I put the PRO in procrastination
Odes are poems that celebrate a particular person, place, or thing. Writing an ode is an easy way to ease kids into the art of writing poetry. Click here if you’re a teacher or home-school parent wanting to know more about how to teach this writing lesson.
Writers in the Schools partners with Beeville ISD for intensive writing project
When we think of big cities, we think of tightly packed, vertical apartments, clustered skyscrapers, and commuter-filled trains. But to the residents of Beeville, TX, the “big city” means the colossal sprawl Houston. During our wonderful visit to Beeville, we found that our students’ initial interest in us centered on our metropolitan origins. For many of them, Houston is a mythical land accessible only by traveling sports teams, a land filled with shopping malls, upscale restaurants, and, strangest of all, professional writers.
“Are you a real writer?” students asked. When we showed them our books or told them about our projects, many seemed to be in awe.
Perhaps this is part of why the students at Moreno Middle School, where the three of us spent two intensive days teaching creative writing, were so engaged. “They never write that much for me,” one teacher told us. It was clear, however, that many of the students had a genuine interest in writing, and were excited to meet adults who had prioritized it in their lives.
We worked with the students to develop an understanding of the key elements of narrative and poetry. We collaborated on story arcs and invented our own cities, some even stranger than Houston. We were truly impressed by their quick grasp of writing concepts like imagery and simile, as seen in this poem by Ms. Mertz’s student, Ysidro:
City of Gold and Silver
Through the walls of gold
you can feel the cool breeze of the morning
the ground still wet from the morning dew
as you look off the diamond balcony you can see
the houses made of gold and silver
with light posts still glowing with embers
the sun is like an orange small and still
as you walk down the stairs the library is still and calm
you slowly walk in the city of gold and silver
with the strange markings on the walls
everyone still sleeping except for the old man
the old man sitting on a gold rocking chair cursing at the
wind
as the day goes on the city turns brighter
than the sun itself and after the hours of sun
night falls with a still glow and the city of gold and silver
is still bright.
This poem testifies to the dedication and talent of Moreno’s teachers, who made us feel welcome in their classrooms and even thanked us during a school assembly. We left Beeville feeling a little sorry to go and hopeful for another chance to leave the big city and return.
By Ryler Dustin, Jesse Donaldson, and Becca Wadlinger, Writers in the Schools
Writers in the Schools thanks Tracy Saucier and The Joe Barnhart Foundation for making this experience possible.
Photo by ortizmiddleschool via Flickr
Schools across the nation are signing up for Digital Learning Day, a national campaign that celebrates innovation in the classrooms on February 1st. On this day, administrators, teachers, parents, and students everywhere will unite to discuss the ways in which technology has revolutionized the curriculum and exchange ideas on how to improve computer literacy.
Started by the Alliance for Excellent Education, Digital Learning Day empowers members of the education community with a number of resources and tool kits that are available on the group’s website. Their professional development offerings include interdisciplinary lesson plans, digital learning examples by district, and webinars.
Individuals are encouraged to participate in this free event no matter what their technical skill level. Best of all, colleagues who spread the word about Digital Learning Day can win a $100 grant for their classroom. Be the first Houston school to get on board with Digital Learning Day by signing up today!
Writers in the Schools (WITS) is offering a second price reduction for qualifying schools.Through a generous donation from the Simmons Foundation, Writers in the Schools (WITS) announces a second price reduction for the 2011-2012 school year. The new price—which is nearly half of last year’s fee—is available for Title 1 schools with 60% or more students eligible for the free/reduced lunch plan. The discount is available on a first-come first-served basis.
Why consider WITS? Research has shown that students who complete the WITS program perform better on standardized tests than their counterparts. Over 10 years of data collected by University of St. Thomas Professor Dr. Carl Scott indicates that students who complete the WITS program demonstrate:
than those who did not participate in the program. In a new study called “The Effect of Creative Learning on Student Achievement” by the Houston Arts Partners found that WITS students maintain:
If you choose WITS for your school, we will tailor the project to fit your needs.. The cost of the program includes:
The President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities recently released a report entitled “Reinvesting in Arts Education: Winning America’s Future Through Creative Schools.” It describes an educational system in crisis and suggests that arts-rich schools may be the answer to this country’s dire situation.
One of the most potent recommendations is to increase the number of working artists in long-term residencies in schools, especially underserved schools. Since the 1980s, childhood arts education has declined 49 percent for African American children and 40 percent for Latino children. The children who most need an arts education are being denied.
According to the report, the arts are absolutely crucial because they teach:
The report states that the IBM 2010 Global CEO survey found that CEOs in 60 countries believe creativity is the most important leadership quality. A study by the Conference board reports that employers rate creativity and innovation among the top five important skills for workers. The same employers rank arts study as the second most important indicator of a potential creative worker.
Writers in the Schools (WITS) is at the forefront of creativity education. We are recognized across the country for our strong programming and solid results in the classroom. We mentor other arts organizations and provide training for artists, teachers, and administrators. The President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities validates what we’ve been doing for 27 years. Let’s help spread the word about how to build creative schools that work!
Writers in the Schools is a proud sponsor of the Houston Arts Partners inaugural conference, Shaping the Future of Education & Creating 21st Century Leaders, taking place on September 13, 2011 at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston as part of National Arts in Educations Week. The conference will bring together a diverse representation of 300 educators, administrators, researchers, and teaching artists for an inspiring and revealing hands-on experience in today’s best practices in arts integrated science, math, english and social studies curriculum. WITS will present 2 sessions on Teaching Writing the WITS Way covering curricula and pedagogy for students in grades K-12.
Young Audiences of Houston created Houston Arts Partners in response to a specific request from Houston area arts administrators for a more efficient and effective method to access arts educational resources in Houston. Steering committees comprised of arts organizations and school districts formed to help the nonprofit achieve its mission and purpose.
A primary goal of the Houston Arts Partners is to provide a suite of services through a unique website, www.houstonartspartners.org. This site fulfills the needs of arts educators with services ranging from centralized, online booking, to full service grant writing and customized collaborative program support. Visit the site today to learn more about the 16 arts organizations that are currently collaborating and to find out how you can become an arts advocate. While you are there, be sure to visit the WITS program page.
For more information about Houston Arts Partners, call 713.552.9345. To learn more about WITS’ professional development services, click here.
WITS welcomes new and returning writers to the 2011-2012 school year with two exciting afternoons of training on Friday, 
August 26th, and Saturday, August 27th. Renee Watson, author, actress, and teaching artist for Community Word Project, will kick off orientation with a workshop on Talking Back to the World: Empowering Students to Define Themselves through Writing and Visual Art. The WITS orientation is designed to inspire and prepare writers with new ideas for developing their teaching skills. To get a WITS writer in your class today, email Long Chu at lchu@witshouston.org or call 713-523-3877.
More about Renee
Renée Watson is the author of two children’s picture books, A Place Where Hurricanes Happen and What Momma Left Me, which were both selected for the 2011 Cooperative Children’s Book Center’s (CCBC) Choices list. Her poetry and articles have been published in Rethinking Schools, Theatre of the Mind and With Hearts Ablaze.
When Renée is not writing and performing, she is teaching. Renée has worked in public schools and community organizations as an artist in residence for several years, teaching poetry, fiction, and theater in Oregon, Louisiana, and in New York City, where she currently resides. Visit Renee’s website here.
Image via Wikipedia
If you’re a teacher trying to figure out her first-day-of-school writing prompt, visit the Northern Nevada Writing Project (NNWP) for some wonderful, interactive writing lessons that will get you off to a brilliant beginning. The NNWP WritingFix page is set up for teachers and features many helpful ideas, routines, and practices for the writing classroom. Many of them involve art or other forms of fun, hands-on inspiration that will get students in the mood to write!
One of the best parts of WritingFix is YOUR STUDENTS. That’s right. NNWP posts high-quality lessons and resources provided by NNWP workshop presenters, but you don’t have to live in Nevada to take advantage of them! You are welcome to use these lesson plans, available online for free, and then report back on how they manifested in your classroom.
What’s the coolest part of WritingFix? YOU! You get to submit work by your students, and many of them are posted as student samples on the website. This is a fantastic publishing opportunity for your students. I used the countdown and count-up stories from WritingFix last year in my classroom, and they were a huge hit!
By Marcia Chamberlain, Writers in the Schools
In order to continue serving Houston’s low income students, WITS has reduced fees to levels used in the 1990s. Interested parents, teachers, and school administrators can find out more about this opportunity here.
WITS Writer Dr. Melanie Malinowski and her student Deandrea Stevens at this year's Blooms reading.
5) Students gain self-esteem through authorship and public performances.
4) In 10 years of data, WITS students show marked improvement in literacy skills and higher standardized test scores.
3) We tailor the project to match your students’ needs and your school’s budget.
2) WITS in-services and professional development workshops have changed teachers’ lives.
1) WITS is ranked the #1 literary program in Texas by the Texas Commission on the Arts.
Call Writers in the Schools today at 713-523-3877 or email Long Chu at lchu@witshouston.org to sign up for the 2011-2012 school year.
When I applied to intern at Writers in the Schools (WITS), I wasn’t exactly sure what I would learn. As an education major, I had no
background in creative writing and very limited experience with non-profits. I wondered what sort of insights would I gain from working with WITS. Two short months later, I am leaving 1523 West Main with an armful of incredible experiences and valuable lessons learned.
Getting to be a fly on the wall at the WITS office this summer, I was given an authentic experience of the non-profit world. I was invited to sit in on meetings, converse with the WITS staff, and participate in the summer programs. From those opportunities, I have learned about non-profit structure and some of the challenges of non-profit involvement in education. I now have a true appreciation for the “behind the scenes” work of non-profit programming and am grateful for the effort that non-profit organizations put into positively affecting the community.
Interning with WITS has also influenced the type of teacher I will be in the future. Before WITS, I really hadn’t given much thought to the involvement of creativity in the classroom. That’s what the art and music teacher focused on, right? After observing the Summer Creative Writing Workshops this summer, experiencing how the students became so engaged and excited about learning and teachers who were passionate about authentic learning experiences, I will never again disregard the importance of creativity and imagination in the classroom.
I realized that when a teacher’s emphasis is moved from student performance to student experience, engaging students with opportunities to explore and create, authentic learning is the natural result. The teacher is also provided with an incredible platform to get to know a student through their artistic expression, enriching the student-teacher relationship. Through WITS, I have gained this understanding, which will affect not only how I teach, but also the students that I teach.
I am honored to have been welcomed into Writers in the Schools this summer. I am grateful for my experience of working for an organization with true passion for quality fine arts education and belief in the importance of every person’s story. Thank you WITS, for the lessons I have learned and the experiences you have given me. You will always be a part of my story.
By Megan McKitrick
[Megan McKitrick was the 2011 ExxonMobil Community Summer Jobs Program Intern at WITS. She is a rising junior at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma.]
Photo by Yvonne Feece
WITS is looking for 10-12 writers who can teach the joy of creative writing to young people. Employment is part-time, typically 2-6 hours of teaching one day a week from September – May. A yearlong commitment is required; however, writers who are selected to be on the WITS roster are not guaranteed immediate teaching opportunities.
The pay is $55 per teaching hour. In addition to teaching, the job duties include preparing lessons, responding to student work, and compiling anthologies of student writing at the end of the school year.
We are looking for writers and educators with teaching or mentoring experience who can convey their passion for the written word in ways that are relevant for Houston-area children. In particular, we are seeking bilingual writers, but others are encouraged to apply as well.
Visit our website for the full job description.
If you are interested in teaching with WITS, please submit a cover letter, résumé, and 10-page writing sample to mail@witshouston.org or mail to:
Jack McBride, Program Director
1523 West Main
Houston, TX 77006
To be considered for the 2011-2012 school year, applications must be received by August 5, 2011. Applicants who are selected to teach with WITS must attend mandatory WITS orientation and training on Friday, August 26, and Saturday, August 27, 2011.
Please feel free to e-mail or call 713-523-3877 with any questions.
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One of my favorite lessons to teach this year was the Companion Poem. I based the lesson idea loosely on William Blake’s companion poems from Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. In these two books Blake included some poems by the same title and generally about the same topic, but written from different perspectives. The narrator in Songs of Innocence typically speaks from a place of lighthearted joy and youthful vigor. The narrator in Songs of Experience usually speaks from a place of maturity and caution. Here is an example of a “nurse” who is supervising children who refuse to go home at sundown because they are having too much fun laughing and playing in the fields. In the first poem the nurse shares their joy; in the second poem she thinks they are wasting time.
Nurse’s Song
When the voices of children are heard on the green,
And laughing is heard on the hill,
My heart is at rest within my breast,
And everything else is still.”
Then come home, my children, the sun is gone down,
And the dews of night arise;
Come, come, leave off play, and let us away
Till the morning appears in the skies.”
“No, no, let us play, for it is yet day,
And we cannot go to sleep;
Besides, in the sky the little birds fly,
And the hills are all cover’d with sheep.”
“Well, well, go and play till the light fades away,
And then go home to bed.”
The little ones leaped & shouted & laugh’d
And all the hills ecchoed.
Nurse’s Song
When the voices of children are heard on the green
And whisp’rings are in the dale,
The days of my youth rise fresh in my mind.
My face turns green and pale.
Then come home, my children, the sun is gone down,
And the dews of night arise;
Your spring & your day are wasted in play,
And your winter and night in disguise.
It is fun for children to think about an event from two different perspectives. The companion poem gives them the chance to do just that.
It is also possible to provide broader guidelines for this lesson and explain that companion poems don’t have to be written by the same person nor do they have to explore a contrary point of view. One poem might be paired with another poem based on the shape of the poem, the length of the poem, the language of the poem, the point of view of the poem, the theme of the poem, or some of other point of connection. If I use this broader interpretation, I am never disappointed. The kids like it because there are plenty of choices involved, and I love the diversity of poems produced.
To set up this lesson, just hand out a page with 5-7 poems on it, different styles, different authors, different topics. The students pick one that they like and cut it out. They glue it to a piece of colored construction paper. At the top of the paper they write the words Companion Poems. Then the students write a companion poem on notebook paper, cut it out and glue it next to the other. It is easy to display these poems in the classroom.
Image by colemama via Flickr
It’s common to have students with writer’s block. They sit and stare at the paper. They fidget and talk to friends. They complain they have no ideas. Teachers use many strategies to get the “reluctant writer” to start writing. This summer my teaching partner and I are using what we call the “Brain Pop” to get our students to loosen up and commit pencil to paper, even when they can’t think of anything to write!
Every morning we present them with an object or word or movement or question–anything to get the juices flowing. Then we ding a bell that signals 5 minutes of quiet writing time. They can list words, write a paragraph, make up a story, create a poem, as long as they keep writing the entire time. We tell them that their brain is a muscle and that with exercise they will be able to improve their output.
In one week students have been impressed with their own progress. Several students wrote only a handful of words the first day, but by the end of the week, they were writing sentences, paragraphs, poems.
For inspiration, we write on the board a quotation by Jack London: “There’s only one way to make a beginning, and that is to begin.”
by Marcia Chamberlain, Writers in the Schools
Psychometrician Johnson O’Connor studies factors leading to career achievement. His studies cover a wide range of areas, including age and level of education. Every time he analyzed the data, he got the same results: the better a person’s vocabulary, the better correlation with success.
Scientists think that that a bigger vocabulary is connected to the ability to think in more complex ways. O’Connor suggests four ways to increase your vocabulary:
