WMU offers summer writing workshops for teachers, kids
by Mark Schwerin
May 4, 2011 | WMU News
KALAMAZOO--Ask high school or elementary teachers if getting students to write well is a problem and you may get a resounding "yes" for an answer.
But what to do about it?
Western Michigan University's Third Coast Writing Project will provide some answers during its annual series of summer workshops for teachers, beginning June 20. Now entering its 18th year, the summer workshops offer classroom-tested, research-based strategies that support teaching and learning at all levels and content areas.
The registration deadline for teachers' workshops is Tuesday, May 10. Additional information and application forms are available online by visiting Third Coast online. Applicants should fill out the forms and mail or fax them to the address or phone number indicated.
And there's fun for young writers, too. Third Coast also offers summer camps for kids starting June 20. The deadline for registering for children's camps is May 27.
Teachers' workshops
- Invitational Summer Institute (June 20-July 15): Through a strong focus on teaching writing, the Invitational Institute, Third Coast Writing Project's flagship program, provides a professional learning community that enhances teachers' own writing and enables them to give voice to student writers. The institute features workshops, readings, research, Common Core discussions and time for writing, response and amazing collegiality.
- Teachers as Writers Workshop (June 20-July 1): The Teachers as Writers Workshop is for experienced writers and those who want to focus on their own creative or academic writing for the first time. Teachers bring drafts, ideas and unrealized good intentions that may too often have been pushed aside. Here there is time to focus on the craft of writing and then to use it as you work with student writers.
- Writing to Support English Language Learners (June 20-24): Especially for teachers whose students include English language learners, this workshop provides a wide range of practical classroom writing strategies that support ELL students in classes across the curriculum.
- Writing, Reading, Comprehension and the Common Core (July 5-8): In this workshop teachers learn practical, research-based strategies that help students become stronger writers, thinkers and readers, as articulated in the Common Core Standards and grade-level content expectations in all content areas.
- Writing in a Digital World (July 5-8): This workshop provides time and support to integrate exciting new dimensions of meaning into all content areas. Using audio and video editing programs, participants will explore creating projects such as podcasts and digital stories to support the teaching of writing and the elements of digital composition. Participants will create their own examples and develop lesson plans tailored to their own classroom.
For more information about teachers' writing workshops, contact Dr. Ellen Brinkley, WMU professor of English and Third Coast Writing Project director, at ellen.brinkley@wmich.edu or (269) 387-2581.
Children's camps
- Camps for Young Writers (June 20-July1): Camps include "Animals in Action," for ages 8-10, and "It's a Mystery," for ages 11-14. Children in "Animals in Action" will bring animal characters to life through the magic of personification, creating a work of fiction with powerful voice where animals are the main character. Writers in "It's a Mystery" will investigate the features of mystery writing and try to crack the case, testing their abilities to create characters, settings and plotlines that keep readers guessing.
For more information about writing camps for children, call (269) 387-2572.
