Check out our 2014 summer workshops!

Below is a list of summer workshops offered by the Red River Valley Writing Project. This information is also available if you click the "Summer Workshops" at the right side of the blog.

2014 Intensive Institute in Fargo: Common Core and More 

Preinstitute May 16-17; Institute July 8-17, NDSU Campus

The intensive summer institute offers a place to read and discuss ideas about teaching writing and using writing to teach—plus time to write. Readings include common and grade-specific selections to meet the needs and interests of all teachers participating in the institute. Teachers also share best teaching practices through hands-on teaching demonstrations and explore the teaching of writing by writing. Participants receive a stipend to reimburse the cost of tuition for the institute. They also receive books and a supportive community of fellow teachers. Institute fellows are eligible for graduate credits through NDSU. Teachers of any subject, at any grade level, may apply. The 2014 Summer Institute is funded through a SEED Leadership Grant.

2014 Open Institute in Fargo: Build Your Argument Toolkit--Rhetoric in the K12 Classroom 

July 22 and 23, 8:30 - 4:30, NDSU Campus, one credit

The Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts place tremendous emphasis on the “evidence-based argument,” but there’s a more important word buried (and sometimes misdefined) in the standards: “rhetoric.” “Rhetoric,” in the classic sense, is the study of persuasion, and it’s difficult to teach students to read or write arguments without it. It encompasses everything from coming up with sound claims to the selection of evidence to audience analysis to persuasive techniques to word choice. This mini-institute is designed to give K12 teachers an introductory course in classical to contemporary rhetoric, so that we might select useful ideas, terms, and techniques for our students and our teaching. Participants are eligible for one continuing education credit through NDSU.

2014 Open Institute in Grand Forks: Narrative Writing and the Physical World

July 28 - 31, 8:00 - 4:30, UND campus, two credits

Participants will explore what narrative writing entails and learn how the physical surroundings in a story can help propel the action forward and create more authentic characters and dialogue. Participants will read, analyze, and discuss model narratives and actively engage in writing, revising, and sharing their own narratives. Participants will also discuss applications of new learnings to classroom practice. Designed for educators K-16.