News Taffy

The Arkansas Delta Writing Project (ADWP) will begin its second Summer Writing Institute for Teachers on Wednesday, June 9. The four-week summer institute is being held at Arkansas State University in the Department of Teacher Education. The program concludes Wednesday, June 30. Fourteen teachers, from locations as varied as Wynne, West Memphis, and Jonesboro, have devoted this portion of their summer vacation to study the latest research and development of effective writing and teaching practice.

Participants include teachers from kindergarten to college level. More than 200 National Writing Project (NWP) sites on college campuses in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, will do the same. The chosen educators have received a fellowship for graduate credit at Arkansas State University, free books, and a new network of friends and colleagues through the National Writing Project.

The participants will experience technology sessions offered by ASU experts, process-based writing demonstrations, theory about learning and writing, anthology preparation, a writing marathon event, journaling and sharing time, and writing across the curriculum strategies. Central to the writing institute are their own demonstration lessons based upon their expertise and classroom experiences.

Teacher leaders and previous summer writing institute participants help facilitate the four weeks of community-building and writing experiences. National research studies confirm significant gains in writing performance among students whose teachers participate in NWP programs.

Visit the Arkansas Delta Writing Project online, or e-mail Dr. Dixie Keyes, for more information. For a complete list of this summer's fellows, see the NewsPage release.