More About Teachers & Writers Collaborative
About Teachers & Writers
MISSION Teachers & Writers Collaborative (T&W) seeks to educate the imagination by offering innovative creative writing programs for students and…
Workshops & Professional Development
Teachers & Writers Collaborative (T&W) provides school-based and after-school writing programs led by professional writers for K-12 students, professional development…
NY Poetry Out Loud
What is Poetry Out Loud? Poetry Out Loud (POL), an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts and the…
Resources
Books T&W has published resources about the teaching of creative writing for more nearly 50 years. With more…
The Advanced Class
Memoir Writing at Frasier Meadows Retirement Community by Naomi Rachel Telling our stories is good for our brains and it can also be a great deal of fun and help build community. We all have great stories to share and only need help getting started. Last year, a friend in Canada told me about the…
The Character Sketch
This is one of three lesson plans that accompany the essay The Advanced Class. By Naomi Rachel The Character Sketch assignment was very popular among my students at the Frasier Meadows Retirement Community in Boulder, Co., because we first created an imaginary character together. The point of that exercise was for students to realize how…
The Place-Map Assignment
This is is one of three lesson plans that accompany the essay The Advanced Class. By Naomi Rachel For this assignment with a writing class for older adults at Frasier Meadows Retirement Community in Boulder, Colorado, I brought in large sheets of paper and lots of pens and crayons. We are never too old to…
The Photography Assignment
This is one of three lesson plans that accompany the essay The Advanced Class. by Naomi Rachel I have always used photographs in writing classes. It seems obvious that writing about a photo you selected with a personal emotional connection would be a great inspiration. But I found that writing about a random photo with…
Reading Texts as a Prelude to Analysis
by Jason DeHart As a teacher in an undergraduate composition course for incoming freshmen, one of the great joys I have experienced is setting the stage for analytical writing with a variety of reading experiences. In fact, I have discovered a new-found love for analysis by teaching composition in this way. This process usually begins…
In The Borough of Poetry
Introduction Erika Luckert & Matthew Thompson Writers-in-Residence, February 2019 We began this year’s program with a poem by Brooklyn-born poet Martin Espada called “The Republic of Poetry,” where Espada imagines a world in which poetry is everywhere. The title for this year’s anthology was inspired by Espada’s poem, and by the enormous wealth of poetry…
A Dramatic reVISION: Reviving Revision through Storytelling and Poetry
The following is an excerpt from Spellbound: The Art of Teaching Poetry, a new book from Teachers & Writers Collaborative. Edited by Matthew Burgess, Spellbound offers a range of exciting ideas to inspire students of all ages to explore their potential as writers and creators.
Finding Freedom: An Every Day Mood
Student writing from John Jay High School of Law 10th Grade Students Amina Henry, Writer-in-Residence, Spring 2019 Introduction It’s been a pleasure to work with students at John Jay High School of Law. For this residency we had a thematic focus on oppression and liberation, exploring the voices of those who have been oppressed while…
Teachers as Poets: Helping Educators Develop Personal Literary Practices
by Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor As a professor of language and literacy education as well as a poet, it has long been my goal to train educators to be teaching artists in the classroom, able to engage in creative and playful approaches to curriculum and instruction in languages, literatures, and creative writing. In 2017 I had the…
Quality, Not Quantity: Writing Quintillas in Middle School Spanish
by Sydney Lumbreras Clifton Teaching world languages in middle school is a job that requires focus, energy, and creativity. Over the last five years of learning how to be an educator, I have used my creative mind in ways I never would have imagined as a young artist. That being said, the scope of creativity…