FY17- University Writing Project - University of Kentucky

The Bluegrass Writing Project (BGWP) will provide support to our Summer Institute with graduate credit, faculty, and research resources (libraries, etc.). Specifically, BGWP provides intensive summer institutes for Kentucky teachers following the National Writing Project model. The BGWP assists teachers in developing as literacy leaders who are able to demonstrate best practices in their teaching and engage in inquiry into improving their practices. Teachers return to their schools and districts with the commitment to share their new knowledge in ways that will support improved student achievement. Through our Summer Institute and follow-up work, Writing Project Fellows: • experience multiple opportunities to develop their own complex communication skills for a variety of purposes; • have access to and use a variety of technology tools; • have access to and use a variety of language resources; • develop and monitor their own and their peers’ portfolios; • receive and provide feedback regarding their writing and communication skills. so that they will be able to offer these opportunities to their own students. The design and content of the Summer Institute: • Supports a process-oriented approach to the teaching and learning of writing which helps students develop writing portfolios over time, focusing on (1) developmentally appropriate lessons to help students improve their writing abilities, (2) the importance of allowing the portfolio to reflect a student's interests, (3) the necessity to maintain portfolios for all students, primary through 12, which travel with the student from grade to grade and to any school in which the student enrolls; • Prepares teachers to help students demonstrate their writing skills on on-demand assessments of student writing in elementary, middle, and high school; • Engages teachers in thoughtful inquiry into the best practices in teaching mechanics, focusing on strategic editing lessons in the context of writing pieces; • Informs and assists teacher leaders in understanding the requirements of school councils to develop policies relating to the school's writing program, engaging them in discussions about best practices so that they can positively influence the decisions made by their councils; • Assists teachers in analyzing student writing so that they can support students in improving and/or eliminating deficiencies in writing skills; and • Informs teachers about the new Common Core Standards for reading and language arts, as well as the literacy standards for science, social studies, and technical subjects, and engages them in reflecting on/planning how their teaching will change to meet the new expectations.