The Reading Initiative

An outgrowth of the Western Massachusetts Writing Project
at The University of Massachusetts Amherst


"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug." -- Mark Twain


The Reading Initiative Seed Site Grant that Western Massachusetts Writing Project received from National Writing Project for the 2004-2005 school year is being used to work with teachers from our largest urban districts -- Springfield and Holyoke -- to develop an inquiry group in which teachers in grades 4-12, plus adult educators, meet to share best practices in the teaching of reading informational texts across the curriculum. In addition to sharing best practices, we complete and share literature reviews of recent texts on teaching the reading of informational texts across the curriculum and have created an annotated bibliography of resources to share on the website and at conferences.

For more information about the Reading Initiative, contact Dawn or Kristen via email

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