My North Dakota Story website

We are excited to announce a new site available to teachers that is designed to support writing and community-building.

Called "My North Dakota Story," our project aims to cultivate community through storytelling. Whether we've been in North Dakota for a day or we've lived here all our lives, the state is a character in our stories. We're inviting others to tell their stories by asking, "What's your North Dakota story?"

The site offers writers the opportunity to tell their stories in words, pictures, or videos, which can be submitted for posting. While our emphasis is on serving teachers and their students, we do have room for community members to tell their stories, too. We imagine teachers sharing stories found on the website with their students, inspiring their young writers. There are other resources at our site for teachers, too. Find writing prompt ideas, Pinterest boards full of helpful website links, and a Facebook page for connecting with other North Dakota teachers and writers.

We hope you’ll swing on by our site and stay for a while. We cultivate community by inspiring storytelling. That’s our North Dakota story; what’s yours?

-Angela Hase, Red River Valley Writing Conference TC

-Kim Rensch, Red River Valley Writing Conference TC
-Erika Dyk, Northern Plains Writing Conference TC

Writing clear informative sentences

Julie Wildhaber, who trains writers and editors at Yahoo!, explains a few strategies for keeping copy compact and for getting rid of deadwood: words and phrases that add length but not value.

Incorporate these strategies into your own informational writing and pass them on to students.

Read Wildhaber's strategies by clicking on the hyperlinked text above. (From QuickAndDirtyTips.com)

The RRVWP co-sponsors 2015 Foreign Language Conference

For the first time ever, the Foreign Language Association of North Dakota is sponsoring a summer conference which will held on the University of North Dakota campus in Grand Forks August 11-13 with a pre-conference welcome reception the evening of August 10. 

Funded by a grant from UND and additionally sponsored by the Red River Valley Writing Project, the 2015 Summer Conference for Foreign Language Teachers is a conference for all current and retired foreign language teachers in North Dakota, as well as pre-service and regional foreign language teachers who choose to attend. This goal of this summer conference is to bring state and local foreign language teachers together on the UND campus to participate in professional development sessions on current best practices in foreign language education, to conduct whole-group and individual language breakout meetings, and to build a community of like-minded professionals. Teachers attending the conference will be able to earn one credit of continuing education through UND. Register at http://educators.und.edu/workshop/?id=TL.2015SC4FLT.CITC.

Participants coming from a distance who need to pay for lodging are eligible to receive a housing stipend. We have up to ten $50 stipends available. If interested, please contact Pam Fisher at <pam[dot]fisher[at]gfschools[dot]org>. Also, indicate if you would like to share a room (and therefore split expenses), and we can facilitate connections.

Register by August 1 to avoid a late fee.

Schedule of Events

August 10 - 13, 2015 

Education Building, UND campus

Eligible for one continuing education credit

Instructor:~Pamela E. Fisher, Spanish Instructor, Grand Forks Central High School, and Co-Director of the Red River Valley Writing Project, Various session presenters

Monday, August 10, 2015

6:30 pm-8:30 pm: Welcome Reception, location TBD

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

10:00 am-12:00 noon: Morning Class session*: Smarter Balanced-Style Activities to Interact with Culture-Based Texts

12:00 noon-12:50 pm: Lunch on campus

1:00 pm-4:30 pm: Afternoon Class session*: Close Reading to Engage with Authentic Cultural Texts

6:30 pm-9:00 pm: Foreign Language Teachers Social, El Roco Bar and Lounge

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

8:00 am-9:45 am: FLAND Business Meeting

10:00 am-12:00 noon: Morning Class session*: Heuristics and Strategies for Deep Viewing of Target-Culture Art

12:00 noon-12:50 pm: Lunch on campus

1:00 pm-4:30 pm: Afternoon Class session* : Literacy and Learning Stations

6:30 pm-9:00 pm: Dinner† and FLAND Awards Ceremony, Gorecki Alumni Center

Thursday, August 13, 2015

8:00 am-9:45 am: AAT (Individual language) meetings

10:00 am-12:00 noon: Morning Class session*: Interacting with Culture through Humor and Brain Twisters

12:00 noon-12:50 pm: Lunch on campus

1:00 pm-4:30 pm: Afternoon Class session*: Breakout sessions on various topics with guest speakers:                                                     

                                                1:00-2:00 Round One (2 options)

                                                2:10-3:10 Round Two (2 options)

                                                3:10-3:30 Break

                                                3:30-4:30 Round Three (2 options)

4:30-5:00 Plenary Session and Evaluations 

*Sessions that count towards the one credit of continuing education.    †Included with registration.

Assignments Matter Task Jam Workshop

The RRVWP is sponsoring an Assignments Matter Task Jam Workshop in conjunction with the Summer Institute. This workshop is free and open to all Minnesota and North Dakota teachers.

Assignments Matter is a collaborative, knowledge-building and sharing experience that supports teachers in creating effective writing prompts for grades 6-12 across the curriculum.

At the Assignments Matter Task Jam Workshop, participants will be introduced to a framework for developing assignment prompts that are clear, concise, and connected with the Common Core State Standards. Participants will generate and discuss classroom writing prompts paying particular attention to key concepts in the areas of reading, writing, synthesizing, and the application of content from all academic areas. Participants will also learn how developing effective prompts directly connected with the CCSS makes it easier to grade student work and how data from such assignments can help refine their teaching approaches.

The Assignments Matter Task Jam Workshop will be held on Thursday, July 16, from 9:00 am - 2:30 pm at 310 Minard Hall on the NDSU campus. Those attending will receive a certificate of participation. Contact Karen Taylor at <ktaylor[at]moorheadschools[dot]org> if you have any questions.

Assignments Matter 2.0 Task Jam Workshop

All Minnesota and North Dakota secondary teachers are invited to an Assignments Matter 2.0 Task Jam Workshop.

Workshop Details

Date: Thursday, July 16, 2015

Time: 9:00 a.m.--2:30 p.m.

Location: 310 Minard Hall, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota

Facilitator: Karen Taylor, Red River Valley Writing Project/Horizon Middle School, Moorhead, MN

Description: Assignments Matter is a collaborative, knowledge-building and sharing experience that supports teachers in creating effective writing prompts for grades 6-12 across the curriculum based on the understanding that meaningful classroom tasks create powerful student results. Assignments Matter invites teachers to collaborate using tools from the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) as well as protocols and processes common in the National Writing Project teacher community to create writing assignments for use in their own classrooms and to share with one another and with teaching colleagues nationwide.

At the Assignments Matter 2.0 Task Jam Workshop, participants will be introduced to a framework for developing assignment prompts that are clear, concise, and connected with the Common Core State Standards.  Participants will generate and discuss classroom writing prompts paying particular attention to key concepts in the areas of reading, writing, synthesizing, and the application of content from all academic areas. Participants will also learn how developing effective prompts directly connected with the CCSS makes it easier to grade student work and how data from such assignments can help refine their teaching approaches. 

Who can Participate: The Assignments Matter Task Jam 2.0 Workshop is open to any middle or high school teacher in Minnesota and North Dakota.  You will be joining participants in RRVWP 2015 Summer Institute.

Registration, Parking, and Clock Hours: There is no charge for this workshop, but participation will be limited to the first 25 people who register.  Those who register before 3:00 Friday, July 10 will receive a pass for free parking. Registration will remain open until Tuesday, July 14, but later registrants will need to park on the street or pay for visitor parking on campus.  Those attending will receive a certificate of participation for 5.5 clock hours.

What to Bring: Those attending will need to bring a laptop/Chrome book/Google capable device and be registered for a Google account previous to July 16th.  In addition, participants should bring a printed copy or have electronic access to a writing assignment/prompt they have used with students in the past or hope to use during the upcoming school year.

Lunch:   Participants have lunch on their own from 11:45 – 12:45.  The student union on campus and businesses near campus are open for lunch.

Questions:   If you have any questions on the preceding material, please contact coordinator Karen Taylor at <ktaylor[at]moorheadschools[dot]org>.

July with the RRVWP

For those of you interested in continuing your learning with the RRVWP, we have the following opportunities available for you in July:

The Fargo Writing Group is meeting on Mondays in July from 7:00 pm-8:30 pm in Room 318 Minard Hall at NDSU. Contact Kim Rensch for more information or to RSVP: <renschk@fargo.k12.nd.us>.

In connection with the Summer Institute in Fargo, we have the following activities that are open to ALL RRVWP members. 

Write Around Fargo: Join the SI participants to write around Fargo the morning of Friday, July 10. We will meet at the Plains Art Museum, 704 1st Ave. N., at 8:15 am to be grouped and receive our writing prompts. Email Pam Fisher <pamefisher[at]gmail[dot]com> if you plan to attend (so we can make the appropriate number of copies) or if you have any questions.

The RRVWP is sponsoring an Assignments Matter Task Jam Workshop in conjunction with the Summer Institute. Assignments Matter is a collaborative, knowledge-building and sharing experience that supports teachers in creating effective writing prompts for grades 6-12 across the curriculum. At the Assignments Matter Task Jam Workshop, participants will be introduced to a framework for developing assignment prompts that are clear, concise, and connected with the Common Core State Standards.  Participants will generate and discuss classroom writing prompts paying particular attention to key concepts in the areas of reading, writing, synthesizing, and the application of content from all academic areas. Participants will also learn how developing effective prompts directly connected with the CCSS makes it easier to grade student work and how data from such assignments can help refine their teaching approaches. The Assignments Matter Task Jam Workshop will be held omn Thursday, July 16 from 9:00 am - 2:30 pm. Those attending will receive a certificate of participation. Contact Karen Taylor at <ktaylor[at]moorheadschools[dot]org> if you have any questions.

Visitors' Day at this year's Summer Institute will be Tuesday, July 21, from 8:30-11:45, followed by lunch. All RRVWP members are invited to attend to write with the current SI participants, hear about reading and research conducted during the SI, and take part in mini-demos. Please email Pam Fisher <pamefisher[at]gmail[dot]com> if you plan to attend and indicate if you plan to stay for lunch.

Grand Forks Book Club: For July, we are reading All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr and meeting at Pam’s house on Tuesday, July 28th, at 5:30 pm.

Please join us for as many of these activities as you can!

Sentence Sense Workshops

Area educators gathered June 16-17 in Fargo and June 23-24 in Grand Forks to participate in the Red River Valley Writing Project's workshop "Sentence Sense" led by Nancy Devine, RRVWP Writer in Residence, and Pam Fisher, RRVWP Co-Director.

In this one-credit workshop, participants explored what makes sentences effective and ways we as educators can help students generate content for writing effective sentences. (We also examined a strategy that is NOT helpful in generating quality content.) We wrote a lot, discussed how various sentence-generation strategies worked for us and how they might be used with students, and shared our writing with partners and via a culminating Authors' Chair session.

To see more photos of the Sentence Sense workshop, like us on Facebook.

Mindset: Fixed vs. Growth

Psychologist Carol Dweck found in her research that one of the most basic beliefs we carry about ourselves has to do with how we view and inhabit what we consider to be our personality. A “fixed mindset” assumes that our character, intelligence, and creative ability are static givens which we can’t change in any meaningful way, and success is the affirmation of that inherent intelligence, an assessment of how those givens measure up against an equally fixed standard; striving for success and avoiding failure at all costs become a way of maintaining the sense of being smart or skilled. A “growth mindset,” on the other hand, thrives on challenge and sees failure not as evidence of unintelligence but as a heartening springboard for growth and for stretching our existing abilities. Out of these two mindsets, which we manifest from a very early age, springs a great deal of our behavior, our relationship with success and failure in both professional and personal contexts, and ultimately our capacity for happiness.

To read more, click on the hyperlinked text above. (From brain pickings)

June with the RRVWP

Below are the Red River Valley Writing Project's events for June. Please join us for as many as you can!

Sentence Sense class: June 16-17 in Fargo and June 23-24 in Grand Forks
Instructors: Nancy Devine and Pam Fisher

Learn how to write more effectively through generating quality sentences. In this class, participants will explore various sentence writing strategies, analyze models for sentence generation, examine sentence-level syntax, learn to manipulate syntax to create varying effects for readers, and explore how sentences relate to each other. Participants will generate their own sentences, analyze them, revise them, and discuss the strategies used. They will also consider how sentence strategies can be used to scaffold students K-12. 

Click here for the UND registration link. The NDSU registration link is here.

The Fargo Writing Group is meeting on Mondays, June 8, 15, 22, and 29, from 7:00 pm-8:30 pm in Room 318 Minard Hall at NDSU. Contact Kim Rensch for more information or to RSVP: <renschk[at]fargo[dot]k12[dot]nd[dot]us>.

On June 26-27th, there will be an Authentic Voices Writing Workshop for the community at Barry Hall located on NDSU's downtown Fargo campus. This is an opportunity for those who would like a safe space and some support in writing about their experiences as survivors. The book release and film screening will take place on Friday evening. There will be several RRVWP teachers leading small writing workshop groups on Saturday, the 27th. You are welcome to join us for the writing activities and/or share this information with your school and community.

Grand Forks Book Club: For June, we’ll be reading The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy and meeting at Andrea’s house on Saturday, June 27th, at 1:00 pm to partake in some red food. Other upcoming titles include: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr and El Deafo by CeCe Bell.

Writing Weekend: What to check when editing

Editing help from Grammar Girl Mignon Fogarty for your own writing and/or to use with students: 

At the end of a recent writing webcast, we distributed a Grammar Girl editing checklist that turned out to be so popular we decided to make it widely available. Print out the checklist and keep it on your desk as a handy reference to use when you're editing.

Click on the preceding hyperlinked text to get a copy of the Grammar Girl editing checklist. (from QuickAndDirtyTips.com)

The Myth of Having Summers Off

"So you're a teacher, huh?" says the umpteenth Joe Know-It-All. It's late spring, and I know the tone, and I know what's coming. "Must be nice having summers off," he sneers.

I don't know what mythical job this guy thinks I have, but I've never had a summer off.

To read more, click on the above hyperlinked text. (From edutopia.org)

Writing on paper in a digital world

Click here to read how writing on paper still is a relevant and beneficial task in a world of digital communication. (From npr.org)

Writing Weekend Prompt

The school year has ended or will end soon for local educators and with that comes myriad feelings: accomplishment, pride, sadness, exhaustion, relief, happiness, disappointment, anticipation. Choose one of these (or other) feelings and write about all the reasons why you feel this way.

Keep your students reading and writing this summer

Keep your students reading and writing this summer with this contest:

Every Friday from June 12 through Aug. 14 we’ll pose the same question: What interested you most in The Times this week?

Anyone 13 to 19 years old from anywhere in the world can post an answer, and contestants can choose from any Times article, essay, video, interactive or photograph published in 2015, on any topic they like.

To learn more, click on the above hyperlinked text. (from The New York Times)

Present at NDCTE

The Red River Valley Writing Project is partnering with the Northern Plains Writing Project to offer roundtable sessions on Thursday, July 23, from 8:15-9:45 am at the North Dakota Council for Teachers of English Conference (NDCTE) which takes place July 21-23, 2015, in Bismarck. Conference information can be found here: http://ndcte.org. Penny Kittle is the keynote speaker this year. 

How the roundtable session works:  All conference attendees are in the ballroom, which is full of large round tables. There is one presenter per table. Conference attendees choose a table to sit at. You will give your presentation to the attendees  at your table. After 15-20 minutes, attendees move to a new table for another presentation. Therefore, you will give your presentation about 4 times for different people. Obviously, you cannot do a whole teaching demonstration, but you can briefly share a strategy. Previous TCs who have presented at the roundtable session last year are Olivia Edwardson, Vickie Conner, Kaylie Young, and Kelly Sassi, if you would like to talk with someone about what it is like. 

The RRVWP will pay the conference registration fee ($155) for RRVWP members who are willing to attend a preparation workshop (1.5 hours) in May (date and time TBD) and give a presentation. The number of presenters is limited, so please contact Kelly Sassi <kelly[dot]sassi[at]ndsu[dot]edu>. if interested. Include a brief description of the strategy you wish to present (120 words or less). The deadline to send your description is Wednesday, May 13, by 12:00 noon. 

TC Tuesday: Dan Dooher awarded Gallo Grant

An interview with Dan Dooher, Gallo Grant awardee:

What or who ALAN? 

This is a common question. As a member of ALAN and after attending the 2014 workshop, I'm apt to say, I'm ALAN. In all seriousness though, ALAN stands for The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of NCTE. It is a professional assembly within the National Council of Teachers of English. ALAN is a collection of educators, librarians, and publishers with an interest in literature for adolescents and its promotion through professional articles, conferences, and through the ALAN membership. ALAN hosts a two day workshop each year following NCTE's Annual Convention to promote community within its membership and celebrate books. Each attendee of the ALAN Workshop is given a box of amazing Young Adult Literature (YAL) titles. If you love YAL, this is the greatest organization ever. Its members make it so, and if you haven't joined yet, you too could be ALAN.

What is the Gallo Grant?

I think the website states it well:

The Gallo Grants were established in 2003 by former ALAN Award and Hipple Award recipient Don Gallo to encourage educators in their early years of teaching to attend the ALAN Workshop for the first time.  The grants provide funding—up to $750 each—for two classroom teachers in middle school or high school each year to attend the ALAN Workshop. (The amount of a grant may be less than $750 if the applicant lives within commuting distance of the convention location where airfare and housing would not be necessary or has access to other funding).  In addition to the $750 grant, the registration fee for the workshop will also be covered.

Source: http://www.alan-yabeta.org/awards/gallo-grants/

How did you first hear about the Gallo Grant?

I was fortunate enough to participate in the Red River Valley Writing Project's 2013 Intensive Summer Institute. There I met Kelly Sassi, Director of the Red River Valley Writing Project and ALAN member, who encouraged me to apply. I applied for the Gallo Grant in 2014 during my fifth and final year of eligibility. I'm grateful to Don Gallo and C.J. Bott for selecting me for this wonderful opportunity.

What was the best part of the workshop?

My short answer is the people and the workshop's theme. 

Attending the workshop allowed me to meet many passionate teachers, publishers, authors, and experts in the field of adolescent literature. As an avid reader and advocate for more opportunities for students to read self-selected materials in schools, I was able to meet many like minded colleagues that I hope to have the opportunity to connect with again this fall.

Along with the people, ALAN’s 2014 theme, “Is the sky the limit? Using teen literature to forge connections in a world with disappearing boundaries” was a perfect fit for my own learning.  As a teacher, I strive to provide my students with books that can serve as mirrors into their own lives and windows into our greater world of experiences. Reading can change everything, and by learning about a wide range of books from authors, teachers, and publishers, I left the conference a more knowledgeable advocate for diverse literature within my school and community.

Now that you have participated in the ALAN workshop, what do you plan to do?

I want to continue to promote YAL in my classroom, school and in our local community. Providing students access to great stories, time to read and talk about the books, and finally, having a caring adult who can help guide them on their journey as a reader can make all the difference. I coordinate a YAL book club for teachers and librarians, and I usually present to preservice English teachers a few times a year to share my passion for creating lifelong readers. Stories build empathy, spread joy, and better our community. I feel fortunate to be a part of such a wonderful community of readers.

In the digital world, I recently began writing reading guides for Don Gallo and Will Weaver's new digital YAL platform called Lit Weaver. It's currently in the beta testing stages (in April they are offering a free year subscription to those who register), which means teachers can access lots of short stories, essays, plays, and poems by well known YAL authors for free and share them with their students digitally. I'm really excited to about this project, and I hope many teachers will check it out.

Finally my biggest goal after attending ALAN is to communicate with as many teachers in Minnesota & North Dakota about the ALAN Workshop taking place in the Twin Cities on November 23-24. This year's theme is "Viva la Reading Revolution," and I hope to see you there!  

Poem in Your Pocket Day on Thursday

Every April, on Poem in Your Pocket Day, people throughout the United States celebrate by selecting a poem, carrying it with them, and sharing it with others throughout the day as schools, bookstores, libraries, parks, workplaces, and other venues ring loud with open readings of poems from pockets.

To learn more, click on the preceding hyperlinked text. (From poets.org)

Listening to poetry before writing

In order for young writers to compose poetry, they have to listen to poetry. They have to feel the rhythms, sense the surroundings, and make the shift away from prose. 

I like to begin our poetry unit with a “listening field trip” across the United States, powered by our imaginations.  For me, the best resource for this transition into poetry is a wonderful collection called My America.

To learn more about this and to read sample of the poems read and generated by students, click on the hyperlinked text above. (From Kevin Hodgson on MiddleWeb)

Poetry in Primary Classes

Rhyme is an excellent way for young children to develop an awareness of language, phonic patterns, and rhythms. The problem is that children's experience of poetry is so dominated by rhyme that when they come to write, they are distracted by the need to create rhyming couplets. It comes as a surprise to them that poetry does not have to rhyme.


Despite poetry being a required writing form in most curriculums, it is often rushed and sometimes abandoned altogether due to inevitable pressure on the timetable. This is a tragic shame given the many benefits of teaching poetry.

To read more, see reasons why and ideas for incorporating poetry into primary classrooms, click on the preceding hyperlinked text. (Matthew J. Friday on Edutopia)

Poetry 180: A poem a day during the academic year

Poetry 180 is designed to make it easy for students to hear or read a poem on each of the 180 days of the school year. I (Billy Collins) have selected the poems you will find here with high school students in mind. They are intended to be listened to, and I suggest that all members of the school community be included as readers. A great time for the readings would be following the end of daily announcements over the public address system.

To learn more, click on the hyperlinked text above. (From the Library of Congress)