Family Writing

Writing OUR Families: Celebrating and Building

The National Writing Project at Rutgers University is pleased to announce the addition of a workshop that will help school districts to strengthen the home-school literacy connection. With our new workshop Writing OUR Families: Celebrating and Building the Home-School-Literacy Connection, trained Teacher Consultants from the National Writing Project at Rutgers University will assist schools in creating a family literacy event that will benefit the students, parents, community, and teachers. Audience: Elementary/Middle School Writing OUR Families is a workshop designed to benefit not only the children we teach, but also their families, communities, and teachers who help them to engage, on a daily basis, in a variety of literacy practices. Writing OUR Families sets out to validate and strengthen these practices. The practices of the workshop are focused on (S. Arthur Kelly, 2006):

• affirmation
• insight into families and students
• autonomy and ownership
• community
• a sense of accomplishment
• creativity
• reciprocity
• relevance
• growth as a “teacher”
• energy, enthusiasm, and fun

Benefits for our school communities include:

• stronger school-home connections
• parent involvement
• creating school-based learning communities
• creating an atmosphere where students’ writing and writing skills improve and flourish
• establishing the writing process as part of the language and practice of students’, families’, and teachers’ lives
• providing visibility and voice for students, families, and the schools

The workshop will provide educators with activities and guidelines for creating an ongoing Family Literacy Event in their schools. Participants will be taken through an actual “Family Literacy Night.” Resources will be provided to allow each participant to customize her event for her community’s particular needs. Three levels of the workshop are available depending on the needs of the district. Each level is dependent on participation in the previous level, as outlined below.

Level #1: Workshop for Teachers
A NWP Teacher Consultant presents a 90-minute workshop Writing OUR Families: Celebrating and Building the Home-School-Literacy Connection for the teachers in a school or district.

Level #2: Workshop and Consultation
Includes the above workshop and a two-hour meeting between a NWP Teacher Consultant and two-three teachers from the school/district where the workshop was held

The purpose of the consultation is to help teacher leaders outline and structure their own program.

Additional hours available

Level #3: Workshop, Consultation, and Co-facilitation
Includes the services in Levels #1 and #2, and the NWP Teacher Consultants attend the Family Literacy Event and co-facilitate with teacher leaders.

For questions, information on pricing, and/or to schedule a Writing OUR Families workshop for your district, please contact Maggie Devine, Co-Director of External Relations of the National Writing Project at Rutgers University at zenpug19@aol.com