Are you troubled by strange reasoning in your students’ essays? Do you experience feelings of dread grading their thesis-less arguments? Have you or your fellow English teachers seen irrelevant evidence or unclear reasoning?

If the answer is yes, then don’t wait another minute. Sign up to participate in our next book club, in which we’ll take a look at Teaching Argument Writing, 6-12: Supporting Claims with Relevant Evidence and Clear Reasoning by George Hillocks, Jr. We will also eat pizza.

As teachers, we constantly ask our students to “cite textual evidence to support analysis” or analyze “how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness, or beauty of the text.” However, as the foreword to Teaching Argument Writing says, “simply providing the opportunity for student activity is not enough;” our students need us to “devise engaging and carefully sequenced instructional materials.” And that’s really hard to do. I know I could really use some help getting my students forming and articulating their own arguments and analyzing the strength in others’ arguments as well. I could also go for some pizza.

Teaching Argument Writing is full of practical activities actually used in the classroom to help students make judgments, develop criteria, and think in an argumentative way. We’ll explore these ideas and activities, put them into our classrooms, and reflect on the results. We will also eat pizza.

Preview the introduction and first chapter of the book and study guide on Heinemann’s website.

Details:

• Participants will receive a copy of the text from KMWP.
• The book club will be led by seasoned KMWP fellows, Tommy Jolly and Sonny Harding of East Paulding High School.
• The book club will meet at the Marietta Pizza Company on the Marietta Square. Pizza eating takes place at 6:00pm, discussion from 6:30-8:00pm.

Meeting dates:

• Thursday, March 6
• Thursday, March 27
• Thursday, April 24

Please email Jen (jdail1@kenensaw.edu) and Sonny (sonnyharding@gmail.com) if you can join us.

Thanks for considering,
Sonny

Every summer educators attend the KMWP Invitational Summer Institute to examine their practice and analyze research and theory related to the teaching of writing and its role in student learning. These teachers return to their classrooms as KMWP teacher consultants: models of effective disciplinary literacy instruction for their schools and districts.

Through the KMWP Invitational Summer Institute, fellows enter a community of dedicated professionals who are committed to the improvement of education through effective writing practices. Three core principles guide the work of the ISI:

1. Teachers are writers who understand and improve their practice when they write themselves.
2. Teachers are the best teachers of other teachers.
3. Teachers are leaders who can affect change in their classrooms and communities.

Please feel free to explore the link to our Summer Institute FAQ, and then, if it sounds right for you, complete and submit the application for the 2014 SI!

Young Adult author Bill Konigsberg will discuss his latest novel, Openly Straight, and how his books are being embraced and banned in schools. He will also discuss the creative process and journey of publishing a novel.

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PRAISE FOR OPENLY STRAIGHT

“Openly Straight aims high and succeeds brilliantly. It’s
up-to-the-second contemporary, funny, unexpected, peppered with
terrific dialogue — and best of all, achingly honest.”
–Ned Vizzini

“An original, thought-provoking, hilarious story about the importance
of embracing your true identity, and the cost to yourself and others when you don’t.”
–Julie Anne Peters

“Openly Straight sports a sharp plot with a twist, sympathetic (and
totally hot) characters, and universal appeal. It’s a must-read for
openly everyone!”
–Lisa McMann

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AN EVENING WITH BILL KONIGSBERG

Kennesaw State University

1000 Chastain Road

Social Science Building

Room 1019 (located on the first floor)

November 12, 2013

7:00pm

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SPONSORS

Kennesaw Mountain Writing Project

KSU Master of Arts in Professional Writing

KSU Department of English

1.  Meet colleagues who share your passion for teaching

2.  Breakfast with fellows each morning with food and activities that center on literary and cultural themes

3.  Amass an arsenal of teaching strategies that work

4.  Recharge your soul’s batteries

5.  Explore the latest in professional reading paired with animated discussion

6.  Engage in spirited exchanges of methodology

7.  Pursue personal writing

8.  Partner with fellows in teaching demos

9.  Join a committed group of lifelong learners

10.  Formulate new approaches to your classroom and curriculum

11.  Compare curricular strategies

12.  Trace your personal history as a reader and writer

13.  Support your belief in the infinite worth of every child

14.  Explain your personal teaching philosophy

15.  Evaluate yourself in myriad ways

16.   Contrast your current teaching situation with past assignments

17.  Describe your classroom climate and how it weathers the storms of change

18.  Embrace opportunities to grow

19.  Think outside the  box and cherish an uncommon core

20.  Revel in new ideas

The full article can be found on Maureen Downey’s Get Schooled blog for the AJC.

Below is a picture of Dave Winter receiving the 2011 Georgia Scholastic Press Association Adviser of the Year Award from Joe Dennis, director of the association. Dave is pictured with 2011 seniors April McFadden (left) and Ashley Brown (right). McFadden is currently a junior at Northwestern while Brown is a junior at Brown University. Photo by Lindsey Leonard.

Earlier this summer we sent out an invitation to join a teacher book club on Notice and Note by Kylene Beers and Bob Probst. It will be led by our very own Maya Woodall. Maya has done a lot of work with this book this past year, and I have no doubt it will be an insightful set of discussions and sharing of ideas!

We still have spaces available. Those who participate will receive a copy of the book from KMWP to keep. The full details are included in KMWP Notice and Note Book Club Flyer. Please email me (jdail1@kenensaw.edu) and Maya (mkwoodall@me.com) if you can join us! We hope you will!

Each year the KMWP presents three awards to individuals who contribute to literacy development in northwest Georgia. Any KMWP affiliate may nominate fellow teachers, administrators, central office personnel, or community members for these awards.

2013 Teacher of Promise

JAZZMON PARHAM

2013 Teacher Leadership

MARGARET ROBBINS

2013 Sponsor of Literacy

LAURA KELLEY

Laura Kelley (right) receives the 2013 Sponsor of Literacy award from Rob Montgomery

Jazzmon Parham (right) receives the 2013 Teacher of Promise award from Jennifer Dail

Margaret Robbins (left) receives the 2013 Teacher Leadership award from Kitty Drew

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Leslie Walker Writers of Promise

In 2008, the KMWP created a writing contest as a legacy of a friend and teacher leader. Leslie Walker was a teacher at Campbell High School, a 1998 KMWP fellow, and an inspiration to her students and colleagues. The following students are this year’s award winners of the Leslie Walker Writers of Promise Contest–recognized for their outstanding composition.

Grand Prize

Library by SAMMY SAWYER

1st Place

Closet of Memories by LAUREN MARESCA

2nd Place

A Place by ALEX WILLS

VISIT THE YWA WEB PAGE

The conference offered us opportunities to connect with and engage in dialogue with other sites. It also allowed us to more deeply reflect on the work at our own site and to think ahead to how the lessons we learned might continue to shape the direction of KMWP.