Spring 2013

ENGLISH 592R, Reading and Teaching Literary Nonfiction and Informational Texts

 The class will meet on Thursdays, 4:00-6:30 p.m., on the following dates: 1/ 24, 2/7, 2/28, 3/14, 3/28, 4/11, 4/25, 5/9, 5/23, 6/6.  During the intervening weeks, participants will post to a class discussion board, Northampton High School

Among the key instructional demands of the Common Core literacy standards is an increased emphasis on close reading of literary nonfiction and informational texts to build disciplinary knowledge and academic vocabulary and to serve as the basis for analytical writing.  This shift presents new challenges for teachers in all subjects.  Literary nonfiction is one of the most important genres in American literature, but it is often neglected in the English language arts curriculum.  Informational texts are the chief means of transmitting knowledge in most other disciplines, but students get too few opportunities to grapple with high-quality complex texts, learning content instead from textbook digests or teacher lectures. In this course participants will discover the promises and challenges of studying nonfiction first-hand, by reading and discussing classic and contemporary examples of literary nonfiction and informational text (including at least one book-length piece) and writing in a variety of analytical modes.  Participants will learn and practice strategies that they can use to encourage close reading of complex texts and development of academic vocabulary in their classrooms.  They will also create plans for curriculum units focused on literary nonfiction or informational texts. 67.5 Pdps.  3 credit option. This course, if taken for graduate credit, counts as an elective for the Western Massachusetts Writing Project Certificate in the Teaching of Writing but is open to all.  Limit:  16.    

Instructors:  Bruce M. Penniman and Leslie Skantz-Hodgson 

WMWP Registration fee:  $225.   WMWP Registration Deadline:  January 11, 2013
Register here.

Once this fee is paid and you are accepted, if you wish to register for graduate course credit, you would do so with UMass Amherst Continuing and Professional Education at http://www.umassulearn.net.  CPE registration fee is $100 per credit plus $45 registration fee.  NOTE: Only those who have registered with WMWP and been accepted will be authorized to enroll for credit.

WMWP Leadership Team Meetings 

Mondays,  Jan. 23, March 12, May 7, and June 11, 4:15 to 6:00.   Places for the winter and spring meetings:  Jan. 23, Wistariahurst Museum, Holyoke; March 12, Five Colleges Office, Amherst; May 7, Wistariahurst Museum, Holyoke; and June 11, Five Colleges Office, Amherst. 

WMWP Leadership Team meetings-- open to all WMWP Teacher-Consultants--are held for the purpose of reviewing ongoing programs, planning future programs, and discussing issues of importance to teachers.  The March 12 meeting will focus on inquiry into our WMWP Inquiry Theme of the Year, WMWP Approaches to Teaching the Common Core.   TC’s who attend any five of the year’s seven meetings are eligible for 10 pdps