Summer writing programs offered to teachers and kids

KALAMAZOO--Registration is underway for summer sessions at Western Michigan University that offer teachers classroom-tested strategies to help teach writing and provide young writers with a popular summer camp opportunity.

The Third Coast Writing Project, part of the National Writing Project network, is offering the summer workshops for teachers beginning July 9, while a young writers' camp begins June 18. The registration deadline is Tuesday, May 1. Visit the Third Coast Writing Project online for application forms and additional information.

Now entering its 19th year, Third Coast has been providing rigorous, research-based professional development for teachers since 1994. More than 400 teachers have completed its flagship program, the Invitation Summer Institute. Nearly 2,000 more have engaged in Third Coast's other summer programs, along with thousands who have been part of its in-school professional development seminars.

This year, Third Coast will again offer an Invitational Summer Institute, as well as its Teacher as Writer Seminar, and two Reading, Comprehension and the Common Core Workshops. Third Coast also will continue its popular Camp for Young Writers serving children ages 8-14.

Young writers' camp

• Camps for Young Writers (June 18-29): This enrichment camp provides the spark for aspiring young writers in two distinct groups--ages 8-10 and 11-14. Directors and teachers help motivated children find their direction in writing. Poems, stories and much more come to life and culminate in a public reading for families, friends and teachers. Enrollment costs $150.

Teachers' workshops

• Invitational Summer Institute (July 9-20): Third Coast Writing Project's flagship program, the summer institute is available by application and invitation only and provides a professional learning community that enhances teachers' own writing and enables them to give voice to student writers. Enrollment is limited to 10 participants and costs $200 with an option for two WMU graduate credits for additional enrollment costs.
• Teacher as Writer Seminar (July 9-13): The Teacher as Writer Workshop focuses on the inner writer that exists in all teachers. Under the guidance of an experienced poet, writer and creative writer, teachers get the chance to concentrate, full time on their own writing, whether fiction, poetry or professional writing. Enrollment costs $200 with an option of one WMU graduate credit for an additional enrollment fee.
• Reading, Comprehension and the Common Core Session I (July 16-20) and Session II (July 23-27): The workshops provide practical, well-researched methods of understanding and integrating Common Core standards for student learning into literacy and language instruction at all levels, from kindergarten though grade 12. The program helps teachers and their schools better understand the Common Core and successfully integrate these standards into their curricula.

Visit the Third Coast Writing Project online for detailed information and program application information or contact Dr. Jonathan Bush, WMU professor of English, at (269) 387-2571 or @email.