Resources
General overview of the National Writing Project.
An example of what an initial and follow-up writing workshop might look like when they are limited to just six days.
An article reporting on the responses of both primary and secondary teacher participants to the first of the two six-day workshops above. They offer useful information about the sorts of experiences that these teachers had.
Two reports on research projects where Writing Workshop principles and practices have been applied in school and classroom settings.
- Ings, R. Writing is primary: Action research on the teaching of writing in primary schools. Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
- Locke, T., & Kato, H. (2012). Poetry for the broken-hearted: How a marginal year 12 English class was turned on to writing. English in Australia, 47(1), 61–79.
Resources for teachers who want to reflect on their own practices as teachers of writing, or are considering researching their own practice, or using self-efficacy scales related to writing.
- Writing positions and rhetorical spaces
- Questions for reflection on myself as a writer and teacher of writing
- Teaching writing: A research planning template
- Writing Self-Efficacy Scale (Students)
- Writing Self-Efficacy Scale (Teachers)
This is based on the following chapter: Locke, T. (2005). Writing positions and rhetorical spaces. In B. Doecke & G. Parr, (Eds.). Writing=Learning (pp. 75–95). Kent Town, SA: AATE/Wakefield Press.
Allan Paivio’s own account is quite a demanding read and has been made freely available by him to readers on the Internet. It has particular relevance for such topics as the place of concrete language in the writing program.
Draft chapter for the conference on “Pathways to Literacy Achievement for High Poverty Children,” The University of Michigan School of Education, September 29–October 1, 2006.
Prompts for typical Writing Workshop “genres.” Some of these have been developed by Ruie Pritchard from North Carolina State University and are used with her permission.
- Biographical List: Prewrite for Biographical Collage Poem
- Biographical Poem Prewrite
- Biographical Poem Template 1
- Childhood memory prompts
- Personal Narrative Assignment
- Remembering Childhood Assignment
Examples from the author of Powerpoint presentations used in the course of a writing workshop.
- Concrete and abstract language
- From expression to genre: A rhetorical approach to teaching writing
- The Debate on Metalanguage
- Thinking about revision
A useful way for Writing Workshop participants to reflect on their own writing apprehension.
Activity for helping Writing Workshop participants start considering the question: “What makes for an effective piece of writing?”
An introduction to what a rubric might look like in the context of a Writing workshop.
Writing examples which some New Zealand teachers are happy to share with readers online.
Powerpoint introducing the topic of figurative language, especially in relation to prose fiction and poetry.
Introduction to the genre of Memoir, which is popular in both classrooms and Writing Workshops.
Three items focused on assessment. The first, developed by a team led by the author, is a generic marking guide for writing. The other two are rubrics that focus on memoir/personal narrative.
Poems that some New Zealand teachers were prepared to share with others having participated in a Writing Workshop.
Resources related to the teaching of argumentation and are effectively units of work oriented to high-school students and developed by the author.
- An introduction to argument
- At Home with Argument
- Being a lyricist of place: Getting into PR
- Selling the school production: Being a promoter
- Putting society under a glad: Being a satirist
- Campaigning for a better world: Being an activist
- Promoting the safe workplace: Being an advocate
- Introducing Genre
An essay providing definitions and discussion around what teacher professionalism, how it can be eroded and how it can be reclaimed.
- Questions of professionalism: Erosion and reclamation
An essay providing a discussion of “aesthetic thinking” and why it is important in educational settings.
Practical suggestions for the teaching of argumentation in classroom settings.
Resources that can be used by teachers interested in using the nature-trail pamphlet as a target genre in their English/literacy classroom.
An overview of various kinds of curriculum and draws on the work of Elliott Eisner.
An article reporting on a high-school teacher’s innovative use of critical literacy in her English Language Arts classroom.
An article reflecting on the challenges facing English/literacy teachers in today’s climate in terms of professional identity and the construction of their professional knowledge.
- Reshaping classical professionalism in the aftermath of neo-liberal reform
Articles reporting on classroom research where Writing Workshop practices have been trialed. The first focuses on the use of peer group response with young primary children. The second focuses on sentence-combining and paired learning with a class of roughly 13-year-old high school students. The third reports on professional learning that occurred when a rural secondary school implemented a poetry competition for the junior students. (webpage text)
- Dix, S., & Cawkwell, G. (2011). The influence of peer group response: Building a teacher and student expertise in the writing classroom. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 10(4), 41–57.
- Barrett, S. (2013). Supporting student growth in syntactical fluency as writers: A paired learning approach. (Unpublished master’s thesis). University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.
- Seeding Writing Project principles and practices in a school community: A case study. (PDF download) [Permission pending...an email has been sent to Ian Smith of Routledge]
Useful resources for a teacher implementing the writing process. The first is an overview, and the second introduces a range of graphic organizers useful in planning.
Resources relating to the topic of rhetorical unit planning. The first is an example of a workshop that introduces such an approach to planning to teachers. The second is an example of a unit of work that might be used in conjunction with this introduction.
Resources relating to a unit of work on myths suitable for a junior high-school English class.
Articles and book chapter addressing the overall issues of the “Grammar Wars” and the debates that have raged over whether grammar should be taught and whether its teaching in any way helps students write better.
- Locke, T. (2005). Editorial: “Grammar Wars”—Beyond a truce. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 4(3), 1–10.
- Locke, T. (2006). Editorial: Grammar in the face of diversity. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 5(1), 1–15.
- Grammar and writing – the international debate.
A chapter focusing more specifically on metalanguage in relation to the teaching of literary texts.
A feedback guide developed by Sally Barrett for use with junior high-school students when offering each other feedback in groups or pairs.
An article, while focused on assessing poetry, making a number of comments about assessment in general in the current educational environment in English-speaking countries.
A Powerpoint presentation explaining different types of assessment to be found in educational settings.
A generic marking guide for writing, developed by a team led by the author.
Rubrics relating to different genres or text-types.