Dear Friend of VWC,

As we write this, we know that many of you are in the throes of national testing.

Whether you are a PARCC state or an SBAC state, or give your own state tests, you and your colleagues are keenly aware of the fact that these assessments are demanding – and you may be worrying about how well your students will do.Those tests remind us once again – not that we need reminding! – that teaching kids to successfully tackle complex text, and then write about it clearly and thoughtfully, is hard work.

It reminds us that , as educators, we all need all the tools we can get to help our students be successful, fully literate individuals.

In this issue of the newsletter, we zero in again on one of those kids, and share a teacher’s personal story.

The kids are why we do what we do.
They are why we are teachers.

And they are why we offer YOU the
2016 Summer Institute.
Our premise (which we keep learning from our students):
All students can become effective, thoughtful, proficient writers!
The Vermont Writing Collaborative’s new and expanded 2016 Summer Institute is for ALL of you. It will give you the ESSENTIAL tools you need to help your teachers,  and – most important –  to help your students,  at all grade levels, without exception.

“Aha!” Lightbulb Moments

   
 ” Man, I wish I’d learned this years ago…..it makes sense!”        

A few months ago, I went to work for an afternoon at a technical high school in our city. As a literacy coordinator, part of my job is to share tools with teachers around the district, so today was my day for the technical high school.

The kids I was slated to work with there were not too happy about the prospect of spending a whole class period in writing instruction. For them, writing was arduous, boring, irrelevant, HARD – and a whole list of various other uncomplimentary adjectives.

What to do?

Very often, I’ve found that a good “way in” to clear writing for kids like this is through structure. Might the venerable Painted Essay be useful here?
Ultimately, of course, I knew that teaching kids how to structure a piece of writing is not nearly enough – if they don’t understand what they are talking about, all the structure in the world won’t help.

However, I also knew that sometimes starting with structure – “Let’s get a good visual of what a clear piece of writing can look like!” is like a jump start for a reluctant engine. It can get things moving.

So, even though these were high school students, I presented them with the Painted Essay. As we colored our way through the framework, discussing the job that each of these paragraphs was doing for the essay, I could hear less grumbling, then less – and finally, none.

These kids were coloring their way to clarity.

Finally, one large young man looked up at me. “Man,” he said, “I wish I had learned this years ago…..it makes sense.”

Indeed – it makes sense.

If we could do this for all of our students – and in fact, we can – think what a difference that would make for them!
Do you have a story like this? Tell us about it, please – we would all love to hear it!  

2016 Vermont Writing Collaborative Summer Institute
Registration Extended until June 8

Vermont is beautiful, the lake is warming up, and the kayaks are waiting….

Please register now – we’ll be glad to see you!

 

The 2016 Vermont Writing Collaborative Summer Institute is all about tools and resources. It will give you what you need to make clear, thoughtful, proficient writing  happen – for all teachers, to help all kids.

What will you leave the 2016 Summer Institute with?

In your head…

* a deep understanding of how integrating reading, writing and content can work in the classroom

In your hands…
* examples of proficient student work
* sequences of integrated WU instruction at the grade levels you need for “right away” use in classrooms
* tools for planning / designing / customizing instruction
* PD materials for working with teams of teachers
* hot-off-the-press “Rule of Three” WU sequences of instruction
* a curated list of links to free, high-quality electronic resources
 In your heart…
* the belief that ALL children can learn to write effectively
* the energy to dig right in!
 
When: 
June 27 – July 1, 2016
Where:  
Vermont’s beautiful Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee, Vermont

Highlights of the Week

Writing for Understanding Sequences: take the mystery out of teaching writing
Real Teachers, Real Students, Real Results: learn what works from teachers “in the trenches”
Activities for Close Reading: support students in working with complex text K-12
Research Packs: guide research and text based writing with these clear and simple tools
One Fell Swoop: see how to teach all three Common Core writing types in one rich chunk of content

Lakeside Learning:  Share ideas with colleagues in a beautiful, lakefront setting

Please forward this newsletter on to your friends and colleagues. We are trying hard to spread the word, in the era of the Common Core Standards,  about how helpful Writing for Understanding can be for teachers and students of all ages!
Sincerely,
Eloise Ginty, Joey Hawkins, Karen Kurzman, Diana Leddy, Jane Miller, Julie Morton, Marty Gephart, Kristin Armstrong
Vermont Writing Collaborative