The Southern Colorado Writing Project (SCWP)* offers high-quality professional development designed to meet the specific needs of schools and school districts. The following represents a sample of interdisciplinary inservice demonstrations, designed by SCWP Teacher-Consultants, and adaptable for all grade levels. More inservice demonstration descriptions are available upon request.

Language Arts

“Have Pen, Will Read: Writing Across the Curriculum to Advance Students’ Understanding of Text”-Juli Green Woodman, Reading, Fountain-Ft. Carson High School

Easily applied strategies that will help all students make the vital connection between reading and writing for comprehension. Offering students choices through multigenre writing and an introduction to the R.A.F.T.S. model (Role, Audience, Focus, Topic), these strategies are easily adaptable for all disciplines and grade levels and will move students toward higher order thinking skills.

“Helping Storytellers Become Story Writers”-Tiffany Marmolejo, 1st and 2nd grade, Avondale Elementary School

This demonstration discusses how to inspire creative ideas from reluctant writers in the K-12 classroom through collaborative exercises and assessment strategies.

“Revisiting Revision”-Nancy Oswald, 5th Grade, Cotopaxi K-12 Consolidated School

This demonstration offers practical and meaningful strategies to move students from seeing revision as merely “cleaning up” a paper to a powerful technique that may be used to strengthen writing and maximize audience appeal. By creating a “classroom of questioners,” adding detail through “snapshots and thoughtshots,” and exploring the concept of “exploding the moment,” learn to engage students in the effectiveness of revision.

Mathematics

“Why Integrate Writing into the Mathematics Classroom?”-Michelle Gray, Math Specialist, Pueblo City Schools

Inspired by a need to reach English Language Learners, this demonstration makes a strong case for writing as an authentic tool for teaching in all disciplines. Various approaches from academic writing to creative writing are demonstrated as means that may be adapted for use in all classrooms.

Science

“Key Words in the Science Lab: Creating Consistent Communication Across Disciplines”-Janae Passalaqua, Science and Italian, East High School

This demonstration discusses the necessity of incorporating writing into a science curriculum and demonstrates how the vocabulary found within a science curriculum is applicable across disciplines and may be used to reinforce the vocabulary skills necessary for success on standardized tests.

Technology/Business/Marketing

“Writing in a Business Class”-Mel Otero, Business/Marketing, Pueblo County High School

This demonstration discusses the use of multimedia resources and multigenre writing in developing marketing and advertising awareness and how to implement these strategies and reinforce social consciousness in various classroom settings.

World Languages

“Writing in the Second Language Classroom”-Alegria Ribadeneira, Colorado State University-Pueblo

This demonstration discusses the challenges facing second language learners and the use of collaborative writing activities to reinforce and challenge their communicative skills.

A Sample of What’s New for 2008:

“Blog, blog, blog…Using blogging to encourage students to reflect on their learning” – Jessica Campbell, Sierra High School, Colorado Springs , CO

This demonstration introduces participants to the creation of a blog site for students to access privately and safely in order to create a classroom community in which reflecting on concepts learned in class is highly encouraged. The blog site can be used at any level or for any discipline. Examples will be provided.

“Using Writing to Encourage Students to Think Metacognitively” – E.J. Earnest, Fountain-Fort Carson High School, Fountain, Colorado

This demonstration discusses and includes research-based, ready-to-use activities to engage students in using metacognitive strategies in any content area.  Strategies addressed are organizing, managing, monitoring, and evaluating learning, and tips are provided for implementation and assessment of the strategies in the classroom.  Activities are designed to improve metacognitive thinking and writing skills while building student self-efficacy and engagement in their learning experiences.

“Explore. Dream. Discover. Using Inquiry to Engage Writers” – Debbie Frank, Vineland Middle School, Pueblo School District #70

With a three-step process, transform average teacher-directed lessons into an inquisitive, passionate, inquiry-based classroom. Students will engage in deep thinking about and gain a more thorough understanding of writing used in any content area or age-level curriculum.

“Think, Speak, Write: If Speaking and Writing are Expressions of Our Thoughts, Does Better Speaking Lead to Better Writing?” – Felicity Holloway, Rye High School, Pueblo School District #70

This demonstration discusses the use of structured conversations to access students’ thinking during classroom time and covers the use of specific “talk moves” that help to engage all students in thinking about the topic being discussed. The three-way connection among thinking, speaking, and writing will be foregrounded, discussed, and practiced throughout this demonstration

“‘When are we ever going to use this?’ Looking for Ways to Connect Students to the Mathematical Concepts Surrounding Them Outside the Classroom.” – Jodi Crane, Centennial High School, Pueblo City Schools

This presentation is based on writing in a mathematics classroom for any age or any level. Daily practice using photographs allows students to be creative, finding the math and communicating what they see and how it relates to the real world. The demonstration also addresses math anxiety and how the perception of math affects students and their progress in learning. These activities form the foundation from which to move to larger writing projects that connect math with students’ daily lives, allowing for creativity and encouraging students to explore math in future careers.

SCWP inservice is high-quality, tailored to meet the needs of your school or district, ongoing, and affordable.

*The SCWP is an authorized state / federal education service provider for No Child Left Behind. Participation in SCWP programs may be supported by districts / school sites through categorical funding sources such as Title I, Title II, Title III , Title VII , Title VIII, GATE, Incentive Grants, School Improvement Program, Special Ed, and others.