<p> Writing Camp Planning Training Thursday, January 15, 2009 Bluebonnet Elementary, Library 3:30-5:00</p><p>Welcome! - Lora Darden </p><p>Purpose - Mary Beth Cordon</p><p> Guide campuses in planning writing camps to support students as they polish their writing for TAKS.</p><p> Celebrate what is going well – make students explicitly aware of how they are already prepared</p><p> Refine what students are already doing – now is not the time for major overhauling</p><p> Keep a monitor on student stress levels</p><p> Use literate adults as a guide for what we’re asking children to do</p><p> What is the purpose of your writing camp and what kind of data are you basing these decisions upon?</p><p> How will what you are teaching impact student achievement?</p><p> Take into consideration what you taught before the camp and how you can tweak what you’ve already taught</p><p> Where is the biggest bang for your buck?</p><p>TAKS Rubric Calibration – Debra Blackburn </p><p> The differences between Score 2 and Score 3 writing samples</p><p> Identify the shades between 2s and 3s</p><p> What are the strengths presented in each and what makes the ultimate difference?</p><p> TEA’s document describing students who did and students who did not make the scores and why</p><p> o Level 2 – “San Diego” and “Wahoo!”</p><p> o Level 3 – “Yum” and “South Paradise Island”</p><p>Writing Camp with a New Twist – Julie Carrera, Christy Evans, and Julie Rodriguez</p><p> As we keep in mind what’s best for students, we will explore developmentally appropriate writing camp structures. </p><p> Use student data to inform the camp</p><p> What is the purpose of your camp, driven by student data</p><p>1  Own your own students, keep your own students</p><p> Vital Student Groups – ESL Students… hard enough showing your writing – no strangers involved</p><p> Tweaking writing – Not a last minute OVERHAUL</p><p> Identifying Student Needs based on Writing Samples – do you have proof that this is what the student needs?</p><p> Students are writing each day – but not for crazy amounts of time</p><p> Work in small groups of no more than 5</p><p> Pull small groups for various reasons</p><p> Students need time to share their pieces or read two different versions and get audience input – that’s what real writers do</p><p> Long-term regrouping – don’t confuse a student by sending him or her to a teacher never before seen to learn a strategy never heard before to never see this person again… growing writers takes time</p><p> Consult with small groups over time</p><p> Many writing camps have students writing one time a week and then teachers spend the rest of the week giving kids feedback about the piece – allowing time for revision</p><p> No awards for being “the best.” Nothing craters progress faster. Share pieces with people all over the school. </p><p> Celebrate strong parts. Give the strategy a name.</p><p> Instructional Coaches – are assigned to campuses already and will not be able to participate in as “presenters” in writing campus (11 coaches and 30 schools)</p><p>Modeling Lessons & Conferencing for Maximum Impact – Christy & Lucy</p><p> Model short lessons based on something you’ve already covered – this should not be a new epiphany for kids</p><p> Engage in repeated cycles of feedback with students in small groups or 1:1</p><p> As an adult, I don’t go to 15 different people for writing advice – don’t do this to your students, either</p><p>Writing Fluffers not Writing Busters - Lora </p><p> Calm minds = productive writers </p><p> Let’s avoid torture guaranteed to cause young writers to have a panic attack before the test… </p><p> DO build kids up – DON’T decide to teach all kinds of new strategies kids have never seen before</p><p> DO reinforce and tweak a few strategies that will impact student writing – DON’T decide to review the entire year in a week 2  DO identify what will impact each child the most (small groups) – DON’T treat each child the same running them through 8 different teachers as if they all need it</p><p>3</p>