Dakota Writing Project

University students who are planning to teach can learn about the importance of writing and effective strategies for teaching writing by registering for the Dakota Writing Project Pre-service Teachers’ Writing Retreat, scheduled for September 21st, from 6 to 9 p.m. and September 22nd from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. This retreat is open to pre-service teachers at all grade levels, in any discipline. DWP teacher-consultants Sharon Olbertson and Lindsay Sorben will facilitate this retreat.

The National Commission on Writing “believes that the amount of time most students spend writing should be at least doubled,” that school leaders “should incorporate writing opportunities for every student from the earliest years of school through secondary school,” that “[i]n history, foreign languages, mathematics, home economics, science, physical education, art, and social science, all students can be encouraged to write more—and to write more effectively,” and that “new technologies can advance both the teaching and learning of writing.”  —The Neglected “R”: The Need for a Writing Revolution

Retreat Agenda:

• Reviewing what we now know about the writing/learning connection.
• Using writing as a learning tool.
• Applying these strategies across the curriculum.
• Things we need to talk about when using writing as a learning tool.
• Awakening the "writer within.