NNWP
College of Education
Mailstop 288
Univ. of Nevada-Reno
Reno, Nevada 89557

Phone: 775-784-1161
Fax: 775-784-4758

The Constructed Response Summit

In Nevada, a constructed response item on a district or state test is one where students read a passage of text or examine a graph or math problem, and then provide a short written answer that shows they've comprehended what they've looked at or read.

Between 2005 and 2008, working in partnership with Nevada's Northwest Regional Professional Development Program and Washoe County's PPA & A Department, the NNWP helped host three Constructed Response Summits in Northern Nevada. Elementary and Middle School teams will be invited to attend.

Workshops on teaching students to write effective constructed responses, demo lessons on how to use constructed response as a classroom learning tool, and school team discussions on how constructed response techniques can be shared at individual school sites were highlights of the summit. Click here to view the 2008 summit's one-page flyer.

Two follow-up dates for participants were scheduled, where teachers shared new discoveries they made between meetings and sessions. These teachers' insights and techniques were shared at WritingFix's Constructed Response Homepage, which continues to receive hundreds of hits daily.

The Reading in the Content Areas Guide

What happens when six teachers from different schools with different types of students come together to answer the following question? "What strategies could we share that would help teachers who don't feel they are reading teachers help their students gain literacy skills?"

NNWP TC Kristi Pettengill headed this inquiry group, which started its work in 2005, and the guide they created was first printed in January of 2006. Over 1500 teachers now own copies of this inquiry group's final product, which was designed to inspire its users to think of their own inquiry questions about literacy.

You can explore some of the guide's resources from the Reading in the Content Areas webpage at WritingFix.

You can find out how to order a copy of this print guide by visiting the Northern Nevada Writing Project's Publication Page.

Our New Summarization Webpage

In the summer of 2008, NNWP TC Kelly Rubero joined the Advanced Summer Institute. Her demonstration lesson during her 2007 Summer Institute had been focused on writing summaries with her students, and so she began building a webpage on the same topic at the WritingFix website.

The webpage she has built (and will continue to add to) features resources from her demonstration lesson as well as features from our Reading in the Content Areas Guide and the Writing Across the Curriculum Guide.

Check out this new page of resources for reading and writing teachers by clicking here.

Missed any of our past featured writing lessons? Click here to access them all.

Join thousands of educators worldwide in receiving a free, high-quality writing lesson through e-mail every month. Click here to join.

Teachers exploring and sharing how to inspire students from a selected mentor text. Click here to access this resource.

NNWP's Mission Statement

The Northern Nevada Writing Project is committed to improving student writing by promoting the teaching of writing, recognizing teacher expertise and leadership, building a foundation of research, and encouraging teachers as writers.