NWP's Current Feed Content

Obama Budget a Blueprint for Department of Education Overhaul

Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Type: In the News
Education Week examines President Barack Obama's proposed $49.7 billion budget for the U.S. Department of Education, including how it might affect organizations like the National Writing Project.

Massachusetts Middle Schoolers Write Novels

Thursday, February 04, 2010
Type: In the News
Working under the tutelage of Buzzards Bay Writing Project teacher-consultant Louise Brady, twelve students participated in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and churned out completed books.

Indiana Students Addicted to Writing

Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Type: In the News
Social networking literacy assignments designed by Paul Hankins, Indiana University Southeast Writing Project teacher-consultant, have his students writing and reading like never before.

Book Review: Why School? Reclaiming Education for All of Us

Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Type: Resource
Reviewer Tanya Baker describes Mike Rose's book as a way toward restarting "a public conversation about the hopeful vision, the possibility, inherent in our nation's public schools."

Listening to the Sounds of Silence in the Classroom

Friday, January 29, 2010
Type: Resource
Spring Meeting keynote speaker Katherine Schultz suggests that teachers take a nuanced view toward classroom silence, understanding its complex functions and regarding it as a form of participation.

Book Review: Plagiarism: Why It Happens—How to Prevent It

Thursday, January 28, 2010
Type: Resource
Laura Brownell, a teacher-consultant at Red Cedar Writing Project, reviews a book about plagiarism that examines the motivation behind student plagiarism and presents a preventative approach—with an abundance of suggestions and ready-to-use resources—for teachers to use with their students.

Book Review: Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning with New Media

Thursday, January 28, 2010
Type: Resource
Thomas Maerke, a teacher-consultant with the Ozarks Writing Project, recommends this book as a way of developing awareness of the ways new media affects students and their learning.

Delaware Teacher Among Those Honored by White House

Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Type: In the News
Jo Anne Pryor Deshon, Delaware Writing Project teacher-consultant, was among a select group of elementary school teachers awarded the 2008 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST).

Help Your Child Build Writing Skills

Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Type: In the News
Shelbie Witte of the Florida State University Writing Project shares her list of practical strategies for helping children become better writers.

Writing Project Gives Nebraska Teachers Confidence

Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Type: In the News
The Oxbow Writing Project, a new writing project site located at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, is planning events for teachers to discuss effective and ineffective methods of classroom writing instruction.

Teachers Teaching Teachers Webcast: Teaching About Haiti

Monday, January 25, 2010
Type: Event
Teachers Teaching Teachers will continue last week's discussion of teaching about Haiti. The featured guest will be Katherine Shulten, an editor of the Learning Network blog at the New York Times.

Reflecting On and Teaching About Haiti

Friday, January 22, 2010
Type: Resource
Read a special message from NWP Executive Director Sharon J. Washington, including links to resources that support teaching and learning about Haiti.

Learning About Collaborative Writing with Wikipedia

Friday, January 22, 2010
Type: Resource
Lona Jack-Vilmar, teacher-consultant with the New York City Writing Project, experimented with Wikipedia as part of an inservice workshop, and multiple authors, unknown to her, contributed to her piece almost instantly.

E-Anthology Feedback Inspires Classroom Practice

Friday, January 22, 2010
Type: Resource
Lisa Bottone, a teacher-consultant with New Jersey's Kean University Writing Project, reflects on how sharing her writing and receiving feedback through the E-Anthology has influenced her teaching. She plans to use the experience in her work with colleagues.

Simple Writing Assignment Improves African American Students' Grades

Friday, January 22, 2010
Type: Resource
This article describes research that supports the claim that targeted psychological intervention, in the form of writing that encourages self-affirmation, has the affect of improving the academic performance of African American students.

Reading Aloud to Teens Gains Favor Among Teachers

Friday, January 15, 2010
Type: Resource
Reading aloud to students isn't just for teachers in the early grades. Increasingly, teachers are reading aloud to students across content areas and grade levels--and getting results. Debra Schneider, a teacher-consultant with the Great Valley Writing Project, is profiled in this EdWeek article.

Book Review: Essential Readings on Comprehension

Friday, January 15, 2010
Type: Resource
Cathy Blanchfield, a teacher with the San Joaquin Valley Writing Project, finds this collection of articles focused on teaching reading comprehension in the content areas particularly useful to workshop facilitators working with content area teachers.

Changing the Face of Leadership: Redesigning the Summer Institute to Invite Diversity

Friday, January 15, 2010
Type: Resource
The Greater Kansas City Writing Project realized that its leadership and activities didn't reflect its service area, so it made difficult but valuable changes to its summer institute with the support of Project Outreach 3.

Elizabeth Birr Moje on "Disciplinary Literacy" and Reading Across the Content Areas

Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Type: Resource
Elizabeth Birr Moje makes the case for a "disciplinary literacy" that, rather than hewing to generic literacy "strategies," focuses on the literacy skills required of practitioners in a content field. Moje will be the keynote speaker at the 2010 National Reading Initiative Conference.

Fifteen Questions for a Louisiana Teacher

Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Type: In the News
Jeralyn Spiehler, teacher-consultant with the Southeastern Louisiana Writing Project, talks about the secrets of her teaching success and the classroom matters that have stayed the same over time.