1995 Summer Institute Demonstrations

"M & M": Multicultural and Multiethnic Literature in the Writing Classroom"

This workshop explores the importance of multicultural and multiethnic literature in the writing classroom. The diverse student population has an opportunity to broaden horizons through the integration of literature that students find intriguing and interesting.

"Poetry: Getting it Out of the English Class"

This workshop will examine ways poetry can be used in an interdisciplinary setting. Participants will engage in a series of activities demonstrating the ease of writing poetry out of the traditional English class.

"A Star Without A Sky"

This workshop will focus on how writing can be used to increase the amount and depth of a student's learning in the content areas. Participants will be involved in tasks designed to determine prior knowledge, summarize knowledge gained, and t transfer that knowledge into prose, poetry, and other creative expressions.

"Wiping off Ignorance Layer by Layer: What Your K-12 Students will Study in College English."

This workshop demonstrates some of the activities and concepts that students might confront in college--surprisingly, the same activities and concepts that they started with in kindergarten. Workshop participants will see that writing evolves with ever-increasing sophistication.

"Using Conferences to Respond to Student Writing--or--'Oh, I'd Like to, But I Just Don't Have the Time'"

This workshop is founded on three assumptions: (1) Students rarely incorporate written teacher corrections or comments into later writing; (2) Positive feedback is an essential element of classroom success; (3) No one has time for writing conferences. Teachers will learn how and why to use oral teacher-student conferences to respond to student writing and how to incorporate them into their existing schedules.

"Grading Made Fast, Fair, and Formative? Try it. . . You'll Like It!"

This workshop will seek to address these concerns teachers often have about the evaluation of students' writing by describing and demonstrating the use of grading checklists, rubrics, and cumulative writing folders. The goal is to encourage w writing teachers to utilize the grading and monitoring techniques discussed to improve the speed, objectivity, and instructional role of writing skills assessment in the classrooms.

"Facilitating Student Writing Through the Exploration of Social Issues: Saving the World One Mind at a Time"

This workshop explores the problem of the student who "has nothing to write about!" Through examining timely issues of importance, the student is afforded a basis from which to generate written material which originates from personal interest and purpose.

"Focus on the Slower Learner: Is A Picture Worth a Thousand Words?"

Because slower learners may not learn a new concept the first time it is introduced, classroom teachers should plan to teach or reinforce it through various learning modalities including the auditory, visual, tactile, and kinesthetic modes. The workshop demonstrates how teachers can use exercise sheets to re-teach, reinforce, and motivate students (slower learners in particular) to think creatively, focus on ideas by drawing them, and write about the ideas.

"The Reading and Writing Connection--Young Children Can Be Authors, Too!"

This workshop demonstrates how teachers of young children can assist their students in becoming authors of their own books through the use of literature. Participants will make a class "big book," work in a small group to create a pattern boo k, and finally write a passage for a story.

"Learning the Language of Poetry: Dislodging 'Another Brick in the Wall'"

This workshop uses contemporary musical lyrics as a motivation for getting reluctant students to accept poetry. Those who relate to Pink Floyd's "We don't need no education" are hooked once they realize that, in order to understand their own music, they must first analyze the poetic elements. Discussion will center around the basis for figurative comparisons ("why" instead of "what").

"Please Pass the 'Expresso': More Expressive Writing Needed"

This workshop will examine ways to give students a risk-free setting to practice writing and experiment with writing styles across the curriculum. The participants will write a descriptive paragraph, persuasive paragraph, and a narrative.

"Reader's Theater: Raising the Curtain for Writers"

This workshop will emphasize techniques through which participants will learn to adapt a scene from a favorite book to make it appropriate for Readers' Theater. Participants will use classical and contemporary works to help create in an audience the desire to read the works from which the selections were taken.

"Stinky Cheese: What does Writing Look Like? Focusing Student Writing Through Fluency, Form, and Correctness"

This inquiry workshop focuses on the visual impact of writing on the developing reader/writer. Emphasis on the problems young writers encounter in fluency, form, and correctness will cause the participant to look at the effect of developmental l stages on the types of activities a teacher creates. Although many of the strategies target at-risk middle school students, the concepts can be adapted at all developmental levels.

"Learning to Write Through a Thematic Approach by Utilizing Experiences and Hands-On Activities."

This workshop demonstrates a thematic approach to the teaching of writing. It shows the value of experiences and hands-on activities to generate ideas for writing in the minds of children. This approach should eliminate the age-old statement , "I don't have anything to write." Participants will utilize the steps in the writing process as they write several descriptive paragraphs, a how-to paragraph, and a narrative. This presentation is geared to K-3 classrooms. By changing the theme or ext ending the activities, it could easily be adapted to any grade level.

"Writing Without Fear: A Holistic Approach to Teaching Writing."

Teaching writing with a holistic approach means addressing writing as a total language act which involves thinking, listening, speaking, and reading. Before students put pencil to paper, the teacher builds a strong support system which facilitates students' success. The holistic model follows what research says about how children learn and acquire language and about children's need for developmentally appropriate instruction. Successful writing instruction begins with developing oral language facility (not only in young children) and increasing writing fluency or quantity.