DECEMBER 2018 | ISSUE 4
HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS A holiday newsletter from the Prairie Lands Writing Project
Many thanks to our fabulous PLWP Advisory Team, seen here with PLWP
GREETINGS FROM THE PLWP HOME OFFICE Dear PLWP Family,
mascot, Piper the Prairie Dog, who has collaborated to bring you this excellent publication, edited by
Welcome to PLWP’s 2019 Holiday Letter! In it, we hope you find lots of information on upcoming PLWP events and programs, including opportunities for you to reconnect and become involved.
PLWP Co-Director Amy Miller. Stay tuned for the launch of our new teacher book club, Pizza and Pedagogy.
PLWP Advisory Team:
These informal gatherings around various education-themed books will bring teachers together for networking, shop talk, and community. We hope to see you
Elisabeth Alkier, SJSD Dana Barnes, Excelsior Springs
there!
Right now, we really need your help recruiting for our 2019 Invitational Summer
Josie Clark, SJSD
Institute. All the emails and flyers in the world don’t come close to a personal
Christie Jackson, SJSD
nudge and a sincere testimonial from YOU, reaching out to teachers who could
Amy Miller, MWSU Dawn Terrick, MWSU Jody Henderson, Cameron
really use some high quality, teacher-centered, hands-on, free, life-changing professional development. Remember that Summer Institute applicants don’t have to be ELA teachers. We love it when friends in other content areas can join us! Print off the flyer and application or send interested teachers to the Summer Institute page on our website.
The deadline is March 1.
We hope you enjoyed a warm and restful winter break, with all the good things that the season has to offer.
Best wishes,
Susan Martens, PLWP Director
MWSU Assistant Professor of English
View Flyer & Application
YOUTH WRITERS UNDER CONSTRUCTION: 2018 ELEMENTARY WRITING PROJECT
“WRITERS UNITE” FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL WRITING PROJECT
by Elisabeth Alkier
BY JOSIE CLARK
The PLWP Elementary Youth Writing Project had another extraordinary summer— this time at Bode Middle School, the Project’s new location. Around 110 children ages 3rd through 6th grade attended “Writers Under Construction” and worked on building their writing skills.
Students worked with our talented staff of PLWP teacher consultants in a variety of writing-based activities, encouraging them to think about where they’re from, to explore mysterious images, to create their own characters, to let colors and surroundings inspire their words, and to look for opportunities for
This summer, twenty-four
Things can get awkward with
middle school students from all
over 20 middle schoolers
around St. Joseph united at
spending several hours a day
Bode Middle School to
together, but this year’s group
become trees, birds, symbolism
took the “Unite” part seriously
experts, magicians, crime-
and became fast friends. They
stoppers, and - most of all -
read each other’s writing,
writers. One could find 12-14
worked together to write
year-olds meandering around
prompts for the group, wrote
Bode with their notebooks and
kind letters to strangers to
pens in hand, traveling all over
leave around Bode, and
the world without leaving the
traveled together on writing
grasses of Bode.
marathons to the Albrecht-
writing in their every day lives. Our writers wrote at Bode and at several other locations in the community, including the Remington Nature Center and the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art.
The project finished with a celebration for students and their families on the last day, and we had full houses at each.
Kemper Museum of Art and the These students came to this
Remington Nature Center. They
year’s “Writers Unite” summer
wrote. They traveled. They held
program to join other aspiring
snakes. They learned that
authors in writing marathons,
writing doesn’t have to be a
field trips, and fun writing
solitary sport, and that we
prompts.
really are better together.
PROGRAMS HIGH SCHOOL WRITING DAY 2018 IS "SO MEME"
MIDDLE SCHOOL SCHOLASTIC WRITING WORKSHOP
BY AMY MILLER
by Josie Clark On December 5, Prairie Lands revived the former “Going for the Gold” Scholastic Workshop, now innovatively titled “Scholastic Writing Workshop.” This writing workshop, held at Bode Middle School, was for writers in grades 7-9 and focused on what it takes to
This summer, 120 students
poetry to technical
from twelve area high
writing, horror
schools convened at
writing to microfiction,
Missouri Western to
and even magazine
celebrate writing. The
writing, sportswriting,
morning began with a
and photojournalism.
write a piece for the the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Participants examined mentor texts from previous Scholastic Writing Award winners in order to try new writing techniques in their own pieces. They learned how to sign
meme-making activity, up on the Scholastic website and shared some which resulted in a lot of
The day wrapped up with
hilarious and thought-
an open mic session,
provoking tweets.
where students shared writing that was funny,
After getting their blood
poignant, insightful, and
pumping with a little
personal. We all left
Cupid Shuffle, courtesy of
inspired to keep writing.
TC and Master of
of their writing in a mini open mic. The workshop brought together 17 young writers and 4 teachers from 6 different St. Joseph schools. Hopefully these writers will see their hard work pay off with some awards this spring!
Ceremonies Terrance
High School Writing Day
Sanders, students
2019 is just around the
attended breakout
corner on March 7th. This
sessions facilitated by
year's theme is "Between
PLWP Teacher Consultants
the Lines." We can't wait
and MWSU faculty,
to share another writing-
exploring a range of
filled day with teachers
writing, from found
and students!
2018 SUMMER INSTITUTE SOARS 2018 SUMMER SCHOLARS BY DANA BARNES
Summer Institute facilitators Dana Barnes, Amy Miller, and Jay Scott certified the following thirteen educators
as NWP Teacher Consultants on October 6:
Carol Brown (Lathrop Middle School, 6th Grade Reading & SS) Erica Cook (Platte CO, Barry School, 6th Grade ELA) Garrett Durbin (Braymer C-4 Middle School, ELA 6-8) Joy Durbin (Winston R-IV, SPED K-12) Lisa Elder (NKC Schools, Oak Park, High School ELA) Wendy Ezzell (South Holt Middle School, 7th & 8th ELA) Jade Lewis (East Buchanan, High School ELA) Nita Lewis (Lathrop Middle School, 6th & 7th ELA) Cindy Long (Excelsior Springs #40, Westview Elementary, 2nd Grade) Hanna Long (Savannah Middle School, 8th Grade ELA) Angela Perkins (Smithville, High School ELA) Susan Stuedle (Cameron Middle School, Media Specialist, 6-8) Cheyenne Wienke (Excelsior Springs #40, Westview Elementary, 4th Grade)
The TC certification ceremony was directly followed by an optional writing marathon that served as the capstone of our learning, as well as a celebration or our time together. Congratulations to these outstanding educators on their new credentials as PLWP and National Writing Project Teacher Consultants! Please join us in welcoming these new TCs into the professional home that means so much to all of us, and please remember to share the Summer Institute information with you fellow educators, KCollege and in all content areas, to apply for the 2019 Invitational Summer Institute.
View Flyer & Application
WINDOW INTO WESTVIEW DESE CONFERENCE INSPIRES PODCAST FOR PARENTS
PLWP IMPACTS WESTVIEW ELEMENTARY BY DANA BARNES
BY DANA BARNES I had the privilege of sharing l worth the effort. Producing this podcast has been a pure pleasure as
Projects Network in November at a DESE session entitled “Intentional Decision Making: Audience and Purpose” was an honor. Preparing for this presentation led to the idea of developing a podcast. The idea of this podcast was to create an authentic audience that would showcase Westview K-5 students’ writing pieces. The reasons for developing this podcast were twofold or maybe even three-fold. First and foremost, its purpose was to provide an additional audience to
amazing teachers at the
I watch the faces of the students
2018 Summer Institute, the
light up when they hear their voices
difference this summer was
for the first time sharing their writing
that two of those teachers,
pieces that will be produced. The
Cheyenne Wienke and Cindy
production process of the podcast
Long, were from Westview
has also, most importantly, offered
Presenting for the Missouri Writing
four weeks with thirteen
valuable conversations to open writing conferences with students
Elementary where I teach. Having the time to collaborate with fellow educators offered me a new
about necessary editing that they
SI experience. This would like to make before
opportunity allowed us time production. Students have been selfmotivated to make those edits and have identified reasons for the
to collect strategies, share ideas and plan together to develop a focused literacy
editing process that they may not
team. As a direct result of
have been motivated to do so
this planning, soon after the
before. Another WIN! So far, eight
first week of the 2018 school
episodes have been produced with a
year had begun, our first
waiting list of those signed up to
elementary writing marathon
record after the first of the year. Please enjoy a variety of the writings from the Westview Writers at:
took place on the campus of Westview Elementary with Cheyenne Wienke's fourthgrade class. As you can
students; secondly, it would provide
imagine, the students loved
a school/parent/community
the marathon just as much as
connection, and, finally, it would
we do as adults. Cheyenne
https://anchor.fm/dana-barnes
motivate the students to write.
stopped me in the hall that
WIN/WIN/WIN was the thought in
same day to say
mind! Getting this off the ground took some planning as well as gaining permission from building administration and central office administration, who fully supported the idea.
If you are considering the production of a podcast for your students don't rethink it, just do it! It is incredibly easy and it will be the gift that keeps on giving this school year and maybe even beyond! To get started go to https://anchor.fm/ Happy
Investing a little time in learning the production procedures has been wel
Podcasting!
that the students didn't want to stop writing and sharing! This was the first time that she had experienced such motivation from her students to write. Later the same week, Cindy Long's secondgrade class would experience a successful writing marathon. News of these two classes going on a writing marathon on our campus spread quickly, with grade level teams wanting to know more. The impact of the PLWP 2018 Summer Institute has generated a level of excitement for writing that has opened the classroom doors and resulted in many teachers wanting to learn more. Great job, ladies!
STILL BEING EDUCATED BY DAWN TERRICK
On a cold snowy night, my
experiences with them empower
colleagues and I gathered in my
our students and give a voice to
living room and discussed Tara
the voiceless? We, instructors,
Westover’s memoir Educated. As we ate piping hot chili and corn bread, we marveled at the author’s resolve and intellect to overcome the extreme dysfunction
A PLWP BOOK CLUB
concluded that this would be an effective text to use in the classroom with our at-risk students. Although a “long” book, we felt that our students could
and abuse of her family and find
relate to such issues as education,
her identity through education.
family conflict, abuse, mental
“So what is one’s responsibility to
illness, and identity and would be
family?” “How does she reconcile
moved and motivated by
her new identity and life with the fact that she had to give up part of her past and family?” “Will she ever be able to return home?”
Westover’s beautifully written And to my delight, almost all instructors, including 5 TCs, were on board!
were only some of the questions we tried to answer for both Westover and ourselves.
book? And who are “we”? As Director of ENG 100, I had been playing around with the idea of implementing a new supplemental, non-fiction text in our ENG 100 classes. One
a place where we saw this memoir as a force for good in the classroom and in our students’
That cold, snowy night, as our discussion continued, we veered towards our teaching and our
So why were we discussing this
story. This book club brought us to
students. Could students meaningfully relate to and learn from the author’s life? Would such issues as abuse and mental illness be dangerous triggers or would discussing these issues and their
lives. From there, we began to devise formal and informal writing assignments, discussion questions and possible videos and podcasts we could use to supplement the book. This grant, although small, was the impetus for a new way to engage our students and instruct them in critical thinking, reading and writing.
suggestion was Tara Westover’s Educated, but I had to be certain
After everyone was gone, I felt
that the book would be suitable
good. I was reminded of why I still
for our students and program and
teach. I was thankful for such
that the instructors would approve
thoughtful, intellectually curious
of and enjoy the book as well.
and interesting colleagues. I was
Amy Miller and Susan Martens
sure that my ENG 100 students are
found a way for Prairie Lands
in good hands. Once again,
Writing Project to purchase the
thanks to Prairie Lands Writing
books, so all of the ENG 100
Project, I have grown as a
instructors could participate in a
teacher, I have found a fresh way
book club to decide if this was a
to teach reading and writing and
promising text for our program.
my students will reap the rewards.
WRITING MARATHON TAKES A ROAD TRIP BY AMY MILLER Whenever possible, some of us
When the opportunity arose to
here at PLWP love to sing the
share the word about marathons
praises of the Writing Marathon to
again, I couldn't pass it up. In
anyone who will listen, and that held true in 2018.
WANDERLUST
September, fellow MWSU Instructor Brooksie Kluge and I hit the highway to attend the
In August, Susan Martens and I hit
Midwest Regional Association of
the road and attended the first
Developmental Education
annual NWP Midwest Conference
Conference in Columbia, Missouri.
in Madison, Wisconsin. While
We presented on the variety of
there, Susan told the Writing
ways we scaffold publication
Marathon origin story - if you
opportunities for our
haven't heard it yet, you should!
developmental writers, the
The origin story was followed by
primary focus of wich was the
an inspiring and insightful Writing
Writing Marathon we use in the
Marathon on the beautiful
early weeks of our English 100
University of Wisconsin - Madison
course. After hearing our stories,
campus, led by our amazing
reading our students' comments
colleagues with the Greater
on their marathon experiences,
Madison Writing Project.
and participating in a miniMarathon of their own, our
After plenty of
people-watching,
audience was won over. Many of
storytelling, and of course, writing,
them plan to try out some form of
we ended the evening on the
the Marathon in their own
university's Terrace overlooking
We are hoping to be able to
developmental writing courses. It
scenic Lake Mendota to share all
attend next year's Midwest
was a truly inspirational and
that we'd discovered and a make
Conference in Minneapolis, and
motivating day!
a few new friends.
we hope to see you there!
The next day, in addition to
"I am more than what people or tests say...because ‘Hello, my name is Jayde, and I am a writer.’”
attending workshops offered by inspiring, smart, innovative TCs, Susan and I presented on the Writing Marathon, telling our own Marathon stories, hearing
~ English 100 student on her marathon experience.
attendees' stories, and leading a mini-Marathon right in the conference room.
See More
About the Conference!
TC TRUDY FERRIER EARNS MASTER'S
Retreat! Recharge! Reconnect!
Congratulations to Trudy Ferrier, PLWP TC and 5th Grade Teacher at Mark Twain Elementary School in Saint Joseph, who graduated in December with her Master of Applied Science in Assessment of Writing. Trudy took graduate courses at MWSU and completed her degree requirements with a research project which investigated adaptations to classroom structures and writing prompts to improve attitudes toward writing among third grade boys.
Ready to Embark on Your Own Graduate Journey? It’s not too late to sign up for Spring 2019 graduate classes through PLWP at MWSU, but it will be after January 10! We are offering two classes at the low PLWP tuition rate of $225
Coming in Fall 2019: Topics in Teaching Writing: The Writing Marathon , ENG/EDU 501 (2
(plus MWSU fees). Please download
credit hours) with PLWP Director, Dr.
admission/readmission and registration forms on
Susan Martens, online through the
our PLWP website. These rates are available to
semester and face-to-face on campus
ALL Missouri teachers, so sign up with a teacher
and in Saint Joseph on three Saturdays
buddy!
Teaching Writing with Technology, ENG/EDU 512 (3 credit hours, Tuesdays 5:006:20 p.m. and online with Dr. Susan Martens (may be repeated under a different course designation, either ENG or EDU credit)
Adolescent Literature, ENG 500 (3 credit hours), Wednesdays 5:00- 7:50 p.m. with Dr. Mike Cadden
Coming in Summer 2019: Seminar in Professional Writing, ENG/EDU 612
(9:00-4:00 Sept 7, Oct., 5, and Nov. 2). We will read about, write about, and
Our 2018 Writing Retreat at Conception Abbey was a delight this year with a small but mighty group of teacher-writers in attendance, a writing marathon, a new social activity—Writers’ Circle—and the fantastic guidance of our guest
experience writing marathons in ways that enhance writing lives of students
editor, Dr. Marianne Kunkel.
and teachers alike. This course may be repeated for credit.
In the summer of 2019, PLWP will again host a Writing Retreat, June 7-
These classes and many others can combine with your Summer Institute credit
9. It will begin Friday with dinner and
hours to launch you on the path to a
conclude Sunday after lunch. The
graduate degree! See our website for
cost will again be $175 for two nights’
more details and email Susan Martens to discuss the possibilities:
(3 credit hours), Online with PLWP TC Kelly Lock-
smartens@ missouriwestern.edu
McMillen, May 27- July 21 (may be repeated under a different course designation, either EDU
lodging in private rooms, six Abbey meals, a publishing seminar, peer response groups, community-building activities, and plenty of time to write. It’s a quite a bargain, since the
or ENG)
opportunity to write with like-minded
TC Spotlight
people in a beautiful, contemplative setting is priceless. The retreat is limited to 20 participants, with preference given to PLWP TCs. Registration deadline is May 15. Email Susan Martens to reserve a spot!
Participants attending the full retreat TC Jerri Fischer was chosen to be a part of the Innovation Team for the Saint Joseph School District. She has been working to implement Project Based Learning and Design Thinking Challenges in her Kindergarten classroom at Lindbergh Elementary. As part of the Innovation Team, teachers from around Saint Joseph are able to visit Jerri’s classroom to observe this veteran teacher in action as she works to implement best and current teaching practices. Jerri was a member of the 2007 PLWP Summer Institute.
TC Tonya O'Boyle is the librarian at Cameron High School. In the fall 2018
may also register with MWSU to earn one graduate credit hour at the
semester, she began teaching a new
special teacher tuition rate of $75
broadcasting class in cooperation with
plus MWSU fees. Watch the PLWP
local radio station DGRN. In March 2019, she will become President of Missouri Association of School Librarians, Northwest Region. Tonya was a member of 2017 PLWP Summer Institute.
website and listserv for updates on enrollment forms.