Writing Instruction, K-12: Essential Practices to Increase Motivation, Stamina, and Fluency for All Students, King, Summer 2025

Course Number:	EDX 5710 S75
Instructor:	Laura King, M.A.
Location:	Online using Google Suite. Synchronous online meetings plus asynchronous independent work.
Dates and Times:	Jul 07 - Aug 15, 2025. Times: Six 2-hour sessions (weekly); Times are flexible with morning, afternoon, and evening options (Calendar sign-up will be built to match student availability) Required Kick-off course orientation session - July 7, 2025: 6:30-7:30 pm
Credits:	3 Graduate Credits
Tuition:	$1,195

Course Description

This course focuses on high leverage instructional practices that meet the needs of ALL student writers - so needed in post-covid classrooms. Participants will first learn about the complex nature of writing development and its relationship to students’ overall background knowledge. Then, the course will present specific instructional practices that respond to students’ needs: (1) responsive daily routines aimed at stamina/fluency; (2) structured literacy practices, sequenced and explicit, that address gaps in both content knowledge and skills; (3) ways to encourage sentence development, academic vocabulary, and idea development across content areas; and (4) relevant and purposeful activities and assignments designed to motivate and engage reluctant writers. Methods of differentiation will be woven throughout the course.

Audience: General Educators; Special Educators, Interventionists, Specialists & Administrators, K-12 with a Bachelor's Degree

Course Goals & Objectives

Course Goals:

Recognize key features of student writing/development that inform your instruction.
Describe daily routines that build a community of readers and writers in your classroom/school.
Recognize components of explicit writing instruction (aligns with structured literacy practices).
Identify features of sentences and how they convey meaning.
Describe the writing process, with a focus on planning and revising.
Identify key design components of project-based writing - its ability to motivate students via purposeful writing, and its use across content areas.

Course Objectives

By end of course, Students will be able to -

Articulate ways to build a community of writers through daily writing routines.
Write or revise a lesson plan, making it more explicit and targeted to match learners’ needs.
Draft a sequenced plan for teaching sentence-building (and paragraph-building) across the year at your grade level.
Describe writing performance tasks to enhance a book study or current unit/theme (“writing across the curriculum”). Illustrate your current understanding of how to embed explicit skills instruction, work through the writing process, and motivate students with a purposeful task.
Draft (or revise) an intentional year-long plan for writing instruction for your grade level, incorporating ideas from this course.

Course Schedule

Participants will receive an intro email mid-June, which will have a link to the intro kick-off session on July 7. A Sign-up calendar will be built for weekly online sessions

Weeks of -

Prior to July 7 (pre-assessment)

WK 1 July 7-11 (July 7 kick-off)

WK 2 July 14-18

WK 3 July 21-25

WK 4 July 28-Aug 1

WK 5 Aug 4-8

WK 6 Aug 11-15

By August 15 (all work/reflection)

Asynchronous module

independent reading, activities, assignments

(shared at kick-off)

These modules are completed independently; Students should plan on approximately 5 hrs weekly, with some additional time for pre-course and post-course reflections.

Synchronous/Online Session

After kick-off session, students will use sign up calendar and attend at least one 2-hour session (calendar will be built based on students’ availability) per week

These virtual sessions will both highlight key content and present additional concepts to students. There will also be online discussion/engagement opportunities.

Instructor

Laura King, M.A., has been a teacher of children and adults since 1994. She was a Vermont Writing Project Fellow in 1996 and achieved National Board Certification in 2005. Staying current with research- and evidence-based literacy practices is a cornerstone of her instruction, as she believes knowledgeable teachers are the most important contribution to a child’s education. Currently she is a Facilitator of Teaching and Learning for RNESU.

Required Texts

Required Texts are not included in the course tuition.

The Writing Revolution 2.0: A Guide to Advancing Thinking Through Writing in All Subjects and Grades, by Judith Hochman and Natalie Wexler. Jossey-Bass, 2024. ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1394182031 : ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1394182039. 2024.

(Widely available; to order from publisher - https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+Writing+Revolution+2.0%3A+A+Guide+to+Advancing+Thinking+Through+Writing+in+All+Subjects+and+Grades-p-9781394182053)

For additional course information

Laura King

802-353-1029

For additional registration information

Center for Schools Team

(802) 468-1325