Workshop Descriptor:

Title: Extraordinary Destinations, Award-Winning Literature with Classroom-Ready Curriculum for Grades 3-6.

Books: Twenty-eight cross-genre selections from respected literature-award lists including the Junior Library Guild, Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List^SM for 2011-2012 and Kids' Wings Award Books.

Audience: Librarians, Teachers, and Administrators Grades 3-6 (Bring a FRIEND!)

Descriptor and Focus:
Where do you want to go? The journey to extraordinary destinations is just beginning! On our way, we often come to crossroads that require us to make important choices. One choice may be easy, requiring little effort and leading to mediocre, mundane destinations that end in deadend and sometimes disaster. Another choice may be difficult, requiring courage, creativity, compassion, perseverance, and even sacrifice...a choice leading to extraordinary destinations. The choices we make dictate not only our own future, but also the future of our country and our world. The difficult choices require us to walk on rough roads, sometimes by ourself, sometimes together with well-chosen friends who strengthen our gifts, talents, vision, and purpose.

In this year's award-winning literature, we will focus on where the characters are going, the choices characters make, the problems they overcome, and the extraordinary destinations they reach.

In highlighting the natural and developed gifts that help characters reach extraordinary destinations, our activities will inspire authentic application of skill-building and character-building in our own students' lives. We will use the power of literature to help prepare them for the crossroads that challenge them to make the difficult choices, now and in the future.

Educators who KNOW the best literature will be able put the right book into the hands of a child who is searching for strength in skills, focus, or character. The special talents of story characters and real people can become role models to inspire students to develop their own talents as they persue their dreams of reaching extraordinary destinations. It is these gifts and talents that can be identified as foundational to success in making choices that can enrich their lives and those of friends, family, and community around them.

Outstanding literature with focused instructional strategies in the Kids' Wings Extraordinary Destinations workshop help clarify the value of making the right choices. The real-life lessons cross disciplines and teaching strategies for nurturing creative and critical thinking for your gifted and talented students as well as those who are not yet identified. They increase creative problem solving and group interaction within your classroom. Literature from all genres will inspire your students to discover how characters face tempests and use teamwork to problem-solve. From here, it is only a short hop to relating these techniques to their own lives.

Award-winning literature for grades 3-7 will transform your classroom into a vibrant, interactive, exciting place.

You will receive a bound professional guide filled with hundreds of pages of creative, active ideas--excellent for literary circles as well as for individual and whole class interaction and tutoring. The activities are perfect for extending and enriching your G/T curriculum as well as an excellent source of material for directing literature circles and tutoring for all students! Join us for a breath of fresh curriculum that includes laughter, songs, problem solving, character building, and new approaches to skill building!

Participants will:
...participate in extension activities for award-winning literature.
...explore ways to integrate the curriculum around literature and library resources that enable students to become enthusiastic and skillful in research, project building, and problem solving.
...understand the possibilities that literature has for weaving respect, good choices, and character into every aspect of a child's life.
...receive Extraordinary Destinations, an extensive guide with hundreds of pages of activities for 24 award-winning books. The CD inside contains the book in pdf and PowerPoint formats as well as additional activities, songs, and games. Also included is a site license to allow the material to be shared within your school.
...receive on-going website extensions and support through Kids Wings' website
...receive a 6-hour gifted-and-talented certificate from Kids' Wings

Let this award-winning literature lead your students into an active, integrated curriculum that is rich in character, reading and math skills, science, social studies, research, problem solving, internet projects, and FUN...all keyed into Gardner's Multiple Intelligences and Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills objectives with creative TAKS practice. This authentic learning will help improve your students' preparation for the future...preparation that values right over wrong from character to TAKS! Come enjoy the curriculum that transforms award winning literature into high test scores!

The units in our guides can be used for exciting parent participation in your school's tutoring program!

2011 Workshop Schedule