Meadow Brook Writing Project 2007
I had the fortunate opportunity to participate in a month long writing experience this summer. About 12 teachers were selected
to become part of a fellowship of teachers that concentrate on writing in the curriculum.
I wrote stories and poems. Completed workshops in range finding, grammar, student work driving the curriculum, poetry, cultural literacy, and more. I wrote a workshop on nature writing and we went to River Woods Park to complete it. My group members had a wonderful time eating watermelon, reading Pablo Neruda’s Ode to a Watermelon, and then writing their own odes. They also enjoyed listening to the history of the area. The Clinton River was once known as a Notawassippee.
I am looking forward to starting my own Meadows Writing Project with my students next year. We are going to participate in range finding, student writing assessment, grammar lessons, and a lot of modeled poetry next year! Maybe next summer we could have our own writing project also!
The Meadow Brook Writing Project, an established site of the National Writing Project, hosted local teachers at its annual Summer Institute this last July. The four-week invitational Summer Institute, the heart of the Meadow Brook Writing Project, offered teachers a way to improve the quality of writing and literacy instruction in their classrooms to help students become better writers and learners in Oakland and surrounding counties.
The community of teachers, representing all grade levels from kindergarten to university and all subject areas, formed during the 2007 Summer Institute created the foundation for the continuing work of the Meadow Brook Writing Project.
Teachers completed an application process to be chosen this year along with phone interviews. They were excited to be provided with a vibrant teacher-centered community, the Summer Institute was an opportunity for renewal, inspiration, and personal learning that will lead to professional growth. It will provoke thinking, research, and inquiry and equip teachers to become leaders within their schools and communities.
The Summer Institute, which took place July 9 through July 27, featured collaborative writing groups, teacher demonstration workshops, reading research groups, and presentations that draw from local and national literacy expertise. Participating teachers will have the opportunity to study classroom strategies for teaching writing, read and discuss research, and improve their knowledge of writing by writing themselves.
Sponsored by and housed within Oakland University, the Meadow Brook Writing Project serves teachers and students from urban and suburban regions of Oakland and surrounding counties. The Meadow Brook Writing Project is a collaborative school-university partnership that is dedicated to improving the quality of student writing and learning in K-16 schools through teacher-centered professional development. All follow-up programs and activities—community outreach programs, school-based inservice workshops, collaborative programs, and teacher study groups—will evolve from the centerpiece of the Summer Institute and will take place throughout the remainder of the year.
The National Writing Project, a federally funded professional development program with nearly 200 sites, provided over 7,000 programs for K-16 teachers across the country last year. The emphasis on writing, while not new to the writing project, is particularly timely because many school districts are putting literacy on the top of their agendas. The Meadow Brook Writing Project site is a vital step in advancing and supporting writing and literacy development throughout area schools.
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