Course Descriptions for Friday, November 7
SESSION I
8:30 - 10:00 A.M.
A. Resonance in Writing (3-12)
Resonance is what readers and writers yearn for. It’s what makes a story roar, and linger. It hits a raw nerve, a sweet emotion, a memory. It makes you cry, stand up and cheer, reflect. It’s the blood of fiction. How does the writer find it? Diamonds.
INSTRUCTOR: Graham Salisbury
B. Revision Without Tears (3-12)
The key to revision lies in the meaning of the word itself. Learn various ways to get young writers to take a second look into their own work to find secrets that will surprise them and get them re-writing, without ever using the 'R' word. Quick write exercises will be used to create a text block and then manipulate that text block using a variety of prose/poetic forms to make crafted writing rise off the page like magic. This step-by-step writing can give those good writers a means of leaping ahead, and can show those kids with less of the writerly impulse how easy it is to find stories and poems in what seems at first like just a mess of words on a page. Participants will begin with a quick write and then divide into groups to form their quick write into a paragraph with a specific focus, or a poem, exploring such forms as pantoum, haiku, cinquain and open verse, which will be presented on handouts.
INSTRUCTOR: Joanna Rose
C. What a Character (K-3)
This inspirational workshop will provide teachers with tools for teaching students how to write vivid portrayals of unforgettable characters. Laure will share helpful techniques for turning even the most common object, animal or person into a beloved character. At the end of this session, teachers will know how to encourage their students to write about their characters with descriptive clarity, breathing true life on to the written page. This workshop will include helpful handouts, free-writes and story telling.
INSTRUCTOR: Laure Redmond
D. 101 Writing Ideas (4-8)
One hundred and one classroom writing ideas to draw out every student imaginable, even the desperately shy and the defiantly silent. With 25 years as a poet in the schools, and at least 8 on and off as a public schools language arts teacher, Grabel, who has a new master’s in special education, will present creative ideas and strategies for every student in the classroom.
INSTRUCTOR: Leanne Grabel
E. Building the Perfect Beast: Character and Story (K-5)
For beginner or professional, the process of writing is, at best, a sublime challenge. One way that students can model and learn from their writing teacher is if the teacher shows the class how he or she also works to create a story. In this workshop we will explore, as one approach, how writing a story collaboratively can give students of any level an elevated sense of authorship. Ken Kesey wrote the published book Caverns together with thirteen graduate creative writing students from the University of Oregon. There are collaboration techniques that work with kindergarteners. In between these levels, learn how collaboration between students and teacher can be a fun and challenging way for your students to better appreciate the craft of writing a story.
INSTRUCTOR: Joe Kurmaskie
SESSION II
10:15-11:45 A.M.
A. Resonance in Writing (3-12)
Resonance is what readers and writers yearn for. It’s what makes a story roar, and linger. It hits a raw nerve, a sweet emotion, a memory. It makes you cry, stand up and cheer, reflect. It’s the blood of fiction. How does the writer find it? Diamonds.
INSTRUCTOR: Graham Salisbury
B. What a Character (K-3)
This inspirational workshop will provide teachers with tools for teaching students how to write vivid portrayals of unforgettable characters. Laure will share helpful techniques for turning even the most common object, animal or person into a beloved character. At the end of this session, teachers will know how to encourage their students to write about their characters with descriptive clarity, breathing true life on to the written page. This workshop will include helpful handouts, free-writes and story telling.
INSTRUCTOR: Laure Redmond
C. The Blank Page (3-12)
Writing comes easily to some students and is utterly terrifying to others. In this session we’ll talk about (and test run) many activities and exercises to win over even your most resistant students. You’ll leave with a resource packet that will enable you to immediately incorporate these activities into your classroom.
INSTRUCTOR: Erin Ergenbright
D. Successful Strategies for English Learners (K-5)
Participants will be introduced to sheltered writing strategies, learn why they are important, and how to implement them in the classroom. Sheltered Instruction strategies make academic content comprehensible to English Language Learners. Frontloading and introducing key language necessary to understand a lesson are a part of Sheltered Instruction. Lisa will model high leverage sheltered writing strategies. At the end of this session, teachers will be able to embed sheltered strategies into their writing lessons. This will be a whole group presentation with participants working in groups and individually. Packets will contain graphic organizers and strategy examples.
INSTRUCTOR: Lisa Blount
E. The Memory Place (3-12)
We will mine a personal “memory place” for details related to landscape, mood, and character. We will break into groups of four, and each person takes a turn spontaneously describing a memory grounded somewhere in the world—an encounter, a family story, a childhood landscape, a special place for day dreaming, the location of a sudden realization. As the storyteller speaks, witnesses jot down key phrases and potent images. Silence follows the story, during which the listeners make quick sketches of the key images in the story. The word phrases and images then become prompts for writing quick, pithy “memory place” pieces that one can locate on an imaginary map.
INSTRUCTOR: Susan Banyas
SESSION III
12:30 - 2:00 P.M.
A. Character, Setting and Plot (4-12)
This interactive workshop will demonstrate how to create a successful plot by writing three simple sentences before moving on to exercises that will help the writer create a credible setting peopled with three dimensional characters. This session is most appropriate for teachers from grade 4 to 12. However, primary grade teachers could adapt these strategies to present the lessons as shared writing activities.
INSTRUCTOR: Tim Schell
B. Publishing 101 (6-12)
When students see their writing in some form of print, they experience a sense of ownership and pride. When students participate in the writing and publishing process from beginning to end, they become more engaged in their own writing In this session, ideas for publishing projects in the classroom will be shared. By focusing on the aspects of writing and publishing that go beyond the writing, all students can be involved. Examples of simple projects that combine writing and art will be handed out.
INSTRUCTORS: Dennis Stovall and the Ooligan Press editors.
C. Responding to Students About Writing (3-12)
There are proven guidelines for responding to student writing and, in particular, how to conference with individual students or small groups most effectively. These guidelines will be the focus of discussion, and workshop members will demonstrate them. How to conference one-on-one with severe time constraints is a primary concern of the workshop.
INSTRUCTOR: Peter Sears
D. Maps, Art and Writing (K-3)
Maps are inspiring. They trigger within us a desire to explore, a deeper spatial understanding of our environment (external and internal), a visual vocabulary, and maps encompass fantasy. In this workshop we will explore using maps as an entry point for writing poetry, story-telling and descriptive non-fiction. The mapping and writing curriculum will incorporate art and writing and teachers will come away with a unit that they can tailor to fit their own strengths and their students’ needs.
INSTRUCTOR: Natalie Serber
E. Focus on the Six Writing Traits (4-12)
This workshop will intensively focus on how to specifically teach each of the six writing traits. The various exercises will cover a wide range of approaches to teaching all grade and skill levels from K through 12. This will be a whole group presentation where attending teachers will try out some of the exercises and receive a very thick packet containing overhead masters, student handouts, and a variety of related exercise ideas.
INSTRUCTOR: Brian Christopher Hamilton
SESSION IV
2:15-3:45 P.M.
A. Successful Strategies for English Learners (6-12)
Participants will be introduced to sheltered writing strategies, learn why they are important, and how to implement them in the classroom. Sheltered Instruction strategies make academic content comprehensible to English Language Learners. Frontloading and introducing key language necessary to understand a lesson are a part of Sheltered Instruction. Lisa will model high leverage sheltered writing strategies. At the end of this session, teachers will be able to embed sheltered strategies into their writing lessons. This will be a whole group presentation with participants working in groups and individually. Packets will contain graphic organizers and strategy examples.
INSTRUCTOR: Lisa Blount
B. Reading and Writing, Words and Images (4-12)
As teachers, we face the challenge of integrating visual literacy while not diminishing traditional language arts skills such as narration and description. One of the things we know about strong readers is that they "envision." In this workshop, we will use visual images to help students to make strong reading-into-writing connections. Participants may be interested in drawing upon the resources of new media, including graphic novels by contemporary authors. This session is a combination of direct presentation, teacher practice of exercises, and teacher group discussion.
INSTRUCTOR: Anita Helle
C. Sensing Writing (4-12)
This session will focus on using the senses to generate poetry among students, and also ways to incorporate the senses into writing and editing projects of other kinds.
INSTRUCTOR: Walidah Imarsha
D. Getting Students Excited About Writing (K-5)
Through the mastery of figurative language (i.e., similes, metaphors, personification, etc.), students will gain the confidence and skill that can turn writing into something they look forward to rather than dread. This workshop focuses on nine fun exercises that will work for students of any age and skill level, challenging them to use their imaginations and push beyond their abilities, as well as developing word-choice and sentence fluency. Many teachers will continue to use these exercises as the core of their writing units. This will be a whole group presentation where attending teachers will try out some of the exercises and receive a packet containing overhead masters, student handouts, and a variety of related exercises.
INSTRUCTOR: Brian Christopher Hamilton
E. Maps, Art and Writing (K-3)
Maps are inspiring. They trigger within us a desire to explore, a deeper spatial understanding of our environment (external and internal), a visual vocabulary, and maps encompass fantasy. In this workshop we will explore using maps as an entry point for writing poetry, story-telling and descriptive non-fiction. The mapping and writing curriculum will incorporate art and writing and teachers will come away with a unit that they can tailor to fit their own strengths and their students’ needs.
INSTRUCTOR: Natalie Serber
