Intermediate Mini Conference - Pasadena Independent School District

Presenter School Subject 

Grade 

Level Title of Session 

A-01 Connie Ellis, Schneider Math 6 M&M Graphing 

Carolyn Graham, Middle 

with Fractions, 

and David Janda School 

Decimals, and 

Percents 

Description 

6.1B, 6.3B, and 6.10D Students will make 

predictions before the activty begins in regards to 

the color of M&M's and how many of each color that 

their bag will contain. Then students will create a 

bar graph using the bag of M&M's and record their 

each individual data using their M&M's. The 

students will transfer the data from the bar graph to 

fractions and then change them to decimals and 

then to percents. Finally students will compare and 

contrast their actually results with their predictions. 

A-02 Kathleen Walker 

Murrell 

Dobie HS Math 6-7 Graphing Yes! This session will highlight the use of the 

Calculators in Pre- graphing calulator in model lessons for Pre-AP 

AP Math? mathematics. Come learn to use the calculator for 

exploration and application. See how you can help 

your students to develop their numerical reasoning 

and algebraic thinking. The target audience for this 

session will be Pre-AP 6th and 7th grade teachers. 

A-03 Debbie Jacobs Carter 

Lomax 

Math 6-8 Algebra and M & 

M's 

A-04 Michelle Lawrence Miller Math 7-8 Vocabulary and 

Math Literacy 

Strategies 

This lesson will show a real world application for 

algebra. Particpants will use algebra to determine 

the exact number of each color of M&M's in a bag 

without counting or seeing the candy. The specific 

skills involved in this lesson are working with 

varibles, writing expressions, and solving two-step 

equations. 

Many students are able to manipulate numbers and 

perform process steps, but lack a deeper 

understanding of the bigger concepts in 

mathematics. This hinders the students' ability to 

communicate effectively in math, connect big ideas, 

or utilize higher-thinking processes to solve 

complex problems. This session will highlight 

several strategies (games, activities, quick writes, 

journaling, etc.) that you can use to assist your 

students' grasp of important math vocabulary. 

A-05 Kelley Cabrera Park View Math 7-8 Not so plain, Make the coordinate plane come to life with fun 

Coordinate Planes interactive games and activities. Not only will these 

activities help the students connect with the content, 

but with their teacher and other classmates. Some 

of the activities include a life size coordinate grid, 

interactive bulletin board, graphing foldable, 

Teacher Says, and much more. 

A-06 Renee Gobea and 

Bianca Hunter 

Thompson Math 8 Using the Four 

Corner Model 

Students will use different representations of data 

(table, graph, equation, and verbal description) to 

analyze two text messaging plans. Students will 

have to determine what plan is a better deal based 

to their needs. 

1

A-07 Andre Dean and 

Jennifer Hare 

Queens Math 8 "ERPing" and 

Heat Transfer 

The purpose of this session is to present stategies 

that will help teach the eighth grade concepts of 

balancing equations and heat transfer. In the 

balancing equation segment teachers with be 

shown how to set up tables using elements, 

products and reactants in order to determine if a 

chemical equation is balanced. In the heat transfer 

section teachers will be shown a powerpoint and 

folable that can be used to teach conduction, 

convection and radiation. 

A-08 Patricia Jackson 

and Citlali 

Guerrero 

South 

Houston 

Math 7 What's for Dinner? Students will look through various menus from local area 

restaurants. Students will select a meal for themselves. 

They will be allowed to create their meal using various 

items from multiple restaurants if they choose. They will 

record the items they purchase and how much each item 

costs on their paper. Students may NOT switch once 

they have written down an item. Once students have 

determined their total, the teacher will assign them a 

certain tax amount, as well as a gratuity amount. The 

student will determine how much is owed in both regards 

and will record that on their paper. The teacher will then 

inform the student that everyone gets a student discount 

of 10% on their meal. It will be up to the student to 

determine if they want that 10% to be taken before tip 

and tax, or after. The student will need to record their 

totals on a piece of notebook paper and then turn it into 

the instructor, explaining why they chose when to take 

their discount. 

A-09 William Anders Beverly Hills Technol 

ogy 

A-10 Melinda Connolly 

and Bernie 

Gernander 

San Jacinto Tech. 

App. 

6-8 Lab Managemernt 

- Demo Using MS 

Frontpage 2003 

The lesson is primarily designed as a demonstration 

for effective use of a computer lab setting. Many 

campuses have computer labs available for 

scheduling by all content area teachers. However 

those not used to working in this setting are 

presented with new challenges when removing their 

students from the clasroom and placing them in a 

computer lab setting. 

6-8 Gaggle Will demostrate how to use Gaggle email, message 

boards, chat rooms and digital lockers. We will 

show examples on how to incorporate Gaggle into 

your classroom. Email is a common way to 

communicate in the workplace and it gives students 

real life experience. 

A-11 Mike Marlar Instructional Technol 

Technology -ogy 

Adm. 

Building 

5-8 PowerPoint Tips 

and Tricks 

In this class, the participant will learn tips and tricks 

in order to better utilize Microsoft PowerPoint 2003. 

A CD with 1,000+ PowerPoint backgrounds will also 

be provided to participants 

2

A-12 Megan Jannise 

and Jeanie Davis 

Southmore 

Technol 

ogy 

5-8 Using Video 

Technology in the 

Classroom 

In this session, we will explore different ways to use 

video technology in the classroom. Teachers will 

learn ways to incorporate video technology in 

subjects across the curriculum, as well as ways to 

begin a video technology class at their school. We 

will discuss equipment needs, basic fundamentals 

of video, and ways to apply this at your school. For 

those teachers who already have a video program, 

this will be a great place to share ideas. 

A-13 Frank Sanchez Milstead Science 

with 

Technol 

ogy 

6 Guided Reading in 

Science/Small 

Groups with 

Technology 

Incorporated 

A-14 Susan Jennings Beverly Hills Science 6-8 Don't Ask Jeeves - 

Use the PISD 

Electronic 

Resources! 

A-15 Ashley Keilers Carter 

Lomax 

A-16 Vanessa Schultz 

and Quan Nguyen 

This sesson will demonstrate how 6th grade 

Science can incorporate guided reading with small 

groups. A video will show how a guided reading 

group works with science and the expectations of 

the small groups work along with it in a 6th grade 

Science classroom. Technology will be 

incorporated into one of the small groups rotation 

activity. 

A hands-on demonstration to teachers how to use 

PISD Electronic Resources(Grolier (New Book of 

Popular Science), Encyclopedia Britanica (Learning 

Materials Activities), Facts on File,EBSCO) to find 

content-related reading materials that meet the 

needs of all students. These resources allow 

teachers to search resources by lexile level and 

enables teachers to provide students with contentrelated 

materials above and below the textbook. 

Science 5 I Will Survive Teachers will be shown how science in the 

classroom can be brought to life through the use of 

small group challenges that make learning the 

TEKS fun. Participants will experience Darwin's 

"survival of the fittest" in action. 

Beverly Hills Science 6-8 Animals in the 

Science 

Classroom 

This session will be an overview of the benefit of 

animals in the Science classroom. Data from 

research will be presented to show how animals are 

beneficial in calming people as well as other health 

benefits. Animals create a sense of community and 

ownership in a classroom. They can also be used in 

a myriad of life science lessions. 

A-17 Maricela 

Rodriguez and 

Lena Toole 

San Jacinto Science 6 Earth Science in a 

Bag 

This is one of the great ideas presented at this 

year's CAST conference. Learn how to make a 

hands-on, "portfolio-style" Earth Science Unit Bag. 

Content used and daily activities to build/ assemble 

the bag are shown and discussed. Attendees will 

make a smaller version, receive a template to cut 

and make their own "Bag" and several ideas to use 

and/or modify to any level of rigor. Students will 

take ownership of their "masterpiece" at the end of 

the unit, demonstrating relevance 

A-18 Dan Connolly, 

Stephanie Mesa, 

Denise Ridgway 

Bondy Science 7-8 Attention 

Grabbers for 

Science 

The session will include inexpensive teacher 

demonstrations for grabbing student attention and 

focusing on science concepts. 

3

A-19 James Golden South 

Houston 

A-20 Marcy Bieber and 

Rashad See 

A-21 Nora Martinez South 

Houston 

General 5-8 Integrating Rigor 

and Relevance 

into the 

Classroom: When 

the Rubber hits 

the Road 

Summit All 6-8 Positive 

Behavioral 

Supports in the 

Academic 

Classroom 

Spanish 

1 

(L.O.T.E 

.) 

7-8 Accelerated 

Learning 

Notebooks for the 

L.O.T.E. 

Classroom 

Teachers will be presented with HOW to intergrate 

Rigor and Relevance in the Classroom. Real 

Examples will be provided, and a discussion will 

follow. Handouts will be provided which will assist 

teachers to Integrate Rigor and Relevane into the 

Classroom. 

We all know that academic success is tied to 

positive classroom behaviors. How students aquire 

these positive behaviors is up to us. This workshop 

will include: 1. Relationship Building 2. Creating a 

level system in your classroom 3. Pre-teaching 

and Re-teaching expectations 4. Tying academic 

work to the levels earned by the student 5. 

Reinforcement of Positive Behavior 

Teachers will create a Notebook correlated to 

Spanish I Buen Viaje. Students will be speaking in 

the target language and accellerating their learning 

with chunked homework assignments. Sections 

covered will include warm-ups/bell ringers, a class 

Social Contract/Syllabus, vocabulary, grammar, 

products and workbook. A brief description of 

workstations will also be included. Teachers will 

receive handouts and/or a CD rom with samples of 

notebook pages. 

A-22 Matrice Henry South 

Houston 

ELA 8 Racing 

Vocabulary 

During this session, participants will receive a 

chance to participate in a vocabulary 

activity(prefixes) using a game format. Participants 

will work with a partner to discuss prefixes and have 

a brief study session using the words, and race with 

their partner by racing to find the meaning. While 

working in groups, participants will have the 

opporunity to build relationships and assist each 

other in fun, energetic way. 

A-23 Robin Cate and 

Cecily Frazee 

Milstead 

ELAR 

with Co- 

Teach 

5 Read Aloud The purpose of this session is to show teachers 

how to plan for and choose read-aloud books in a 

co-teach environment. We would also demonstrate 

how to use read alouds across curriculum with nonfiction/guided 

reading groups. 

A-24 Karen Brown & 

Barbara McIndoe 

Miller 

Langua 

ge Arts 

5-8 Color Me Smart Using post-it notes and highliters to take notes will 

set a purpose for reading. It provides an 

opportunity for students to practice skimming, 

critical thinking and analysis as they read. It also 

builds on comprehension and understanding. Using 

color has been known to increase retention and 

memory as well as categorizing terms. 

4

A-25 Kirby Anderson 

(Jennifer Johnson) 

and Connie 

Guillory 

Southmore Reading 7-8 Who Are You? The title "Who Are You?" is a reference to 

characterization. Authors often build their work 

around a key character so we will teach our 

students how to analyze characters to determine 

the key elements of the story or passage and 

support their responses by referencing text and 

their own experiences. Justifying their choices will 

be a key component of our presentation and we will 

demonstrate several methods which we feel work 

well with our students to help them comprehend 

what they read. 

A-26 Deborah 

Vanderhoef and 

Jenifer Hill 

A-27 Shelley Myers and 

Jill McLain 

Thompson ESL 8 

Multi-Cultural 

Research Project 

with Links to 

Grants and 

Service Learning 

Projects 

San Jacinto ELAR 6-8 What Did You 

Mean By That? 

Relationships - sharing traditions, music, etc. of 

ethnic groups represented in Pasadena ISD. It 

teaches tolerance and respect. Rigor - incorporates 

levels of research and the writing processes, along 

with an oral/visual presentation. Relevance - 

encouraging students to learn about the cultures of 

their peers and cooperative learning. 

Looking for a new approach to teaching style, tone, 

and mood? This session will demonstrate a 3-part 

lesson. In this cross-curricular study, artwork is 

used to focus on style, tone, and mood in writing . 

Visual word bank scaffolds lesson for all learners or 

provides an opportunity for differentiation. 

A-28 Erin Stocco Southmore English 6-8 Successful 

Seminars 

Teachers will be given graphic organizers and tips 

for creating successful seminars that challenge 

student problem solving and critical thinking skills 

through facilitated class discussion. 

A-29 Susan Calvin and 

Danyel Enderle 

Jackson ELA 7 Technology in the 

ELA Classroom 

Growing out of your overhead? We will quickly walk 

through a vocabulary, combining sentences, and 

DOL lesson that use PowerPoint, a projector, 

uploading digital photography, and a scanner. We 

will discuss the pros and cons of using new 

technology, and finally, I will show you some 

PowerPoint tips. We will also show you a lesson 

that incorporates a video. 

A-30 Nick Weiss Beverly Hills English 

Langua 

ge Arts 

5-8 Using Magic in the 

L.A. Classroom 

Using magic to lead into lessons or to reinforce 

aspects of lessons can be fun and incredibly 

effective in helping students remember what is 

being taught. In this session, you will learn 3 

classroom-friendly magic tricks that address critical 

thinking, spelling and vocabulary, plot, creative 

writing, story elements, problem resolution, 

inference, context clues and much more. 

5

A-31 Amber Kapner and Park View English 6-7 "Jazzin' Up 

Lynnette Palmer 

Sentences" 

A-32 Jill Butler, Veann 

Richards, Tara 

Crum, Lisa Roth 

Queens, Social 

Thompson, Studies 

Beverly Hills 

6 Round Table 6th 

Grade Curriculum 

We will read the children's book, Snow White 

Sheep, collecting small sentences and phrases 

using the word "said." The small sentences that are 

chosen will be re-written by using "jazz-it-up" 

techniques. "Boring" sentences will then be written 

and exchanged with other small groups. After the 

exchange, the "jazz-it-up" techniques will be used to 

paint pictures in the mind of the reader. The 

"jazzed-up" sentences will then be used with more 

descriptive ways to use “said” because “said is 

dead!” 

We will be having a round table discussion 

regarding the 6th grade Social Studies curriculum 

focusing on Scope and Sequence and CBA's for all 

6th grade Social Studies teachers. 

A-33 Marion Grant Park View Texas 

History 

A-34 Lance Donoho, 

Misty Riggenbach, 

Maggie Allen 

A-35 Glenda P. 

Neidecker 

A-36 Pamela Brooks 

and Darlene 

McCorvey 

San Jacinto Social 

Studies 

South 

Houston 

Administrati 

on Building 

Social 

Studies 

General 

and 

Special 

7 Using Picture 

Books to Teach 

Texas History 

6-8 Cowboy Up To 

Vocabulary 

7-8 Search Strategies 

101: A Practical 

Guide to Using 

PISD Electronic 

Resources 

5-8 Accommodations 

and Modifications 

In this session I will share picture books that will 

enhance all the concepts taught in Texas History. 

Picture books are an asset in any classroom, 

regardless of age. I will share ideas that will help 

you integrate social studies and language arts. I 

believe that sharing books helps to build 

relationships, but it touches on the rigor and 

relevance components as well. 

This presentation will demonstrate vocabulary 

strategies proven to increase real world 

understanding of Social Studies terms. It will also 

highlight curriculum on wheels machines as a tool 

for building in rigor and relationships. 

Participants will discover that research is a process, 

not a specific formula that works with every 

database. We will talk about the most effective and 

efficient way to utilitze a variety of electronic 

resources, including Facts on File, Gale Student 

Resource Center, and EBSCO. Keyword, subject 

and boolean searching will also be discussed, along 

with the importance of navagating from one 

document to another within the databases. During 

this session, participants will have time to practice 

these search strategies so they can become 

proficient in using the PISD electronic resources to 

fulfill their need for specific and pertinent 

information. 

Accommodations in the general education 

classroom provides equitable access during 

instruction and assessments for all students. 

Accommodations assist in making the information 

or learning activity relevant to the student's current 

and future life. Come experience strategies that will 

assist in building relationships as well as producing 

successful students. 

6

A-37 Shawn Fojtik, Jill 

Smith, Amy Kranz 

A-38 Carolyn Mashburn 

(Julie Reed) 

Guidance 

Center 

Alternati 

ve 

Campus 

English 

Langua 

ge Arts 

5-8 You're Going to 

the Guidance 

Center 

5-8 6 Traits of Good 

Writing in the 

Inclusive School 

Session will provide an overview of the Guidance 

Center and the progress we have made over the 

past couple of years. Participants will be given the 

opportunity to have their questions concerning the 

Guidance Center answered. Contact information for 

the Guidance Center teachers will be provided in 

order to encourage communication between home 

campus teachers and the teachers at the Guidance 

Center. 

Join us to get some great strategies for teaching the 

6 Traits of Good Writing. Participants will receive 

good ideas, lessons, and activities to help with state 

assessment. The sessions will incorporate how to 

score writing samples for students with disabilities. 

A-39 Elizabeth Alvarado Milstead Special 

Educati 

on/Gen 

eral 

A-40 Luci Weaver 

Must 

also 

regist 

er for 

B-40 

Instructional Technol 


Adm. 

Building 

5-8 Co-Teach 

Classrooms 

5-8 Building Teacher 

Webspace 

What a co-teach classroom looks like. The 

importance of communication and planning of both 

the inclusion specialist and regular ed teacher. It 

will also include suggestions and helpful hints to 

make the classroom successful and all students 

succeed. 

Teachers will learn an easy way to create their own 

personal webspace for their students. This space 

will allow teachers a place to post information, 

reviews, lessons, and any other information for 

students to view. 

B-01 Doug Brown Miller Math 5-8 Math Counts 

Making Math Fun 

and Relevant 

B-02 Mary Joy Santos Rick 

Schneider 

Middle 

School 

Math 6 Let's Go 

Shopping! 

This session will describe a Saturday Math Club 

that utilizes mentors, activities, and games to teach 

and reinforce math concepts and skills and how 

they fit into various careers. 

Teachers will utilize the Ads to teach discounts and 

percents. This has all the 3 R's because they can 

be seen in our daily life. This activity is very rigorous 

when teachers include unit price, percents, 

discounts, and change. The relationship comes into 

picture when this is actually discussed with parents 

to prepare for marketing or for planning what to buy. 

B-03 Kara Walker San Jacinto Math/ 

Special 

Educati 

on 

Math 

6-8 Holt and the 

Promethian Board 

I will demonstrate ways to integrate the Promethean 

board with the new Holt Math Curriculum. This will 

include how to use the online resourcs to enhance 

students' ability to take notes, record practice 

information and gain math understanding. I will also 

show how to turn Holt pages into Flip charts. 

B-04 Shelly Jaynes and 

Christine Veltman 

Bondy Math 7 Using a 

Promethean 

Board in Math 

Teacher will receive an overview of how to make 

math lessons meaningful and interactive through 

the use of a promethean board. You will learn how 

to create a complete lesson including: warm-up, 

examples, practice, etc. 

7

B-05 Gretchen Kent, 

Chanel 

Blackledge, Sarah 

Evans 

B-06 Elicia Audish and 

Erika Peugeot 

Jackson/So 

uthmore 

Math 7-8 Unit Dog he Unit Dog activity from the LTF Resource 

incoorporates volume and surface area into a 

hands on activity. The students explore the 

resulting effects on surface area and volume when 

dimensions of a shape are changed proportionally. 

The students create their own larger unit dog and 

discuss how the ratio of volume to surface area 

helps to determine the climate in which they live. 

*This activity is also appropriate for 7th grade Pre- 

AP Math. 

Park View Math 8 Theme Park 

Formula Project 

During this session, the presenters will pass out 

materials and discuss how successful this project 

has been during the Gear Up Summer School. The 

presenters will show how to use this hands on 

miniature building project in conjunction with regular 

Teks aligned lessons during the 8 th grade unit on 

Geometric formulas. After each formula lesson, 

students use the formula to measure and create a 

theme park ride and build it onto a board( with 

ofam, toothpicks, popsicle sticks etc..). This gives 

them an opportunity to make the formula relevant to 

a real life application ( such as building) and most 

kids are interested in theme parks. It also is a group 

project so it builds relationships. It could even lead 

to finance lessons and there is an optional 

computer project for graphs along with a paper and 

presentation. Ruberics and outlines are available for 

all parts of the project and it could easily be 

modified for other grade levels! 

B-07 Kathleen Walker 

Murrell 

Dobie HS Math 8 Calculators and 

Multiple 

Presentations in 

Algebra 1 

This is an opportunity for Algebra 1 teachers to 

improve their own graphing calculator skills and to 

learn ways to help their students to use multiple 

representations to make connections in algebra. 

The calculator will be used to foster the graphical, 

numerical, analytic, and verbal development of 

students. Use of tables and iterative processes will 

be emphasized. Come learn to use the calculator 

for exploration and application. The target audience 

for this session will be Pre-AP Alegebra 1 teachers. 

B-08 Peggy Ware 

(Smith) & Richard 

Shepherd 

Southmore Math 5-8 Algebraic 

Reasoning 

We will present two lessons that teach algebraic 

reasoning by incorporating the development of 

Lessons: Mosaics precesses to identify patterns and build proportional 

and Building 

Fences 

reasoning problems. Students workin partners, 

using manipulatives (toothpicks, tiles and graph 

paper) to create their mosaic tiles and fencing. 

They will be required to construct appropriate 

graphs for each activity which include both linear 

and non-linear graphs. 

B-09 Jaqueta Dunn Park View Technol 

ogy 

6 Self Portrait 

Similie Poems 

8 

Often poems do not give much to the imagination. 

Everyone’s perceptions of a poem can be different. 

Using pictures embraces the imagination of the 

audience. Using technology allows students to 

capture their imagination. Teachers will hear 

suggestions that can help their students build their 

imagination through poems and pictures using 

computers.

B-10 Diane Marsalis 

and Denise 

Ridgway 

B-11 Mike Marlar 

Limit 

to 20 

Bondy 

Technol 

ogy 



Adm. 

Building 

6-8 Creating Lessons 

in TrackStar 

Using TrackStar to organize lessons utilizing 

technology (applicable to any subject.) 

5-8 Inspiration During this course, participants will be introduced to 

the basic functions of Inspiration, a program 

designed to assist with the creation of graphic 

organizers. This program encourages learning in 

multiple modes. As a result, students gain and 

retain a better understanding of concepts and 

demonstrate knowledge, improving their 

performance across the curriculum. 

B-12 Shane Tout Instructional Technol 


Adm. 

Building 

5-8 ACTIVClassroom Using ACTIVotes to encourage class discussions 

and higher-order thinking. 

B-13 Ann Jablonski Instructional Technol 


Adm. 

Building 

B-14 Kris Manning Miller Science 8 Interactive 

PowerPoint 

B-15 Cynthia Martinez- 

Bagwill 

5-8 PhotoStory Use digital images along with narration to tell a 

story. This software is free and is easily integrated 

into all subject levels across the curriculum. 

Participants will learn how to increase student 

engagement while creating projects that are 

relevant in their lives. Students will learn to 

communicate their understanding of subject matter 

Miller Science 5-8 E=Mc2 The Magic 

Formula for 

Student Success 

Empowerment = 

Motivation/Connec 

tions 

B-16 Nora Hernandez Jackson Science 6-8 Hands On 

Genetics 

21 st century style. 

How do you make a PowerPoint presentation 

interactive? How can you raise student involvement 

in class by using PowerPoint? 

Join me for an innovative and exciting way to 

empower students for classroom success. Through 

character connections and motivational strategies, 

you will find the forumla to reach the unreachable. 

Active assessments, field tested strategies and 

interactive learning will be discussed. Get that 

enthusiasm, energy and effectiveness back in the 

classroom. 

Come experience genetics with a visual, hands-on 

activity using Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head dolls. This 

activity provides an opportunity for your students to 

apply important key vocabulary terms like dominant 

trait, recessive trait, and offspring. It will also allow 

them to see different variations of offspring when 

they compare their baby potato head to other 

groups as well as compare their potato head doll's 

traits to Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head's traits (TEKS 

6.11A, 6.11C, 7.10C, and 8.11C). 

B-17 Amy Denton, 

Beckie Bell 

Schneider 

Middle 


Science 5-8 Integrating 

Thinking Maps in 

Science 

Participants will get ideas that they can use in the 

science classroom to incorporate thinking maps. 

Thinking maps are a great way to increase rigor and 

relevance and assess comprehension, as well as 

differentiate for students across the spectrum. 

9

B-18 Shannan Burke, 

Kelli Grage, Tessa 

Hadley 

San Jacinto Science 7 Science Family 

Night 

Come learn about a fun and interesting way to get 

both your students and their families excited about 

science! We will have various examples of the 

activities and events that will keep the family 

entertained and wanting to know more about 

science. The presentation will involve showing and 

demonstrating six of the different experiments that 

we had set up at various stations. Each of these 

stations will allow both students and their parents to 

participate with the experiment 

B-19 Robert A. Carbajal Queens Science 7 Rockets Are Us Students will design and build their own rockets in 

class. Using measured quantities of super secret 

propellant, they will measure the apogee of the 

rocket, indoors. Students will discover "Newtons 3 

Laws of Motion" firsthand. Further they will 

speculate on how changes in design could affect 

their results, and the results of others designs. 

Class can be conducted in one 60-70 minute 

period, and works best in a collaborative group 

setting. Student instruction is purposely kept to a 

minimum to ensure variation in designs. 

B-20 Valerie Magyar & 

Myrna Goetjen 

Park View 

B-21 Lynda Massoud Milstead 

and Stacey Duarte 

Curricul 

um & 

Instructi 

on 

Reading 

, Social 

Studies, 

Math, 

Science 

6-8 Building 

Classroom Teams 

5-6 Small Group 

Instruction in all 

Content Areas 

Every team goes through four stages: Forming, 

Storming, Norming, and Performing. In this 

seminar, you will participate in team building 

activities. Just think what your classes could 

accomplish if you can move them to the harmonous 

stage of a quality performing team! 

We consider that balanced literacy and 

differentiated instruction are a successful approach 

to meeting the needs of a diverse classroom, by 

giving each student an equal opportunity to work at 

their own pace and reach a level of independence in 

leading their own learning. Creating secure, safe, 

respectful, and responsible environments are the 

building blocks to creating relationships in the 

classroom (peer-peer, student teacher). 

B-22 Jennifer Johnson 

and Haley Eska 

Park View Reading 5-8 Reading 

Objectives 

Through Novel 

Study 

B-23 Thery Lin Beverly Hills Reading 6-8 I Won't Read and 

You Can't Make 

Me! 

The novel study lessons will demonstate types of 

activities, using the novel City of Ember as an 

example, which can be incorporated and modified 

with any novel focusing on tested reading 

objectives. The activities will involve rigor, 

relevance, and relationship. Teaching reading 

objectives through novels causes students to go 

more indepth into what they are reading, while 

building a students stamina for comprehension. 

Novel study lessons also give opportunities to 

explore the relationships reading has with different 

content areas. 

Participants will engage in various activities and 

learn strategies by gifting their students to become 

life long readers. 

10

B-24 Suzanne 

Hernandez and 

Lucy Burch 

B-25 Pam Mason, 

Lauren Berryman, 

Joy Joost 

Schneider 

Middle 


Bondy 

Reading 

& 

Technolo 

gy 

Reading 

/ LA 

5-6 Creating Products 

in Podcasts 

7-8 Character 

"Psychoanalysis" 

Having students create booktalks forces them to 

use their retelling skills in conjunction with other 

reading objectives to create an interesting and 

exciting blurb about the book that they have read, 

which is rigorous. The student will record it into 

podcast format which is relevant to their real world 

because podcasts are all over the internet. 

Various characterization activities will be presented. 

Activities include character dialogue books, 

character cards interviews, mood murals and 

character collages. In addition good vs. evil 

character analysis and how to incorporate Freud's 

id, ego and super ego theory and STEAL method of 

characterization in character sketches. 

B-26 Debbie 

Vanderhoef and 

Jenifer Hill 

Thompson E/LA 8 Multi-Cultural 

Research Project 

B-27 Mary Harrist Bondy English 8 Jimmy Joe Bob 

Takes the TAKS 

Test 

B-28 Aaron Penton Milstead ELAR 5-6 Literacy Work 

Stations 

B-29 Amber Hays and 

Georgina 

(Thelma) Baeza 

San Jacinto ELAR 6-8 What a Novel 

Idea! 

Students work collaboratively to research and 

present a speech about a culture other than their 

own. Students also presented a show board with 

items from that culture. All groups also brought 

food from that culture to share with the class. This 

project was assigned to coincide with the 

International Festival. 

Students use the 12 TAKS vocabulary words (Larry 

Bell) to produce amusing stories and/or media 

production. 

You enter the classroom. Students are working 

with partners all around the room doing all kinds of 

reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Come 

explore how you can manage literacy work stations 

in your classroom! 

Tired of A.R. and standard book reports? This 

session will provide new options. In this session, 

you will not only see "un-book reports", rubrics, and 

student samples, you will also create your own 

options for your classroom. Come with an open 

mind; leave with an arm-full of fresh ideas! 

B-31 Susan Knutson Milstead Social 

Studies 

6 Guided Reading This session will assist teachers in understanding 

with Small Groups how to incorporate the balance literacy approach of 

in a Social Studies guided reading with small groups in a content 

Classroom specific 60 minute class. The lesson will consist of 

showing teachers how to schedule, plan, assess, 

and evaluate an effective way to incorporate the 

approach to their content area. Samples of student 

work schedules and formalas will be given. Active 

participation will be required. 

B-32 Cynthia Wright Beverly Hills Social 

Studies 

8 Vivacious 

Vocabulary 

Vocabulary knowledge is vital to reading 

comprehension; and is the foundation for student 

success in every content area. We must increase 

our student's long-term retention of academic 

vocabulary. A variety of fun, easy-to-use strategies 

for teaching academic vocabulary will be presented 

in this session. 

11

B-33 David Wheat and 

Beth Wheat 

Queens 

Social 

Studies/ 

Math 

B-34 Garland Ganter Park View U.S. 

History 

5-8 Basic Steps of 

Putting Video into 

PowerPoint 

Presentations 

8 U.S. History Mock 

Newscast 

The purpose of this session is to present a 

demonstration of the basic skills and processes 

used in bringing video clips into PowerPoint 

presentations. In this session, the presenters will 

show the audience enough of the processes that 

they can start creating their own resources. There 

will be plenty of opportunity to answer questions and 

as time permits, additional processes can be 

discussed. 

The mock newscast (usually a two day project) is 

an engaging activity where students work in groups 

to write and act out a "newscast" (no actual video 

production is involved) of an important event in 

U.S. History. Students need to research their 

"facts" about the event (rigor). The newscast 

concept is highly relevant in today's media saturated 

world. The relationship aspect of the activity is 

represented by the cooprative work between 

students and monitoring by the teacher. 

B-35 Janet Kelly, 

Rebecca 

Kaminski, Emily 

Cooper 

B-36 Emily Donnelly & 

Nettie Warren 

B-37 Cristina Anderson, 

Don Zelenka and 

Sara Henderson 

Bondy/Lom 

ax 

Beverly Hills Special 

Educati 

on 

SUCCE 

SS 

Bondy 

Lifeskills 6-8 Rigor, Relevance 

and Life Skills 

Special 

Educati 

on 

Fundamentals of 

Touch Math 

7-8 Increasing Home 


Collaboration and 

Parent 

Involvement 

We will strive to demonstrate how we, as 

SUCCESS Life Skills teachers can incorporate 

higher level thinking skills into 

prevocational/vocational areas of instruction. We 

will focus on integration of relevance/relation ships 

of the academic concepts we teach so the kids will 

"get" it and generalize outside of school, in their 

homes and communities. We will present several 

ideas we hope will help make teaching "academics" 

more relevant to a child who has limited cognitive 

abilities. 

Basic touch math concepts will be presented on 

how it is done as well as how to teach it to students. 

Touch math is particularly valuable for lower level 

math students to master maths basic concepts. 

(Add, subtraction, multiplication, division, money 

and time) 

Our goal as teachers is to make lessons that are 

relevant to our students. Tapping into a students 

home life can help teachers make connections to 

what is relevant to their students. Forming positive 

relationships with all parents can make a difference 

on how students do in school. 

B-38 Carolyn Mashburn 

(Julie Reed) 

English 

Langua 

ge Arts 









B-39 

B-40 Luci Weaver 

Must 

also 

regist 

er for 

A-40 



Adm. 

Building 

5-8 Building Teacher 

Webspace 

Teachers will learn an easy way to create their own 

personal webspace for their students. This space 

will allow teachers a place to post information, 

reviews, lessons, and any other information for 

students to view. 

12

B-41 Shawn Fojtik, Jill 


Guidance 

Center 

Alternati 

ve 

Campus 

C-01 Meredith Griffin Jackson ESL 

Math 


the Guidance 

Center 

C-02 Joe Shea Queens Math 7-8 PEEP and the 

PROFESSOR-- 

Engaging 

Activities for Math 









Center. 

7-8 Primary Parts Students are given 8-10questions about a location. 

The questions require students to use a variety of 

math skills, including proportions, balancing 

equations, and scale measurement. Students must 

be able to identify math vocabulary, numbers, and 

verbs along with their subjects, by coloring them 

blue, green, and red. 

To use humor to reinforce math ideas and make it 

easy for students to participate without the fear of 

being wrong or made fun of. Two of the activities I 

like to go with are called PEEP and THE 

PROFESSOR. Students perform in a group in front 

of the class in what seems like a simple fun game, 

and then you add some math concepts that they 

use and reinforce math concepts. 

C-03 Richard Yoes and 

Michael Kaatz 

Miller Math 8 What's Your 

Problem? 

Boost your student's understanding of writing 

equations with our step by step process that will 

have students generating their own problems. This 

method can be used on its own or to enhance your 

current practices to boost your lesson to Quadrant 

D. Lesson plan nd materials will be provided. 

C-04 LaShawn 

Simmons, Micah 

Strickland, Michael 

Arroyo and Jamy 

Smith 

Beverly Hills Math 8 Circle Solver We will be demonstrating the use of a "Circle 

Solver". It is a graphic organizer used to help find 

circumference. 

C-05 Sherrie Raines San Jacinto Math 5-8 Do You Have 

Math in Your 

Bones? 

C-06 Eric Huysman and 

Melissa Johnson 

C-07 

C-08 Julie (Celillee) 

Williams, Angie 

(Angelica) Mishra, 

Amber Medina 

and Jennifer Farris 

Park View Math 6 Ratio Boxes Can 

be Used as the 

Building Blocks for 

Understanding 

Beverly Hills Math 7 Converting 

Fractions, 

Decimals and 

Percents 

13 

Straight from the NCTM 2008 Conference to 

you…We have found a bone! Whose could it be? 

Come help us solve the bone mystery. By using 

measurement, ratios, graphing, patterns and 

technology we will unravel the mystery. 

Teachers will learn how to use ratio boxes to 

organize students work, and leas to more 

understanding of proportional relationships. 

Examples will be given of applications to ratios, 

proportions, equivalent fractions, percents, unit 

conversion, similar shapes, scale factor, and 

dilations. Students, by using this technique will 

become more confident about their work, and will 

foster better relationships with teachers. 

Review activity for fractions, decimals and percents 

using interactive foldable and multimedia 

presentation. The lesson will conclude with small 

cooperative groups working together to conduct a 

class survey that will help solidify conversion 

techniques.

C-09 Connie Castillo Southmore Core 

Content 

Areas 

6-8 Beyond 

Google:Non- 

Fiction - 

Differentiated 

Reading Materials 


electronic resources (eLibrary, Gale, & EBSCO) to 

find content-related reading materials that meet the 

needs of all students. These electronic resources 

allow teachers to search by lexile level and enables 

teachers to provide students with content-related 

materials above and below the textbook. 

C-10 Holly Yoes and 

Antonio Bernabe 

Miller 

Technol 

ogy, 

Math 

and 

Science 

6-8 Use Robotics to 

Support Math and 

Science 

Hear how we created a competitive robotics team. 

Meet and ask questions of student participants. 

Program a robot to stop at an exact mark using 

math concepts. Robitics can bring relevant, projectbased 

learning to the math and science curriculum 

as students must apply knowledge and skills to 

meet project goals. 

C-11 James Opolot Queens Tech. 

App. 

7-8 Model Rocket Student first learn terms and vocabulary that applies 

to real world rockets. Students then design rockets 

on the computer and create rocket model by hand. 

Terminology reinforced during project and student 

interact with the project as rockets launch. Project 

includes TEKS Science Objective 4 

C-12 JohnT Powell and 

Tom Deibel 



Adm. 

Building 

5-8 Projector Magic You have a projection device in your room -- now 

what? Projectors can show more than PowerPoint. 

Come and see the magic of magnification. 

C-13 Aubrey Cruse Queens Science 6-8 Teaching Science 

in the 21st 

Century 

The session will introduce integration of technology 

resources and the Internet to fulfill rigor & relavance 

standards in the teaching of TEKS aligned Science 

curriculum. Examples of materials to be presented 

include utilization of satellite imagery to teach The 

Water Cycle and internet resources that students 

can use for self-directed instruction. 

C-14 Travis Teichelman Beverly Hills Science 7 Virtual Labs Use online virtual labs to demonstrate science in 

the real world. These labs are intended to 

supplement real labs. These labs are labs that are 

not feasible because of room, supplies, safety, etc. 

C-15 Cynthia Martinez- 

Bagwill 

C-16 Dan Armstrong 

and Jennifer 

Vaughan 

Miller Science 5-8 Mini-Cast - 50th 

Anniversary 

Park View Science 7 Catastrophic 

Events 

Missed the CAST convention in Austin this year? 

Never fear.. Let me bring to you some awesome 

materials and information for your viewing pleasure. 

Space info from Dana Center, Dimensional 

Analysis, Carbon cycle games (internet), Chemistry - 

Balancing Equations, Games people play - moon 

phases 

Rigor-TEKS 7.5A; 7.14A Relevance -The 

Texas Gulf Coast is susceptible to a variety of 

catastrophic events, including hurricanes, tornadoes 

and flooding. Students are affected by each of 

these in some way when they occur. The session 

will cover the requirements and administration of 

the assignment including a grading rubric and 

examples of student work from previous years. 

14

C-17 Barbara 

The Summit Science 6 The Great The session will describe group research projects 

Henderson, Larry 

Planetary Debate - about the planets. Each group is given the 

Lewis, and Jeremy 

Gibson 

TEKs 5A, 13AB opportunity to choose the planet they would like to 

research. Groups are required to answer specific 

questions about their planet by using books, the 

internet, newspaper, interviews, magazines, and/or 

any prior knowledge. 

C-18 Mathai Paul and 

Shanah Tonne 

C-19 Tracie Cortez, 

Sharon Austin, 

and Amy Denton 

C-20 Olena Koval and 

Latonya Smith 

Park View Science 6 Creating Your 

Own Weather 

Station 

Rick 

Schneider 

Middle 


Rick 

Schneider 

Middle 


General 

General 

Teaming for 

Success Through 

Rigor, Relevance, 

and Relationships 

7 Habits That Can 

Change Your 

Teens Life 

Based on students personal experiences with the 

weather (relevance), students will form a hypothesis 

about how accurately you could predict future 

weather conditions using weather instruments in the 

students weather stations. This is a hands-on 

activity for student to better understand the 

prediction of weather. 

Strategies for effective teaming, at the middle 

school level, that foster successful relationships and 

enhance rigor and relevance in any classroom. 

These strategies are also helpful as classroom 

management tools. 

This session is adapted from the book: The 7 habits 

of highly Effective teens. The session will give the 

attendees the opportunity to get information and 

lessons (on PowerPoint) that teachers can use to 

get their students organized. Plus, they can also 

build a better relationship with them! 

C-21 Jessica Frinsco, 

Steven Hall, and 

Luis Medina 

Queens 

ESL/EL 

AR/Mat 

h 

6-8 Folding Across the 

Curriculum 

This presentation's focus is foldables used across 

content areas, including ESL, and meaningfully 

engaging students in lessons. Although most 

teachers incorporate foldables into their lessons, it 

is often difficult for a math teacher to visualize how 

a foldable used in ELAR could benefit their students 

and vice-versa, but it is possible. 

C-22 Glen Russell Thompson Reading 5-8 Creating Reading 

Cultures 

Describes how to create a culture of reading and 

readers in your classroom. Using Cambourne's 

model of engagement, teachers can learn some 

basic strategies to get kids to see themselves as 

readers. I don't think I even need to waste space 

on how becoming readers is relevant in our lives. 

C-23 Valarie Mechler & 

Cynthia Peña 

Rick 

Schneider 

Middle 


Reading 6 Purposeful 

Learning: 

Integrating Quickwrites 

& 

Interactive 

Notebooks for 

Reading 

Note taking and quick-writes are two researched 

based strategies with impressive learning 

outcomes. Creating interactive notebooks from 

daily note taking allows students to have a highly 

engaging experience in developing a personal 

learning resource. Interactive reading notebooks 

become a collection of comprehension skills and 

strategies to be used in other classroom activities. 

Daily quick writes provide opportunities for students 

to access prior knowledge, reflect on previous 

learning, and practice writing skills. In this session 

you will see how these two strategies can give 

students an engaging, relevant activity that builds 

both reading and writing skills. 

15

C-24 Jill K. Hanley Queens Reading 5-8 Alive and Well, 

and Living in New 

York 

C-25 Keely Coufal and 

Julie Belcik 

Park View Reading 5-8 Monsters Among 

Us 

C-26 Terrie Hinojosa San Jacinto Reading 6-8 Beyond 

Google:Non- 

Fiction - 

Differentiated 

Reading Materials 

C-27 Misty Yeater and 

Dina Garrett 

C-28 Susan Calvin and 

Juanita Montoya 

C-29 Mary Warhop and 

Kathy Clark 

C-30 Liz Ortiz North 

Central 

Middle 


San Jacinto LA 7 Literary Term 

Power Point 

Project 

Jackson ELA 7 ELA Best Lessons 

Roundtable 

Challenger Writing 7 Outstanding 

Organization 

(Writing) 

Writing 5-7 The Rigor and 

Relevance of 

Authentic Writing 

Instruction 

This is a unit on Greek mythology which interwines 

with Rick Riordan's book The Lightning Thief. It 

uses internet sources and books to give students a 

comprehensive view of the world of Greek 

mythology. Rick Riordan's novel keeps students 

captivated and eagar to know more about 

mythology. 

This is a thematic unit that revolves around the very 

popular novel, Lightning Thief. It explores Greek 

mythology in the modern text of the story. Students 

will connect the humanistic qualities of gods, 

goddesses, and mythological monsters to society 

today in a fun and relevant project. Teachers will 

take away lesson plans to use in their classrooms. 


subscription databases (NoveList, TeachingBooks, 

& EBSCO) to find content-related reading materials 

that meet the needs of all students. These 

databases allow teachers to search resources by 

lexile level and enables teachers to provide 

students with content-related materials above and 

below the textbook. 

Students work in groups to research and create a 

power point using the literary terms given to them. 

The project must include a definition of term in 

student's own words, two visuals, three examples, 

and one power point. Each group will combine their 

power points together and present to the class. 

This is a session for teachers to do what we do 

best. STEAL! There are amazing teachers in this 

district, and we want to steal from you, so bring your 

best lessons. We will bring our lessons on 

vocabulary, combining sentences, and deleting 

sentences. Please bring enough copies of your 

lesson for all attendees. 

The session will provide teachers with resources 

and a concise lesson plan to review the writing trait, 

organization. The students are required to use 

critical thinking skills at the analysis level. The 

learner objecives can be applied to the essay 

section of the 7th Grade Writing TAKS. 

Writing is "thinking" on paper. If we want to know if 

students are learning what we've taught, ask them 

to write it down. You will learn strategies that will 

help you "instruct" writing, not just assign writing. 

Learn to create a learning community tha 

C-31 Amy Johnson Beverly Hills English 6 Teaching English 

Through Music to 

Reach Different 

Cultures 

What do different cultures have in common? 

Music! It is a Univeral Language. This session will 

help to build close relationships with you and your 

students, positively affect your classroom, 

management and demonstrate how to incorporate 

different genres of music into grammar, writing, 

poetry and sectors of language arts. 

16

C-32 Pamela Koester- 

Dunn 

Rick 

Schneider 

Middle 


Social 

Studies 

6 Landforms This lesson is a wrap up of mapping skills and 

landforms. This lesson can be one of those tickets 

off of an island. The students use the rigor from the 

lessons on mapping skills and landforms to create 

something creative and relevant. 

C-33 Jatata Hutton, 

John Hardy and 

Janene Hall 

C-34 Charlene Dunn & 

Suzanne Smith 

Miller 

Miller 

Social 

Studies 

Texas 

History 

8 Writing in Social 

Studies 

7 Texas History 

Potpourri 

Using Quick-Writes to incorporate writing in the 

Social Studies curriculum. Topics will include 

current events and historical events. 

I will introduce a variety of activities that can be 

incorporated into the Texas History classroom. The 

activities are geared towards various learning styles 

and different levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. It will 

include the use of technology in the classroom. 

C-35 Jeri Joslin, 

Barbara Keogh, 

Kimberly Powers 

C-36 Troylon Griffin and 

Lynn Shivers 

C-37 Jeanne Nelson, 

Tina Sutton, Karen 

Guina (facilitators) 

& special guests 

San Jacinto Social 

Studies 

Miller 

Special 

Educati 

on 

6-8 Milking Your COW This presentation will give an in-depth look at the 

Curriculum on Wheels machines purchased by a 

district grant. It will include examination of the 

software and lesson demonstrations for all 3 grade 

levels. 

7-8 Classroom 

Discipline 

Strategies 

Bondy/Miller Dyslexia 5-8 "Confessions of a 

True Dyslexic" 

Panel Discussion 

Learn to relate to students with discipline problems 

through real life classroom sceneros. 

Ever wonder what life is like for a dyslexic student? 

Dyslexic college students are our panelists in this 

session where teachers will be able to ask 

questions of and hear true stories told by dyslexic 

students. Teachers will hear suggestions that can 

help their dyslexic students and other students with 

reading disabilities be successful in school and the 

real world. 

C-38 Carolyn Mashburn 

(Julie Reed) 

English 

Langua 

ge Arts 









C-39 Shawn Fojtik, Jill 


Guidance 

Center 

Alternati 

ve 

Campus 


the Guidance 

Center 









Center. 

17

Intermediate Mini Conference - Pasadena Independent School District

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