Elementary Experience

Teachers of our younger students will find plenty to explore at #NCTE23.

From incredible authors and illustrators to the leading experts and innovators in our field, every hour is packed with sessions designed just for elementary teachers. And every session will find you sitting next to other teachers who are just as passionate about early literacy as you are.

What if I work in early childhood? Will there be something for me?

Absolutely! The latest and greatest in early literacy education can be found in the Early Childhood Education strand. These sessions (marked with an icon in the full Convention program) are specially curated by the Early Childhood Education Assembly of NCTE and focus specifically on issues and strategies for teaching and advocating for preschool and early elementary-age children.

What kinds of sessions can I attend?

Over the course of the Convention there are more than 150 sessions designated for the elementary level, but you might be surprised at the ideas you can glean from sessions at EVERY level. Here are just a few of the topics:

• Celebrating Black Heroes and Influencers throughout the Year: The Role of Education in Preserving Black History All Year Round
• Celebrating Community and Culture through Critical Literacy
• Exploring Identity through Picture Books and Truth Telling Stories: Examining and Embracing Ourselves
• Learning from Bilingual Immigrant Families and Learning with Multilingual Texts
• Emergent Writing in Action: PreK–First Grade Writers Communicate and Connect Their Ideas through Drawing and Writing
• The Promise of Poetry: Building a Connected Community of Learners through Poems and Picture Books
• Multimodal Reading and Diverse Literature: Critical Perspectives on Practice
• Teaching Social Justice in Interactive Read-Aloud
• On Being Heard: Using Nonfiction to Engage, Empower, and Encourage
• Making Connections and Building Bridges for Diverse Learners through Math-Related Books

Literacies and Languages for All (LLA)

There’s a strand of sessions at #NCTE23 chosen by leaders of LLA, an NCTE Conference of holistic educators who believe that ALL children deserve personally meaningful learning contexts in which their languages and cultures are valued and recognized as assets for learning. LLA members integrate theories and practices of social justice; critical literacies; digital, multimodal, and biliteracies; and inquiry- and project-based learning that embodies the work of 21st-century educators. Learn more about LLA.

Don’t miss these elementary level favorites!

Elementary Section Get-Together: Hear from NCTE’s elected leaders who represent the NCTE Elementary Section and from the winners of the 2023 Outstanding Elementary Educator Award, Caitlin L. Ryan, associate professor in the Department of Early Childhood, Elementary, Middle, Literacy, and Special Education at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and Jill M. Hermann-Wilmarth, professor of Teaching, Learning, & Educational Studies at Western Michigan University.
Thursday, Nov. 16, 5:30–7:00 p.m.

Children’s Book Awards Luncheon: The 2023 winners of the Charlotte Huck Award® for Outstanding Fiction for Children, the Orbis Pictus Award® for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children, and the Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children will be honored: author Dayna Lorentz, author Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, illustrator Daniel Minter, and poet Georgia Heard. Then, the 2024 award winners will be announced live!
Saturday, Nov. 18, 12:30–2:30 p.m.

Children’s Literature Assembly Breakfast: Hear from a children’s book author during this popular Convention event.
Sunday, Nov. 19, 7:00–8:45 a.m.