Workshop:
Picture Books as “Mentor Texts” for Writing Lessons

Workshop:
Chapter Book Excerpts as “Mentor Texts” for Writing Lessons

Course Details: Yes, it’s back, due to popular demand. Participants will workshop with half a dozen NNWP presenters who created skill-based, picture book-inspired lessons that can be accessed on-line. Participants will bring a favorite picture book with them to the final class session and design a trait-based lesson to use in their own classrooms. Five lessons from participants will be chosen to be posted at the WritingFix website, and those five teachers will receive $100 in free picture books for their classrooms.

Lessons used during this course can be accessed from WritingFix's Picture Book Lesson Homepage.

Next workshop offering: October of 2009

Course Details : Why should picture books get all the attention when such fantastic young adult literature is being written? Participants will workshop with half a dozen NNWP presenters who have posted trait-based lessons on-line that inspire student writers with powerful excerpts from great chapter books. Participants will bring a favorite chapter book with them to the final class session and design a trait-based lesson to use in their own classroom. Five lessons from participants will be chosen to be posted at the WritingFix website, and those five teachers will receive $100 in free chapter books for their classrooms.

Lessons used during this course can be accessed from WritingFix's Chapter Book Lesson Homepage.

Next workshop offering: Spring of 2010

Workshop: Literature Excerpts and
Classic Poetry as “ Mentor Texts” for Writing Lessons

Workshop:
Song Lyrics, Video, and Podcasts to Inspire Powerful Writing

Course Details : Teachers will participate in half a dozen demonstration lessons that showcase innovative writing instruction that is inspired by excerpts from the classics of literature (Dickens, Steinbeck, Golding, etc) and great classical poetry (Shakespeare, Browning, Dickinson, etc.). The demonstration lessons will be trait-focused, and they will show how student writers, while imitating styles, ideas and techniques from literary models, can easily develop their own styles and ideas for classroom assignments. At the final session, class participants will outline a new writing lesson for their own classrooms, inspired by a piece of favorite literature.

Lessons used during this course can be accessed from WritingFix's Literature-Inspired Lesson Homepage.

Next workshop offering: Spring of 2010

Course Details : Ready to establish a “Classroom iPod”? A classroom iPod belongs to the teacher, and from it, songs, videos, and podcasts can be played to inspire student writers. In this course, teachers will participate in half a dozen demonstration lessons that showcase innovative writing lessons inspired by media that can be played on a classroom iPod.

Lessons used during this course can be accessed from WritingFix's iPod-Inspired Lesson Homepage.

Next workshop offering: October of 2009 and again in Spring of 2010

Workshop: Writing Across the Curriculum: Wacky We-Search and Deeper Student Thinking

Writing is a tool that can (and should) be used in every classroom, no matter what the content. Students who can write about what they’ve learned are able to show their teachers exactly how deep they understand the topic. Well-crafted writing across the curriculum lessons and prompts help teachers find ways to make students think deeply about topics while showing what they understood about the day’s lesson.

This highly engaging course explores enjoyable ways to assign writing a cross the curriculum tasks, using Barry Lane’s 51 Wacky We-Search Reports and the NNWP’s Going Deep with Compare & Contrast Guide. Participants will each get a complimentary copy of both these excellent resources when they complete the course and propose a new lesson inspired by Wacky We-Search, HistoryFix, or the Comparison/Contrast Guide.

WritingFix lessons and resource collections that are explored during this inservice course:

• The Writing Across the Curriculum Homepage
• The Comparison/Contrast Homepage
• HistoryFix
• ScienceFix
• NumberFix
• Exit Tickets Across the Curriculum Homepage
• Summarization Across the Curriculum Homepage
• Constructed Response Homepage

Next workshop offerings: September of 2009 and again in Spring of 2010

Workshop: Improving Narrative and Memoir Writing
with 4th - 8th Grade Writers

Workshop:
Persuasive Writing Across the Curriculum

Course Details: Nevada's fifth and eighth grade writing examinations are well-known for prompting students to write a passage that is narrative in nature. In this course, we use two of Ralph Fletcher's books--How to Write Your Life Story and Marshfield Dreams: When I Was a Kid--to explore authentic techniques that a published author gives to students who are writing to narrative prompts or creating longer memoirs. Using Fletcher's advice, teacher participants will craft both narrative passages and mini-lessons that can be shared with their students. Participants each receive a complimentary copy of both books when they have completed the course.

Lessons used during this course can be accessed from WritingFix's Narrative Homepage.

Next workshop offering: Spring of 2010

Course Details: Well-designed persuasive writing lessons, unlike traditional expository and report writing, can help students find and convey passion about topics studied in all curriculum areas. This course will explore writing assignments and instructional techniques that require students to find voice and take a stance. R.A.F.T. writing assignments and scripting podcasts will be just two of the unique writing assignments we will explore. Participants will use (and receive a complimentary copy of) Barry Lane’s book of lessons called Why We Must Run With Scissors: Voice Lesson in Persuasive Writing. Each participant will use the book and course activities to create a persuasive writing lesson for their own classrooms.

Next workshop offering: November of 2009

Workshop:
6 by 6: Traits Writing For Little Writers

Workshop:
Mentor Texts that Teach "Craft" during Revision

Course Details: During this “6 by 6: Traits Writing for Little Writers” inservice, teachers will learn to conceptualize the traits for the youngest writers. Using the idea of conceptualization, teachers will take part in learning many new lesson ideas they can apply in their own classrooms. Teachers will be assisted in writing their own traits-focused lessons, with appropriate literature tie-ins, for students in grades K-3. Teachers will present the lessons they write and have them posted at WritingFix's Traits and Primary Students Homepage.

Next workshop offering: October of 2009

Course Details: A “Mentor Text” is a published piece of writing used during writing instruction to inspire students to write well; an author’s influence—or “craft”—can be a powerful tool in helping students discover themselves as writers. This workshop and inservice class will focus on the use of mentor texts during the revision step of the writing process, which is not the way most teachers currently use their mentor texts. Class participants will use (and receive a complimentary copy of Barry Lane’s Reviser's Toolbox). Each teacher will create a new writing lesson for his/her classroom that uses a “craft”-inspiring mentor text during revision. Lessons for this inservice will be posted on WritingFix's Revision Homepage.

Next workshop offering: December of 2009