about the Japanese students’ reading activities and habits, and introduce practices to promote book reading through school, home and community partnerships.

Break for Room Change

Primary

[WORKSHOP] My Child Can Write! Can He/She Write A Book? (L16 THE POD)

Catherine Khoo (Managing Director/Publisher, Janus Education)

Target audience include parents and teachers
Catherine Khoo will share insights on her techniques to mentor children to write stories. Participants get to create their own stories (with help from her invited young authors) in this interactive workshop!

Pre-school

Bilingual Books: Killing Two Birds with One Stone (L5 IMAGINATION ROOM)

Li Li (Research Associate, Singapore Centre for Chinese Language, NTU)

Reading is a fun and challenging pathway towards bilingualism for both children and educators. Dr Li Li will share some recent findings about the effects of reading in two languages, and how you can help children to become bilingual readers.

Pre-school

Choosing the Right Book for a Child – Is That Possible? (L5 POSSIBILITY ROOM)

Shirley Lim (Librarian, National Library Board)

How do parents decide what their children read? Shirley offers insights into book selection by parents and the support available to them in nurturing reading habit for young children.

Pre-school Primary

Breaking the Cycle of Poverty Through Stories (For Parents and Teachers) (B1 MULTIPURPOSE ROOM)

Saleemah Ismail (Director and Co-founder, New Life Stories )

Breaking the cycle of poverty through creative reading sessions for children of incarcerated mothers, Saleemah will share how together, mother and child are able to rewrite the stories of their lives and chart a more positive future.

Tea Break

Kidlit Diversity in Kidlit & YA Lit

Where Do I Belong – Exploring Issues of Migration in Picture Books (L5 IMAGINATION ROOM)

Janet Evans (Independent Scholar)

This presentation explores issues relating to migration in picture books with particular reference to the way in which the books enable readers to respond to and thereby begin to understand the concept of migration, what it is and how one’s opinion of and attitude to migration and migrants is influenced by the point of view being presented.

Pre-school Primary

Breaking Grounds with Films (B1 MULTIPURPOSE ROOM)

Ken Mizusawa (Teaching Fellow, National Institute of Education)

Ken Mizusawa explores how film as a highly dominant and appealing form of visual storytelling can help support young language learners.

Pre-school

Puppets, Tools not Toys (For Parents) (L5 POSSIBILITY ROOM)

Brian Zimmerman (Puppeteer)

Kids will listen to a puppet before they will listen to you. Recognising the art form of puppetry and learning to use it as a tool to interact with children.