Many teachers have confessed that they struggle to get their writer's workshop off the ground. What should I do the first weeks of school? What are key lessons to jump-start my writing curriculum? How fast or slow should I move? Regardless of the writing model you're currently using, this online course provides participants with a powerful framework of lessons that can help launch their writing year. Throughout the course, teachers will have the opportunity to plot and plan their own instructional calendar for teaching writing during the first six weeks of school. At the end of the course, teachers will be ready to go with their personalized blueprints in hand!
Topics:
When you complete the course, you'll be able to:
Top questions teachers ask about launching writing:
A full-time literacy consultant, Kristina has built a reputation for using enthusiasm, humor, and common sense to equip K-12 educators with practical, demystifying strategies for teaching reading and writing.
As president and lead consultant for Smekens Education, Kristina is constantly developing new strategies to help teachers meet the demands of today’s College and Career-Ready Standards. She shares those strategies with teachers across the United States and beyond through on-site school trainings, regional seminars, and an always-growing pool of print, digital, and video resources.
Kristina has a gift for making the complex seem simple— for showing teachers how to meet the needs of readers and writers by bridging the gap between education research and classroom-tested strategies that work. Well known for offering innovative ideas, Kristina has created more than 50 “Smekens Originals,” a compilation of books, guides, and classroom tools designed to help teachers implement best-practice literacy strategies. Among the most popular of these resources are her best-selling books, Launching the Writer’s Workshop: Grades K-2, and Launching the Writer’s Workshop: Grades 3-12.
You are welcome to contact Kristina directly: kristina@smekenseducation.com.
Questions?
Contact Smekens Education toll free:
(888) 376-0448
What teachers say about this course
"This was what I wanted to see. I feel prepared and ready to jump in!" Kaitlyn Caskey, Grade 1, John F. Kennedy Elementary School, Kettering, OH
"I absolutely love your products, and, in fact, my entire 4th grade team started on the first day of school with Kristina's personal post-it notes to plan 'launching the writing workshop,' and it was phenomenal! We now have students writing 3-5 paragraph essays in the writer workshop model! Thank you for fun, engaging lessons and mentor texts that are easy to implement and use!" Megan McAdams, Grade 4, Frances Slocum Elementary, Marion, IN
"I finally feel like I have a handle on how to approach writing. As a middle school history teacher who has to also do a period of writing, this has been invaluable. Loved it!" Huston Mathias, Grade 8 US History & Writing teacher, Ingersoll Middle School, Canton, IL
"Always inspiring! It never fails — I always come away with fresh ideas and the resources to put the ideas into action!" Samantha Walterman, Master Teacher, Winchester Village Elementary School, Indianapolis, IN
"I'm teaching writer's workshop with grades 3-6 and this will help me build & grow students' skills year after year PLUS get classroom teachers comfortable teaching 6+1 Traits in our building." Eileen Germek, Writer's Workshop Instructor, Grades 1-5, Saint Michael School, Schererville, IN
"It is a great feeling to be given the tools to start Smekens at the start of a new school year! Awesome workshops! Best presentation I've been to in my 14 years of teaching!" Lacy Ehrman, Grade 4, New Berlin Elementary School, New Berlin, IL