Saturday, March 3, 2012
1:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.

A. "How Studying Story Binds a Community of Writers"
Penny Kittle, Teacher, Literacy Expert, and Author
Grades K-6

We are a people of story.  We embellish; we craft dialogue; we invent details; we create the story each time we retell it.  Story is the most natural writing for students because they are the authority on the topic.  We can lead writers to skillfully craft their stories by analyzing carefully-selected models of great writing and imitating the craft.  We can lead students to draft scenes, compress and expand time, and use flashbacks, zooming in, and transitions to create writing that is dazzling.  As we craft beside them, we join our community of writers.

B. "Creating Your Digital Writing Workshop"
Troy Hicks, Central Michigan University, Writing Expert and Author
Grades 7-12

Digital writing tools such as blogs, wikis, digital stories, and social networks can contribute to what you are already doing in your writing instruction as well as appeal to a new generation of students.  In this hands-on session, you will explore how new ways of thinking about well-established practices in the writing workshop-student choice and inquiry, conferring on writing, examining author's craft, publishing writing, and broadening our understandings of assessment-could be updated for the digital age.  You will be shown examples of how to teach digital writing throughout.  Bring your own laptop so you can begin creating your digital writing workshop right away!