Engaging Literate Minds (PDF)

in elementary school and spent her preservice teaching period in Accra, Ghana. Andrea currently lives in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, with her husband, Brian, who is also an educator, and their two young daughters. SARAH HELMER earned her teaching degree from the University of Wisconsin- Madison and has taught kindergarten and first- and second-grade multiage classes in southeastern Wisconsin. Although she has written many books in writers' workshop, this is Sarah's first time being published. Her passion for emergent literacy and what is possible for our youngest learners has truly been nurtured by her collaborative partnership with these teachers, whom she is proud to call her mentors, colleagues, and friends. MERRY KOMAR was born and raised in Hawaii where she began her teaching career and received her master's degree. As a teacher there, she had extensive literacy training as a participant in the Kamehameha Elementary Education Program (KEEP) for at-risk students, which included strategies for effective language instruction with a focus on writing as well as classroom management and organization. She was selected to be part of the KEEP Demonstration Classroom Project, which required careful monitoring of instruction and student progress using portfolio assessments. Growing up with parents who were educators coupled with a passion for working with children, TARA KRUEGER always knew she wanted to be a teacher. Her teaching journey began at the University of Minnesota where she received a master of education degree. She began her teaching career as a Title I reading and math interventionist at a K-8 school in Milwaukee. Working with mostly English language learners, Tara was able to utilize her Spanish skills to support student learning and continue to develop her passion for education. An avid equestrian, wife, and mother of two, LAURIE MCCARTHY received her undergraduate early childhood degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and master's degree in critical literacy from Carroll University. For the past fifteen years, she has worked as a multiage first- and second or second- and third-grade teacher in the Muskego-Norway School District.