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Writing Workshops Help Teachers Learn Best Practices

August 17, 2007

Merced - Kindergarten through community college teachers are
invited to the UC Merced Writing Project’s 2007-2008 Saturday
Outreach Series to learn more about best practices for teaching to
the California State Writing Standards.

More than 100 teachers county-wide have already taken part in
previous SOS sessions. The first session in the new series will be
held from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, September 15, at the Merced
Tri-College Center, Community College Dr. and “G” St., Bldg TC-1
(on G St., make a left at first light north of Yosemite Ave.) The
Saturday Outreach Series will continue one Saturday a month through
April 2008. Teachers can participate in any or all sessions, and
parking is free.

The workshops are designed to help teachers implement teaching
practices that address state writing standards and increase
students’ academic success. Workshop leaders share ideas to help
teachers at every grade level and in any subject area integrate
meaningful writing instruction into their curricula. Example topics
include: writing in varied points of view to learn content,
identifying and analyzing character traits, writing descriptively
and developing voice, and helping students self-revise, and
multiple-genre writing.

Lynn Kahn Parker, associate director of the UC Merced Writing
Project, coordinates the program. All workshop presenters are local
teacher consultants for the university’s Writing Project, whose
goal is to create informed teachers by bringing together research
and practice in the teaching of writing.

“We believe teachers are the best teachers of other teachers,”
Parker said. “They have the classroom experience to help other
teachers understand what works best.”

Each monthly session runs from 8 a.m. to noon and costs $50. One
unit for three Saturdays or two units for a minimum of six sessions
are available at a reasonable price. Federal funding or other grant
funding at individual school sites may be available for
registration cost. Teachers are advised to contact their school
administrators for more information.

For additional information on workshop dates and topics, please
contact the UC Merced Writing Project at (209) 381-6559 or e-mail
lneely@ucmerced.edu.

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