Teachers offered four summer workshops on writing
April 23, 2001
KALAMAZOO -- Educators who want to improve the way they teach writing will have several opportunities to do so this summer through institutes offered by the Third Coast Writing Project at Western Michigan University.
Four summer workshops are offered this year, focusing on topics ranging from writing strategies for the elementary classroom to digital storytelling. Applications for the workshops are due May 1.
"We have a lot more going on than normal," says Dr. Ellen Brinkley, director of the Third Coast Writing Project and WMU associate professor of English. "We keep expanding because people are interested and ask for new things."
Third Coast Writing Project institutes
The eighth annual Invitational Summer Institute for Teachers, a four-week workshop to be held June 18 -July 13, which will provide a comprehensive focus on writing and the teaching of writing. Supported by a grant from the National Writing Project, the workshop's cost is $325 and includes four hours of graduate credit. More graduate credit is available at an additional cost.
Storytelling and Writing through Digital Media, a one-week workshop to be held July 9-13. Participants will learn how to use digital storytelling, which involves creating short multimedia presentations for dissemination on the World Wide Web, as an innovative new instructional method for the teaching of writing. The course will be taught by Caleb Paull from the Center for Digital Storytelling in Berkley, Calif., and Corey Harbaugh, a TCWP teacher consultant and member of the National Writing Project's Digital Storytelling team. Supported by a grant from the National Writing Project, the workshop's cost is $375.
Writing Strategies that Work Making Them Work in Your Classroom, a two-week seminar June 18-29 for teachers of kindergarten through sixth grade. Facilitated by Anne Lape, publishing house director at the Washington Writers' Academy in Kalamazoo, the workshop will address teaching the craft of writing, including such topics as effective teacher-student and peer writing conferences, teaching and encouraging revision, spelling, and using poetry to create a classroom community. The cost for the workshop is $300.
The fourth annual (Way, Way) Advanced Institute, to be held June 18-29 for returning "fellows" who have attended past TCWP Invitational Summer Institutes or are from other National Writing Project sites in Michigan. Directed by Pen Campbell, an instructor at Lake Michigan Catholic High School in St. Joseph, and Scott Peterson from Mattawan Public Schools, the workshop offers participants time to focus on their own writing. The cost for the institute is $300.
All institutes will take place on the WMU campus and offer the opportunity for participants to receive WMU graduate credit.
To apply or receive more information, contact Brinkley at (616) 387-2581 or <ellen.brinkley@wmich.edu>.
Media contact: Marie Lee, 616 387-8400, marie.lee@wmich.edu