NWP Writing Strand at NCTE Convention: Teaching Writing to a New Generation

By: NWP Staff
Publication: The Voice, Vol. 10, No. 3
Date: 2005

Summary: On Saturday, November 19, a special all-day strand of writing workshops will be conducted by writing project teacher-leaders as one of the 2005 NWP Annual Meeting activities. Topics include ELL methods, preparing students for college writing, the family writing project, and genre theory. . .

Saturday, November 19, 2005
Please check the NCTE Convention Program for locations and to confirm session scheduling.

8:00 a.m. session
Write from Day One: Help Beginning English Learners Use Their Own Language and Skills to Develop Writing Fluency
How can secondary teachers help students break through the language barrier and engage in written discourse from the very first day they arrive in English language development class? Learn about alternatives to fill-in-the-blank exercises. In this workshop we will explore how beginning English learners can build cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP), think, plan, develop ideas, and really compose while they acquire basic skills in English.

Presenter: Cynthia Oei, UCLA Writing Project; Chair: Sheila Carter-Jones, Western Pennsylvania Writing Project; Recorder: Pamela McCune, Western Pennsylvania Writing Project

11:00 a.m. session
Preparing Students for College Writing (Not the Five-Paragraph Essay)
What abilities are central to college writing? How do high school teachers across the curriculum prepare students for academic writing in college? What about that five-paragraph essay? What about the alleged disconnect between the SAT writing sample and what college students are really expected to write? We will address these questions in the context of new research among college faculty and students across fields, and among directors of first-year college writing programs.

Presenters: Bernadette Glaze, Northern Virginia Writing Project, and Christopher Thaiss, George Mason University; Chair: Danielle Buccilli, Western Pennsylvania Writing Project; Recorder: John Davis, Western Pennsylvania Writing Project

1:15 p.m. session
The Family Writing Project: Parents and Children Bridging the Generation Gap Through Writing
School can be the center of a positive experience for families as they come together to form writing communities. Strong bonds develop between teacher and parent and parent and child. This interactive session will describe several ideas and activities for bringing parents and children together to write. These tested and tried after-school activities have proved successful in many Las Vegas schools, grades 1–12. Families come to understand each other in unique ways through the life stories they share. In addition, parents and teachers develop new relationships and strengthen bonds.

Presenter: Rosemary Holmes-Gull, Southern Nevada Writing Project; Chair: Christine Wolfe, Western Pennsylvania Writing Project; Recorder: Jennifer Ernsthausen, Western Pennsylvania Writing Project

2:45 p.m. session
Building a Schoolwide Writing Program
The teaching of writing is receiving renewed emphasis in light of the National Commission on Writing's report The Neglected "R," the new SAT writing assessment, and other factors. What are the major considerations and issues as schools struggle to build schoolwide writing programs? In this workshop, participants will explore the major components of a schoolwide program, and identify the administrative support and the professional development necessary to make such a program successful. Teacher-consultants from the Western Pennsylvania Writing Project will highlight and discuss a variety of approaches to building schoolwide programs and describe their results.

Presenters: Jerome Halpern, Jennifer Hayes, and Beth Voltz, Western Pennsylvania Writing Project; Chair: Nicholas Coles, Western Pennsylvania Writing Project; Recorder: Mary Guzowski, Western Pennsylvania Writing Project

4:15 p.m. session
Genre Theory and the Teaching of Writing
Recent research on genres as social action promises to enliven the teaching of different forms of writing by situating them in the everyday concerns of students. This session will examine some of the research, look at examples of how the findings have been used in classrooms, and give participants a chance to imagine new ways to teach genre.

Presenters: Tom Fox and Suzanne Linebarger, Northern California Writing Project; Chair: Melissa Butler, Western Pennsylvania Writing Project; Recorder: Susan Gradeck, Western Pennsylvania Writing Project

National Writing Project

resources

NWP Writing Strand at NCTE Convention: Teaching Writing to a New Generation