Looking for a professional development opportunity to revitalize your ELA teaching practice?
Oklahoma Writing Project is hosting an online series of more than 20 one hour sessions complete with active discussions and strategies you can build into your units and apply as soon as your ready and back in the classroom.
I am a teacher consultant who completed the OKWP Invitational Summer Institute in 2016. It was a career-trajectory changing experience, which led to me working towards National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification and earning my master’s degree in instructional leadership and academic curriculum.
I tell you this, not only so you’ll consider signing up for the summer institute next year, but so you’ll join us to see the two presentations I’ll be giving this summer.
The first presentation is at 10 a.m. CDT June 9, 2021. I will be presenting “Hooking Readers and Writers with Short Texts, Excerpts, and First Chapters” with my friend and colleague Shelly K. Unsicker-Durham. Read more about our session below:
This presentation focuses on teaching practices that revolve around the concept of creating independent readers and writers. Utilizing short texts, excerpts, and first chapters not only makes it easier to connect with the diverse contexts of our students, but they can serve as mirrors and windows (Bishop, 1990) for readers and writers negotiating the written word, cultures different from their own, and where they may fit in the larger world.
Hooking Readers and Writers with Short Texts, Excerpts, and First Chapters
Participants will take part in a conversation about engaging readers and writers with new and favorite YA short texts and excerpts. Presenters will provide a collection of favorite excerpts they’ve used with students, along with ideas for minilessons. Additionally, different strategies for curating collections of short texts will be discussed.
As a solo presenter, I’ll offer “Helping students discover their voices through personal narrative” at 10 a.m. CDT on July 28. Read more about my session below:
Every student has a voice, but not every student has been encouraged to exercise it. This presentation focuses on teaching practices that help students grow as independent writers. Using quickwrites, student-written mentor texts, videos, the recursive writing process (including peer review), young writers learn how to share their experiences through expressive writing. Participants will take part in conversations about how to identify student interests, use mentor print and nonprint mentor texts to inspire students to share their stories, and encourage students to engage in the revision and editing processes with a goal of publishing their work. Presenters will provide a collection of mentor texts and ideas for writing minilessons.
Helping students discover their voices through personal narrative
Both sessions are suitable for students in the 9th-12th grades — and also may be modified for middle school grades.
Sound like the spark you need to reignite your teaching passion after a rough year? Click the link below to register.
Registration Deadline: May 31
Note: The cost for the entire summer of sessions is $60 per person. OWP does offer a group rate of $50 per person for groups of five teachers or more. (And one administrator can attend for free!) Schools can pay with purchase orders. (Click the link below for more information.)
