National Writing Project

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Teaching Writing

Additional Resources

Being a Writer: Curriculum to Build a Community of Writers

October 2015
Being a Writer is a flexible writing curriculum for grades K–6 based on the writers workshop model. The curriculum is also based on NWP's widely shared principles of literacy and language learning. Originally developed by the Development Studies Center (DSC), Being A Writer is now part of the Center for the Collaborative Classroom (CCC) since DSC's merger with Cornerstone Literacy, Inc. NWP is now partnering with CCC to build and enhance a community of writers. More ›

Narrative Writing and CCSS, A Sample Chapter from Helping English Learners to Write

Helping English Learners to Write: Meeting Common Core Standards, Grades 6-12, March 2015
In this chapter the authors explain the critical role of narrative writing in the Common Core State Standards and in helping English learners develop their English and succeed in English Language Arts coursework in the secondary grades. More ›

Creating Connectional and Critical Curriculum, A Sample Chapter from Family Dialogue Journals

Family Dialogue Journals: School-Home Partnerships That Support Student Learning, March 2015
In this chapter the authors discuss what they have learned from families and how family funds of knowledge became central to their curriculum, creating what they call a "connectional curriculum"—practices that link classroom learning with families and communities. More ›

The Relationship of High School Student Motivation and Comments in Online Discussion Forums

Journal of Educational Computing Research, 2015
National Writing Project teacher-consultant Chris Sloan examines the relationship between student motivation and the quantity and quality of comments students receive on online discussion postings, with implications for effective design of online response activities. More ›

Paradise Lost: Introducing Students to Climate Change Through Story

Rethinking Schools, April 2013
Brady Bennon
High school teacher and Oregon Writing Project coach Brady Bennon writes about his experiences using literature and film to inspire awareness and empathy for climate change. More ›

Using the U.N. Rights of the Child as a Critical Inquiry Framework

April 2013
In this episode, listeners are introduced to the book, A Critical Inquiry Framework for K-12 Teachers, edited by JoBeth Allen and Lois Alexander. The book is a set of portraits from K-12 classrooms that illustrate how teachers used the U.N. Rights of the Child as a framework to engage students in critical inquiry of relevant social issues. More ›

Remodeling Literacy Learning: Making Room for What Works

April 2013
NWP is one of 30 stakeholder education organizations associated with the National Center for Literacy Education (NCLE). The first major research findings from the group were released in its report Remodeling Literacy Learning: Making Room for What Works. The report's survey participants include the NWP's nationwide network of teacher-leaders. More ›

The Disruptive/Transformative Potential of the Common Core State Standards

April 2013
Meg Petersen, Megan Birch
Authors Petersen and Birch argue that the Common Core State Standards, with its emphasis on thinking, argument, and the construction of knowledge, challenge us to go beyond facilitation to become authentic thinking partners with our students. More ›

The Final Free Modifier—Once More

Journal of Teaching Writing, February 2013
Richard L. Graves, Sherry Swain, David Morse
This article explores generative rhetoric, the practice of generating and adding new content in the form of modifiers to an existing sentence, and its use for improving the quality of writing in secondary schools. More ›

A Critical Inquiry Framework for K-12 Teachers

January 2013
In A Critical Inquiry Framework for K-12 Teachers, JoBeth Allen and Lois Alexander of the Red Clay Writing Project show how a group of teachers worked together to develop a critical content framework using the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. In chapter one, Allen explains what "critical inquiry" came to mean for the teachers and their students, and examines the critical research, stories, and multiple perspectives on the topic. More ›

Working Within Tension

January 2013
Bob Fecho's Teaching for the Students explores dialogic teaching—what it is and how teachers can move toward more reflective teaching practices. In this chapter, Fecho discusses the multiple tensions that can enter the classroom and offers substantive ways to address them. More ›

Aims and Criteria for Collaboration in Content-Area Classrooms

October 2012
Roni Jo Draper's book (Re)Imagining Content-Area Literacy Instruction explores content-area literacy and instruction with vignettes from teachers in English, music, science, math, social studies, and more. In this chapter, Draper lays out a framework to support collaboration between literacy specialists and content-area educators. More ›

Conversation Currents: Writing: A Mode of Thinking

Language Arts, July 2012
Jane Hansen, director of the Central Virginia Writing Project, and Danling Fu, a professor of literacy education at the University of Florida, discuss writing in today's language arts classrooms in the NCTE Language Arts podcast, "Conversation Currents." More ›

Informal and Shared: Writing to Create Community

English Journal, July 2012
Deborah Dean, a professor of English education at Brigham Young University, and Adrienne Warren, a teacher-consultant with the Central Utah Writing Project, describe informal writing assignments that have helped their students develop communal bonds with their classmates and learn more about writing well. More ›

Inviting Parents In: Expanding Our Community Base to Support Writing

English Journal, July 2012
Families can be strong allies for excellent writing instruction. Cathy Fleischer and Kimberly Coupe Pavlock, teacher-consultants with the Eastern Michigan Writing Project, describe workshops and other research-based methods for getting parents productively involved in their children's literacy development. More ›

The WAC Journal: Research and Ideas in Writing Across the Curriculum

July 2012
The WAC Journal continues the conversation on writing across the curriculum with their November 2011 issue and provides a collection of articles by educators exchanging practical ideas, pertinent theory, and their WAC experiences. More ›

The Intradisciplinary Influence of Composition and WAC, Part Two: 1986–2006

The WAC Journal, July 2012
Karla Lyles, Chris M. Anson
In the second part of their study of Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC), Chris M. Anson and Karla Lyles continue to track how the WAC movement developed and examine how writing was taught in a range of disciplines in the years 1986–2006. More ›

Elizabeth Fuller: Kentucky Elementary Teacher of the Year

June 2012
Tiffany Chiao
Louisville Writing Project teacher-consultant Elizabeth Fuller, named the 2012 Kentucky Elementary Teacher of the Year, discusses the impact of the Writing Project on her teaching. More ›

Bridging the Disconnect: A Layered Approach to Jump-Starting Engagement

Voices from the Middle, June 2012
Nanci Werner-Burke, director of the Endless Mountain Writing Project (Pennsylvania), along with co-authors and teacher-consultants Jane Spohn, Jessica Spencer, Bobbi Button, and Missie Morral, discuss how teachers can truly engage students in the classroom to "jump-start" learning, which include experimenting with various digital tools and alternate texts. More ›

The Red Mountain Writing Project Scholarly Writing Retreat for University Faculty

June 2012
Tonya Perry
Building upon their expertise in supporting K–12 teachers as writers in the invitational summer institute, the Red Mountain Writing Project offers a writing retreat for University of Alabama at Birmingham faculty to support their scholarly writing across a range of academic disciplines. More ›

Teachers Teaching Teachers Achieves 300th Broadcast Milestone

May 2012
Paul Oh
Paul Allison of the New York City Writing Project has been hosting a version of the weekly web radio program Teachers Teaching Teachers (TTT) since 2006. May 30, 2012, marks the 300th episode of TTT, a remarkable achievement in the educational technology landscape. More ›

Writing Our Way to Success

April 2012
Andrea Heckner
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Writing Project teacher-consultant Andrea Heckner was a participant in the 2010 NWP Professional Writing Retreat. Writing Our Way to Success, which was begun at that retreat, chronicles much of her first year as a high school special education teacher. More ›

Getting It in Writing: Quests to Become Outstanding and Effective Writing Teachers

April 2012
In this foreword to Deborah M. Stankevich's Getting It in Writing: Quests to Become Outstanding and Effective Writing Teachers, Northwest Arkansas Writing Project Director Christian Z. Goering discusses his early experiences with the Writing Project and how it shaped him as a teacher. More ›

Three Teachers of the Year, One Writing Project Site

February 2012
Tiffany Chiao
Three North Star of Texas Writing Project teacher-consultants were Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts teachers of the year at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Additionally, NWP board member Liz Stephens was also given a Lifetime Service Award, and Sharon O'Neal, of Texas State University and from the Central Texas Writing Project, was honored as the College Teacher of the Year. More ›

Tech Tools for Teachers, by Teachers: Video Game Design in the Classroom

Wisconsin English Journal, 2011
Author and teacher Greg Kehring shares his experience of using video game design as a way of teaching the writing process to his middle school students. More ›

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