Workshops

We offer the following workshop segments, presented individually or combined.

The New Landscape of Writing on Demand

In this segment of the workshop, participants will learn about and discuss:

• National and state statistics regarding district tests, state tests, the new SAT, the ACT, and the AP
• What Classroom Teachers Face
• Preparing students for timed writing
• Building on, not abandoning, best practices in classroom instruction
• Acknowledging the reality of testing
• How testing affects the teaching of writing
• Practical implications for teachers and their students

Thinking Backward

This part of the workshop, which has proved to be very popular with participants, addresses:

• How to get students to use a specific, three-step process which invites them to:
• Assess quality
• Create possible rubrics
• Create possible prompts

Using the technique of thinking backward, participants will learn how to teach the students about the relation of prompts and rubric to a piece of writing’s ultimate success. In this segment, samples from literature and from actual tenth grade writers are used.

The Processes of Writing

This workshop segment shows how the processes of writing are used within the classroom and how they can be adapted to the testing environment. Topics covered are:

• Invention or prewriting strategies
• Drafting suggestions
• Revision and editing techniques

Analysis of Writing Prompt

This part of the workshop introduces the Five Key Questions every student should ask of a timed essay prompt. Activities include:

• Modeling the Five Key Questions for use with students
• Hands-on small group work
• Experience with a timed writing situation

Analysis of Contexts

Participants in this workshop segment learn about and discuss the “prompt environment” and explore:

• What a prompt environment entails
• Strategies to help students analyze the prompt environment
• Strategies to address the requirements of prompts.

Sentence Structure and Variety

This segment, which recognizes the concerns of many teachers, focuses on sentence-based pedagogies and emphasizes:

• Choice as a key factor in sentences
• Specific strategies such as cumulative sentences, variations on sentence combining, and imitation
• Developing cohesion and coherence

Making Assessment Visible

Most appropriate for a two-day workshop after the segment titled Analysis of Writing Prompts, this segment engages participants in scoring several samples in order to:

• Deepen understanding of various writing tests
• Develop greater capacity to understand rubrics
• Learn more about the evaluation of writing

Using the Student Guide to Writing on Demand

This new workshop, designed to introduce teachers to the student test, will:

• Provide an overview of the Student Guide, emphasizing how it can be used most effectively
• Demonstrate connections between the teacher-directed Writing on Demand and the Student Guide
• Offer strategies for teaching with key portions of the Student Guide

Writing Tests as Genre

Best used to conclude a workshop, this segment contextualizes writing tests by:

• Considerating of various genres and the relationship of writing tests to these
• Explorating of the features of writing tests
• Discussing of the advantages and disadvantages of teaching writing tests in terms of genre