Tuition and Fees

• Tuition and fees will be set in July
• On-campus courses: approximately $1,775
• Out-of-state residents higher

For more information please call 610-436-2202 or e-mail Mary Buckelew or Ann Mascherino.

 

Teacher as Writer, K-12 (PWP 502-01)

Location: PAWLP Classroom, 210 E. Rosedale Avenue, West Chester
Dates: Thursdays, September 1 - December 15
Time: Thursdays, 4:25-7:10 p.m.
Description: John Steinbeck had this to say about writing: "I have written a great many stories and I still don't know how to go about it except to write and take my chances." Teacher as Writer provides participants with the time and space for writing, the time to take chances, the time to write familiar stories, unknown stories, to write in genres never tried, to take risks never imagined in order to become the best teachers of writing possible. Spend time immersed in reading, writing, conferring, revising, editing, publication, and thoughtful discussions of classroom practice in light of your own writing successes and struggles. Join a community of writers in Teacher as Writer, and explore your own writing - both fiction and non-fiction - and classroom practice in a comfortable and relaxed workshop atmosphere.

Teach Shift: Passion-Driven Teaching for the 21st Century (PWP 599-01)

Location: PAWLP Classroom, 210 E. Rosedale Avenue, West Chester
Dates: Mondays, August 29 - December 12
Time: 4:25 - 7:10 p.m.
Description: A generation has passed since the home computer met the Internet. In their pockets and at their fingertips, students and teachers have powerful devices that connect us to each other and to the world. While we focus much of our energy on learning what we can do for our students in this brave new world, it may be time to discover what we need to do for ourselves. Every day, we inspire a sense of wonder, curiosity, and passion for learning in our students. But as teachers, how do we nurture our own sense of wonder, curiosity, and passion? How do we shift our thinking about what it means to be a teacher—no, a teacher-professional—in the 21st century?

During this course, we’ll unpack what it means to be a teacher today and how to be a dynamic teacher for tomorrow. We’ll flip the traditional model of professional development upside down by exploring the ways in which teachers can drive their own growth. Topics studied will include, but are not limited to: growing our professional learning communities (PLCs); practicing the art of classroom inquiry and action research; identifying our core strengths as teachers to push us toward growth; reading the latest research on topics such as creativity, innovation, collaboration, advocacy, and teacher-leadership; and creating a concrete plan to engage, learn, support, and measure our short and long-term practices.

Teachers taking this course will leave with:

• A statement of belief about teaching.

• A digital professional portfolio documenting reflection and growth; samples of student work; and a living record of the conditions for learning in their classroom.

• A flexible and adaptable framework for professional development (a written plan) to take back to their schools and districts.

 

Nonfiction in the Writing/Reading Classroom, K - 8 (PWP 599-02)

Location: PAWLP Classroom, 210 E. Rosedale Avenue, West Chester
Dates/Times: Wednesdays: September 21, 28, October 5, 12, 26, November 2, 9, 30, 4:45 - 7:45 p.m.
Two weekends: Friday, October 7, 4:45 - 7:45 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, October 8 and 9, 8:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, November 12, 8:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Description: Do you think it is impossible to teach your students to love nonfiction? Look no further! Your students can learn to love nonfiction. In this course, you will learn how to choose quality nonfiction for your classroom library, integrate reading strategy instruction into the content areas, implement interactive ways to respond to nonfiction, develop vocabulary for all students, and use nonfiction as models for research and writing - all with your students in mind.

“Not only have my students learned a variety of ways to love nonfiction, but I have too! My enthusiasm for nonfiction has created a positive energy for this once dreaded genre.”

Strategies for Teaching Writing (PWP 503-01)

Location: Perkiomen Valley School District
Dates: Thursdays, September 8,15, 22, October 6,13, 20, November 3, 10, December 1, 8
Time: 4:00 - 7:30 p.m.

 

Tuition and Fees

3 Graduate Credits from West Chester University

• On-campus courses: $1,694.34
• Off-campus course: $1,581.90
• Out-of-state residents higher

Registration must be received at least two weeks prior to course start date.
If you are not enrolled in a Master's Degree program at West Chester University, click here to learn how to enroll as a nondegree student.

For more information please call 610-436-2202 or e-mail Ann Mascherino.

Strategies for Teaching Literature (PWP 520-01)

Location: PAWLP Classroom, 210 E. Rosedale Avenue, West Chester
Dates: Tuesdays, January 19 - May 3, 2016 (No class March 8)
Time: 5:00 - 7:45 p.m.
Description: The experience of reading literature is central to designing experiences for teaching literature. To this end, teachers will explore and discuss a variety of current and canonical literature and examine pertinent theory and pedagogy in light of these texts and their own teaching. Additionally, teachers will experiment with enhancing student engagement and comprehension through before, during, and after reading strategies as well as investigate multi-media approaches to teaching literature. In this course, participants will also explore their own processes as readers and writers, share lessons in literary elements, apply PA Common Core Standards and Assessments to curriculum, and design and experience writing activities about and inspired by literature.

Six Traits Writing Seminar, K - 12 (PWP 513-01)

Location: South Elementary School, Perkiomen Valley School District (open to teachers from surrounding schools)
Dates: Thursdays, January 14 and 21, February 4 and 11, March 10 and 24, April 7 and 14, May 5, 2016
Time: 4:00 - 7:30 p.m.
plus Saturday, March 19, 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. at West Chester Univesity Graduate Center
Description: This Six Traits Seminar is an advanced course for teachers K - 12 who have experience working with the traits. The seminar will focus on exploration of and implementation of formative and summative assessments, creation of rubrics, collaborative scoring, use of nonfiction mentor texts to support the teaching of wriing with the Six Traits. We will foster an inquiry stance as participants continue to write their own pieces and reflect on the implications and applications for classroom practice and creating action plans.

The Writer's Notebook, a Tool to Empower Writers, 2 - 10 (PWP 599-01)

Location: Warwick Elementary School, Central Bucks School District (open to teachers from surrounding schools)
Dates: Wednesdays, January 27, February 3 and 17, March 2, 16, and 30, April 13 and 27, May 4 and 18, 2016
Time: 5:00 - 8:45 p.m.
plus Saturday, March 19, 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. at West Chester University Graduate Center
Description: Take a journey alongside your students with your Writer’s Notebook in hand. This three-credit course will explore how teachers and their students can use their notebooks to live their lives as writers. Teachers will spend time generating ideas, sharing entries, and experiencing the various uses for notebooks. They will also delve into the most difficult part of utilizing a writer’s notebook - revisiting “seed ideas” planted in the notebook and growing them into drafts. This course is offered throughout the school year so that teachers can take strategies and their own Writer's Notebooks immediately back to their classrooms to use with their students.
• Discover how the Writer’s Notebook is a way into teaching writing.
• Examine strategies that unlock the writers within the classroom.
• Use children’s literature to spark Writer’s Notebook entries.
• Use the Writer’s Notebook throughout a unit of study.
• Use craft techniques to improve student writing.
• Develop a seed idea from the notebook into a piece of writing.

 

 

 

Tuition and fees for 3-credit course: $1,575
Tuition and fees for 1-credit course: $525
Please register at least two weeks before the class begins.
If you are not enrolled in a Master's Degree program at West Chester University, click here to learn how to enroll as a nondegree student.

Summer Course Brochure

Writing and Children's Literature: Creating Successful Writers with Mentor Texts, K - 8 (PWP 513-30)

Location: Graduate Center, 1160 McDermott Drive, West Chester
Dates: June 27 - July 1
Time: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Description: Welcome to the world of picture books – hundreds of texts in one room, one course for you to examine and enjoy. The course facilitators share their love of children’s literature and passion for writing in a relaxed, highly motivating setting. Learn how to connect story elements and literary devices to specific activities, use scaffolds to develop students’ writing, and create strategic mini-lessons that link rich literature to the teaching of writing. Expand your knowledge of mentor texts for models of exemplary writing and reader-response activities designed for various purposes, audiences, and genres. Opportunities to meet Common Core Standards for reading, writing, speaking, and listening wherever applicable.

Nonfiction Texts: Reading to Analyze and Writing to Explore in the Age of Common Core, 2 – 8 (PWP 599-30)

Location: Graduate Center, 1160 McDermott Drive, West Chester
Dates: July 5 - 8 and July 11
Time: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Description: The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) stress the importance of higher-level thinking skills needed for reading and writing nonfiction texts. The CCSS will be addressed throughout the course. Strategies for deeper thinking about topics that students encounter in their lives will be provided. Participants will engage in nonfiction texts as they learn what readers and writers of nonfiction do - sort, categorize, synthesize, and elaborate the information. Reading to analyze and writing to explore one's understanding about a topic/subject will be the focus of this course.

Digital Writing, 5 – 12 (PWP 508-30)

Location: Graduate Center, 1160 McDermott Drive, West Chester
Dates: July 11 - 15
Time: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Description: With the increasing number of technology tools available for students, teachers, and classrooms today, technology can be both blessing and curse. On the one hand, there have never been as many widely available tools to help students become better writers, readers, and thinkers. However, this abundance of tools can also leave teachers and students overwhelmed with the possibilities: how can we know what tool is the right one for our classrooms? In this course, participants will consider the ways in which they can blend pedagogy, content, and technology tools to amplify research-based best practices in reading, writing, and speaking in the classroom.

Strategies for Teaching Writing, 4 - 12 (PWP 503-30)

Location: Graduate Center, 1160 McDermott Drive, West Chester
Dates: July 18 - 22
Time: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Description: Do you want to learn new, fresh, practical strategies for teaching writing? You are invited to spend a week participating in writing activities, exploring your own writing style, and sharing strategies for writing instruction with your peers. In this course, you will experience community building, pre-writing techniques, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing activities which you can take directly into your classroom for your students to experience. You will also work with a response group to polish your writing and to take on the role of student as writer-teacher.

Grammar Matters, 4 - 12 (PWP 503-30)

Location: Graduate Center, 1160 McDermott Drive, West Chester
Dates: July 25 - 29
Time: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Description: Does the word "grammar" instill fear in the hearts of your students? Do you have nightmares of grammar drills from the Language Arts classes of your youth? Would you like to be more confident in your own knowledge of grammar, usage, and mechanics? This course will help you to become more comfortable and confident in grammar instruction. You will have the opportunity to design lessons that embed the teaching of grammar into the writing process. You will learn where to find answers to more obscure questions about the rules of the English language as well as create and contribute to an online reference library of rules. In addition, you will get experience in providing the "hooks" that will help your students learn necessary grammar skills essential to the Common Core Standards.

Literacy in Bloom: Botanical Inspirations for Reading, Writing and Learning, K – 12 (PWP 599-31)

Location: Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square
Dates: July 18 - 22
Time: 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Description: Spend five days at beautiful Longwood Gardens. Engage in literacy activities inspired by the natural surroundings, participate in behind-the-scenes tours by Longwood Gardens professional staff, research a topic of personal interest, and collaborate with other teachers to create nature-inspired learning experiences for your students.

Nature as Inspiration for Reading and Writing: Partnering with Children at Longwood, K - 8 (PWP 599-32)

Location: Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square
Dates: July 26 - 27
Time: 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Description: This one-credit course is specifically designed for teachers of students in grades K - 8. Course participants will spend their mornings alongside students as they explore the inspiring surroundings at Longwood Gardens while using these experiences as a springboard for reading and writing. Afternoons will include an opportunity to debrief the morning sessions, examine other models/resources for place-based education in similar settings, and further explore the potential LWG and other nature sites hold for students. This course is limited to 5 participants.

Did you know that the Institutes and many of PAWLP's courses apply to the innovative Master of Arts degree in Writing, Teaching, and Criticism?

Developed with Language Arts and Secondary English teachers in mind, this flexible, year-round, professionally oriented program allows students to explore three areas of study in English - rhetoric and composition, pedagogy, and literary studies. The 36 hour program brings together theory and classroom practices in writing and rhetoric, secondary English teaching, and the interpretation of literature and other cultural discourses. The program welcomes students with an interest in exploring the way language, teaching and literature intersect.

The program:

• Strengthens critical reading, writing, and research skills
• Places special emphasis on the implications and applications for teaching
• Offers specialized study in issues of cultural and classroom diversity
• Enhances knowledge of literature and culture
• Focuses on how writing, literary studies, and teaching intersect

In addition to the required Teacher as Writer course taught by PAWLP Director Mary Buckelew, up to four other PWP courses may apply to the twelve-course requirement of the degree.

To enroll, contact the Office of Graduate Studies at 610-436-2943.

For further information, contact Mary Buckelew at the PAWLP office, 610-436-2202. Or e-mail MBuckelew@wcupa.edu.

Earn a PAWLP Certificate!

A Certificate in Writing Instruction is issued by the PA Writing & Literature Project for successful completion of 15 graduate credits of course work in writing instruction through PAWLP/West Chester University. Successful completion of the six-credit Invitational Institute must be included in the 15 credits.

A Certificate in Instructional Strategies for Teaching Writing and Literature may be earned through the successful completion of 15 graduate credits of course work in a combination of writing and literature courses. Successful completion of the six-credit Invitational Institute must be included in the 15 credits.

Holders of the Certificate in Writing Instruction may complete an additional 9 credits, chosen from the following courses, to earn the joint certificate: PWP 510, 512, 513, 520, 521, 522, and 599 under advisement.

For more information contact the PAWLP Office at 610-436-2202 or e-mail Mary Buckelew at MBuckelew@wcupa.edu.