Dakota Writing Project

Dakota Writing Project teacher-consultant Anne Moege will lead a three-hour session, from 9:20 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., on "Building Community Through Online Discussion" Thursday, June 5, 2008, at the Educators Summer Symposium being held at Washington High School in Sioux Falls.

She has provided this description of her session on the Symposium website:

"How can teachers encourage students, even quiet kids, to discuss what
they’re reading or studying?  How can we combine discussion
with writing?  How can we build community within our
classrooms as well as expand the walls of the traditional
classroom?  Learn several ways online discussion can be used
with your students.  Often less intimidating than face to
face conversation, online discussion offers quieter students
a voice, promotes critical thinking through writing, and
provides conversation opportunities outside of the physical
classroom.  Participants will discover how the presenter’s
7th grade students stepped into the worlds of online spaces
such as Nicenet, an Internet Classroom Assistant which
features a “non-public” conferencing option, and
writing/book blogs to practice and advance their discussion
skills.  In addition, participants will learn how easily
such spaces can be set up for their own purposes by becoming
part of an online community themselves."

For more information about the Summer Symposium, visit http://www.sfsdstaffdevelopment.org/.

A group of dedicated DWP teacher-consultants developed demonstrations intended to be used for professional development (in-service) and explored ways in which to help build community during a demonstration at the Dakota Writing Project Professional Development "Weekend Warriors" Retreat on April 18-20, 2008, held in Old Main 212 on the University of South Dakota campus in Vermillion. Sue Morrell (Wagner Public School) did a meta-demonstration on "Learning Dialogues" that helped the DWP educators to think about what goes into an effective DWP demonstration.

Nineteen DWP teacher-consultants participated in the Weekend Warrior Retreat, including Annie Christain (USD), Kris Anne Christenson (Harvey Dunn Elementary, Sioux Falls), Carol Christianson (Dell Rapids Public), Tim DeWald (Bowdle High School), Trish Freeland (Parkston), Sonya Gonzalez, Lori Hawley (Elk Point), Jeannette Jennings (Sioux Falls), Nancy Kampfe (Rapid City-Stevens), Marcia Kear (USD), Sylvia Kroger (Harrisburg), Connie Krueger (Rapid City-Stevens), Anne Moege (Mitchell), Sue Morrell (Wagner), Cynthia Nelson (Hayward Elementary, Sioux Falls), Sharon Olbertson (Kilian College-Sioux Falls), Karen Rahn (Rutland), Alyssa Siegfried (Lower Brule), Nancy Zuercher (formerly USD), and DWP director Michelle Rogge Gannon (USD). 

Also attending the Friday-night introductory session were Pat Hubert from ESA 2 and additional DWP teacher-consultants Michele Fleer, Lindy Obach, and Dennis Sjolie.  Hubert spoke about the needs of ESA 2, while Sue Morrell discussed Wagner's needs; both ESA 2 and Wagner are working together with DWP on professional development for the 2008-09 school year.

In just a few days (June 2), the Dakota Writing Project 2008
Invitational Summer Institute, housed at the University of South Dakota
in Vermillion, will begin.

Inspired by a special invitation from Kevin Hodgson (Western Mass.
Writing Project), who oversees "Day in a Sentence" and had suggested
trying  "Day in a Comic," I used the program Comic Life to create a sentence (and comic) about preparations for the DWP Invitational Summer Institute. See the comic at http://www.usd.edu/dwp/2008institute/Page_1.gif.

The two teachers in the upper left-hand corner are Carol Christianson
and Sonya Gonzalez; that photo was taken by former DWP director Nancy
Zuercher at the DWP Professional Development "Weekend Warrior" Retreat
in April 2008. The clever license plate belongs to Writing Project
teacher Timothy Duggan, who recently moved to Chicago. The rainstorm
photo shows us a very wet downtown Vermillion, South Dakota, looking
west. The photo of the three students is from the 2006 Sorcerer's Apprentice Creative Writers' Camp that the Dakota Writing Project and the Vermillion Literary Project co-sponsored. The picture in the bottom left-hand corner shows Cindy Nelson composing a text in the 2007 NWP E-Anthology. The bottom center photo and the larger background photo show us Spirit Mound, a site six miles north of Vermillion that we have visited every year during the
summer institute for the past several years. For the first time, we will be opening up this visit/writing adventure to the general public, inviting them to join us as we explore and write at Spirit Mound. In the bottom right hand-corner, you see Karen Rahn, who is co-directing the Summer Institute with me for the second year in a row. --Michelle Rogge Gannon

Experience Spirit Mound, a site of spiritual and historical significance, through multiple viewpoints—through Lewis and Clark’s journal entries, through the eyes of an educator with a strong American Indian viewpoint, and through your own hands-on experience and reflections in writing. Dakota Writing Project leader Lil Manthei, in a session entitled “Writing the Sacred Into the Real: (Re)visiting Spirit Mound,” will guide us as we discuss readings, visit Spirit Mound, and let this important place inspire our own thinking and writing.

The session begins in Old Main 212 on the University of South Dakota campus in Vermillion at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 25, and will include a trip to Spirit Mound (located six miles north of Vermillion) where we will write together. The event will end at 12:30 p.m. Participants are advised to bring writing tools (paper and pencil or pen and/or laptop), comfortable walking shoes (for those who wish to walk to the top of Spirit Mound), bug spray, appropriate clothing for the weather, and an umbrella. Bottled water will be provided. You may wish to bring your own vehicle for driving, although we will also encourage individuals to carpool between Old Main and Spirit Mound.

Lil Manthei is a teacher-consultant for the Dakota Writing Project and has served on the DWP Board of Directors for several years. She is the lead English teacher at Takini School on the Cheyenne River Reservation and has also taught at Oglala Lakota College, Kilian Community College, Little Wound School on the Pine Ridge Reservation, and the Crow Creek Tribal Schools. Areas of specialization include South Dakota Indian studies, literature, history, and writing. She has a Masters of Arts degree in Secondary Education from the University of South Dakota and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Secondary Education from Black Hills State University.

This event is open to the general public. To register for this event, fill out the registration form available at www.usd.edu/dwp/spiritmound.cfm and send the form with a check or money order (no cash), postmarked by June 20, for $10, made out to the Dakota Writing Project , Dakota Hall 212, University of South Dakota, 414 E. Clark Street, Vermillion, SD 57069-2390. (If registering after June 20, bring the registration form with a $15 fee to the event on June 25. If possible, please email us at dwp@usd.edu let us know that you’re planning to attend.)

This event is co-sponsored by the Dakota Writing Project and the South Dakota Humanities Council.

Improving Literacy Through Writing:
A Dakota Writing Project Study Group for Teachers

The East Dakota Educational Cooperative and the Dakota Writing Project have developed a year-long study group with the title "Improving Literacy Through Writing," in which teachers in the ESA 2 region, from any grade level or subject area, will have the opportunity to explore effective strategies on the
teaching of writing, in order to strengthen literacy in their classrooms and schools.

There will be two cohorts, a grades K-5 cohort and a grades 6-12 cohort, with topics tailored to each group. Some of the topics that will be addressed are implementing 21st-century skills, tools, and teaching strategies; writing to understand content; helping ESL/ELL students write and learn; connecting writing and reading; and using differentiated instruction effectively. Other topics may be added as teacher/school needs are identified.

Teachers will have the opportunity to write, participate in discussions, and make connections between current research and the classroom. DWP teacher-consultants Cindy Nelson (K-5 cohort) and Sylvia Kroger (grades 6-12 cohort), who have completed the rigorous DWP Invitational Summer Institute, will be leading the DWP Study Group, with additional assistance from a DWP technology liaison yet to be named.

Six hours of graduate credit will be available from the University of South Dakota Continuing Education at $40/hour, pending approval. Participants will be eligible to receive a stipend, amount yet to be determined, which depends in part upon our receiving a grant (pending).

The two-day kick-off event will be held in Sioux Falls June 23-24, with follow-up, face-to-face meetings in Sioux Falls to be held once a month beginning in September, supplemented by required online activities.

To request to be part of the DWP Study Group, contact Pat Hubert at phubert@edec.org . Requests must be received by June 10, 2008.

Prairie Winds Online Literary Magazine is accepting writing submissions for their 2008 edition. Some work has already been accepted and may be viewed at www.prairiewindswriter.org.

They are accepting writing (1000 words or less) and art (no larger than 2MB in JPEG format) from elementary, junior high, and high school students, as well as teachers. Simply email submissions to Julia Monczunksi at  jmonczunski@tie.net.

For more information visit the website (see above) and click on the
Submissions link.

Karen Rahn promoted the Dakota Writing Project and shared DWP materials with teachers at the SDCTE (South Dakota Council of Teachers of English) Spring Conference February 22-23, 2008, in Chamberlain. Also attending and/or leading sessions at the conference were DWP teacher-consultants Tim Duggan, Anne Moege, Sue Morrell, Sharon Olbertson, Linda Rothermel, and Nancy Zuercher. Tim Duggan was a featured speaker.

The Vermillion Literary Project is hosting two very fun events, that are open to everyone--and bound to stir up writers everywhere.

The first is the VLP
Poetry Festival, scheduled for February 28, with professional writers leading workshops and doing readings of their work. The festival culminates in the VLP poetry slam in the evening, with prizes offered to slam winners. To get additional details and to register, see http://www.usd.edu/orgs/projlit/poetryfestival/ .

The VLP is also holding the first-ever 24-Hour Comics Contest, which starts on Friday, February 29 and ends on Saturday, March 1. To get additional details and to register, see http://www.usd.edu/orgs/projlit/comics/ .

The SDCTE (South Dakota Council of Teachers of English) is having its
spring conference  on Feb. 22-23, 2008, at Cedar Shore in Chamberlain.
This is an opportunity for English teachers to renew themselves professionally and connect with their fellow English teachers. DWP teacher-consultant Anne Moege is president of this fine organization. For more information about the conference, see  http://www.sdcte.dsu.edu/conference.htm.

All current Dakota Writing Project teacher-consultants are invited to attend the DWP "Weekend Warrior" Professional Development Retreat April 18-20, 2008 at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. During this retreat, DWP teacher-consultants will focus on strategies that will help the DWP to offer effective professional development in the schools. This retreat will help participants to grow professionally and also strengthen the work of the DWP. More information on this retreat will be offered at a later date. Contact the DWP director at dwp@usd.edu for more information.

Teachers and elementary students, grades 4-6, are invited to participate in the Sioux Falls Writing Workshop, which will be held Saturday, March 15, at the Sertoma Park Butterfly House in Sioux Falls. Annie Christain, an award-winning poet, PhD student at the U, and DWP teacher-consultant will lead this workshop, with students participating from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and teachers from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The registration fee is $15 for students and $20 for teachers. Contact Julia Monczunksi (jmonczunski@tie.net) to register, or phone 605-394-1876. This is a collaboration between the Dakota Writing Project and Prairie Winds, with additional support by the South Dakota Arts Council.

Annie Christain is a teaching assistant, Dakota Writing Project teacher-consultant, and third year English PhD student at the University of South Dakota.  She taught writing poetry and poetry performance at The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, a creative writing camp for high school students co-sponsored by the Dakota Writing Project.  Christain also taught a poetry class to gifted high school students at the University of South Dakota’s Ambassadors of Excellence Camp.  At the South Dakota Governor’s Camp, a camp for gifted junior high students, Christain led students in creative projects and taught classes on writing poetry and creative writing/meditation. 

Christain has read her poetry at such venues as the Woody Guthrie Festival in Okemah, Oklahoma; the Sioux Falls Jazz & Blues Festival, and the Vermillion Literary Project Poetry Slam.  She is the two-time recipient of the University of South Dakota’s Gladys Hasse Poetry Award and the 2007 winner of the Southwest Texas Popular Culture Jerry Bradley Award for Creative Writing.  Her poems have appeared in Poetry Bay, The American Drivel Review, The Arabesques Review, and Beeswax Magazine.   

Teachers, now is the time to apply for the Dakota Writing Project Invitational Summer Institute. This remarkable, four-week institute can strengthen you as a teacher of writing and help you to grow as a leader in South Dakota education. Educators in any discipline and grade level (kindergarten through college) can apply. For more information, visit http://www.usd.edu/dwp/invitation.cfm. 

Teachers everywhere are invited to apply for the Dakota Writing Project Writing Retreat, which will be held March 6-8, 2008 at the Lincoln Bed & Breakfast, a 1915 renovated hotel on Stickney's Main Street. This is an opportunity to write, in a very comfortable, supportive atmosphere, alongside your fellow teacher-writers. The retreat is also available for one hour of graduate credit (optional). The application (postmark) deadline is February 25. For more information, please see http://www.usd.edu/dwp/writingretreat.cfm.

by Michelle Rogge Gannon, DWP Director

Karen Rahn (Rutland Public School) and I attended the National Writing Project Annual Meeting in New York City on November 15-17, 2007. Anne Moege (Mitchell Middle School), who, as the president of the South Dakota Council of Teachers of English, was attending the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Conference, also made a point of attending sessions in the NWP strand of NCTE.

Two Thursday sessions that I attended were "Inquiry and Reflection in the Summer Invitational Institute" and "Organizing, Developing, and Planning for Inservice." The first got me thinking about how we can facilitate inquiry and reflection more effectively in our summer institute; the second provided a number of strong examples on how to do inservice in the schools. As usual, I learned a lot while also absorbing the atmosphere of a new place--in this instance, the very exciting New York City.

The Dakota Writing Project hosted two events this past weekend--the Sorcerer's Apprentice Creative Writer' Camp (in collaboration with the Vermillion Literary Project) and the DWP Pre-service Teachers' Writing Retreat.