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Workshop Overview

Starting the year can be an awkward and anxious experience. Many teachers have confessed that they struggle to get their writing workshops off the ground. What should I do the first weeks of school? What are key lessons to jump start my writing curriculum? How fast or slow should I move? These are valid questions. And, it’s easy to see why so many teachers are eager for some beginning-of-the-year lesson suggestions.

Training Topics

Whether teachers currently utilize the 6-Traits, Four Blocks, Writer’s Workshop, Literacy Collaborative, Balanced Literacy or some other writing model, this workshop targets the heart of what every teacher wants for the initial weeks of school. It provides participants with a powerful framework of lessons that can help launch their writing year, including:

• Strategies to establish the writing environment through routines and procedures
• Lessons for the first day of school that set the tone for daily writing
• Organization ideas for using writing folders and writers’ notebooks
• Day-by-day strategies to introduce the 6 Traits of writing so teachers and students are using a common language
• Mini-lesson ideas to target early-in-the-year writing skills

When you leave, you will be able to:

• Kick off your writing year with a 20-day “game plan”
• Implement a writer’s notebook in the classroom
• Establish procedures and manage a writer’s environment
• Target common writer dependencies with mini-lessons
• Take home a complimentary copy of the book Launching The Writer’s Workshop by Kristina Smekens

Book & CD are free! Attendees receive a FREE copy of Launching the Writer’s Workshop, available for K-2 or grades 3–12. This popular resource is loaded with lesson plans, anchor papers, and classroom photos and includes a CD with downloadable forms and handouts. (A $20 value!)

Professional Growth Credits Certified educators can earn professional growth credits for attending a Smekens Education workshop. All workshop attendees receive a certificate of participation for 5.5 hours of professional development for each one-day workshop. Visit our Continuing Education Credit page to learn more.

Graduate Credit For an additional fee, participants in this workshop are eligible to earn one hour of graduate credit from Purdue University-Calumet.

 

 

DATES & LOCATIONS

Indianapolis, IN
July 25, 2012 -- Just for grades K-2
July 26, 2012 -- Just for grades 3-12
(Fishers Banquet Center)

Huntingburg, IN
August 2, 2012 -- Just for grades K-2
August 3, 2012 -- Just for grades 3-12
(Huntingburg Event Center)

Valparaiso, IN
August 7, 2012 -- Just for grades K-2
August 8, 2012 -- Just for grades 3-12
(Valparaiso University)

Chicago, IL
August 14, 2012 -- Just for grades K-2
August 15, 2012 -- Just for grades 3-12
(Holiday Inn Elk Grove Village)


TARGET AUDIENCE

"100% valuable! 100% motivating!"D. Carlson

"Great for all grades—even K!"K. Niepokoj