Spring 2024 Activities
CWVWP Members Participate in a Book Study
Joan Sed
ita’s (2023), The Writing Rope, provided discussion for a group of CWVWP members. Participants met virtually after reading the text and discussed skills and strategies they learned about the five fundamentals of a comprehensive writing curriculum: critical thinking, syntax (sentences), text structure, writing craft, and transcription (spelling and handwriting). Knowledge gained was they used to present information to pre-service teachers in Spring 2024 semester.
Participants:
Maggie Luma
Donna Atwood
Allyson Perry
Katie Nestor
Emily Paterson
Stephanie Burdette
Susan Divita
From the Book to the Classroom Spring Workshops with Pre-service Teachers
Participants from the Book Study conducted Spring Workshops for pre-service teachers at colleges in West Virginia. Marshall University, University of Charleston, and West Virginia State University participated in the workshops.
Marshall University
Dr. Barbara O’Byrne led secondary pre-service educators on an exploration of writing in the content areas. The goal was to connect participants with the West Virginia Ready, Read, Write initiative and to challenge them to see how writing connects with all aspects of literacy. Informed by the text, The Writing Rope: A Framework for Explicit Writing Instruction in All Subjects, the central theme of the workshop was Reading Problems Masquerading as Writing Problems. Participants brainstormed discipline-specific writing tasks and skills and then dug into critical thinking skills that underlie all content areas. Examining samples of secondary content writing, participants pinpointed reading comprehension issues such as identifying the main idea, making relevant inferences, and figuring out text structures that were often the root of unsuccessful writing. Participants ended by experimenting with visual thinking strategies from which to generate quick classroom activities designed to target specific comprehension muscles and develop effective expository writing.
University of Charleston
Dr. Donna Atwood presented a workshop at the University of Charleston on March 12, 2024.
Marshall University
Dr. Maggie Luma presented to the 2024 Marshall University cohort of elementary teachers in residency on March 12. Maggie modeled lessons for introducing the writing process and evidence-based routines for planning, organizing, and drafting. Participants left with actionable resources for working with students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
West Virginia State University
Educator, Emily Patterson presented a Spring Workshop at West Virginia State University in March. There were 15 pre-service teachers in attendance. Ten teachers were elementary specialized, two social studies, two music, and one wellness educator.