The Kentucky Writing Project and the Louisville Writing Project will hold a joint conference on Saturday, Sept. 7, from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The conference will be held on the campus of the University of Louisville in the Bingham Humanities Building.
Site Director Dr. Deanna Mascle and Summer Institute Coordinator Liz Prather will both present at the conference:
- STORY MATTERS: HOW TO BLEND NARRATIVE INTO ARGUMENTATIVE AND INFORMATIONAL TEXTS. Liz Prather, Teacher consultant for the Morehead Writing Project. Students can learn to use techniques they normally see in fiction to engage a nonfiction audience. This session shows teachers how to help students find nonfiction topics in their personal stories and use their personal stories to illustrate their nonfiction texts. By examining mentor texts and observing narrative techniques, participants will have six classroom activities to invite their students to join the narrative revolution. Middle and High.
- CREATING A WRITING ECOSYSTEM: HOW TO PROVIDE THE FIVE BASIC NEEDS OF WRITERS. Dr. Deanna Mascle, Morehead State University, Morehead Writing Project, Kentucky Council of Teachers of English. Whether I am teaching argument, creative, or professional writing I focus on the five basic needs of my writers to create a stable life-supporting system that involves extensive interactions. As the instructor I am the center of our ecosystem and provide the energy that drives our growth, but I also must create a habitat that provides enough space and the right temperature to allow for growth. However, even with these things writers must breathe in the right ideas and input and that is supported with themes ranging from comic books to games; must be immersed in the medium of authentic meaningful work; and sustained by a supportive community. Creating a writing ecosystem is a lot of work but it is serious rhetorical work that creates confident, creative, self-regulating writers and reinvents the teacher-writer-grade relationship. This interactive session will help you craft an ecosystem that works in your specific teaching context and helps your developing writers think more about their process and less about their grade. All Grades and college.
Registration is $100 and includes a box lunch and includes 5.5 hours of professional development credit. See flyer for registration information and tentative schedule: KWP-LWP Mini- Fall 2019