  
NNWP
College of Education
Mailstop 288
Univ. of Nevada-Reno
Reno, Nevada 89557
Phone: 775-784-1161
Fax: 775-784-4758
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The Writing Traits: Our 6-Trait Projects
 In Northern Nevada, our Writing Project was providing 6-trait inservices and workshops long before the 6 writing traits became the language of our state writing assessment. Our NNWP approach to the traits has always been to consider traits as a classroom language for writing instruction, not because it's the language used to assess the test, but because a writing classroom needs to have a language with which to talk about the writing that's being done.
Dena Harrison (pictured at right with one of her favorite 6-trait mentors, Ruth Culham) is our Northern Nevada Writing Project's 6 Trait Coordinator. She took the NNWP Summer Institute in 2001. Dena served as a Head Reader for the State of Nevada's writing exams, but she left that position in 2006 to head one of the NNWP's formative 6 trait data teams, providing data to fifth grade teachers helping their students as they prepare for the January writing test. Dena teaches 7th and 8th graders at Shaw Middle School in Sparks, Nevada, and she hosts her own website for middle school teachers that can be accessed by clicking here.
Our 6 Trait Initiatives |
The Going Deep with 6 Trait Language Guide
In January 2006, we published a new print resource we called the Goin g Deep with 6 Trait Language Guide. Its big idea: teaching students to use trait language meaningfully so that they know how to talk about what makes quality writing. The guide quickly became our most popular print resource to date; we have put over 10,000 copies in the hands of teachers everywhere.
Teachers using our print guide were inspired to re-evaluate the ways they presented traits to their students, and the discoveries they shared with us have launched new projects here at the NNWP.
You can find out how to order a classroom copy of this resource by clicking here. |
The 6-Trait Homepage at WritingFix
We knew it would happen! As soon as we published the Going Deep with 6 Trait Language Guide and started sha ring it at our inservice courses and 6-trait workshops, we knew teachers would be inspired to create new and original tools to help their students learn to use 6 trait language. And so...we built the 6-Trait Homepage at WritingFix.
Each time we offer a class in Northern Nevada that uses the guide, we invite teachers to submit original trait tools they create with us. Those submissions find their way to WritingFix's 6-Trait Homepage.
Visit the 6-Trait Homepage at WritingFix right now, and you'll find not only links to lessons and access to each trait's own homepage, but you'll also gain access to our 6-trait posters, 6-trait songs, and 6-trait metaphors.
Click here to check out this always-growing page of new ideas for classrooms everywhere. |
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The NNWP's Longest Running Inservice Class
 For over 15 years, we've offered our "Building Student Writers: Trait by Trait Class" to the teachers of Northern Nevada. This class's resources can be accessed at WritingFix's 6 Traits Homepage.
Half of this course is dedicated to exploring unique ways to bring trait language to students; NNWP Teacher Consultants who use the traits well come and present 90-minute demonstration lessons to participants.
The second half of this course focuses on giving participants the ability to score their own students' samples using the rubrics used by the state on the annual writing assessment. Our goal in providing this service is to help teachers gather formative data about their student writers so they can adjust their teaching to meet their students' needs.
Visit our Fall Inservice page or our Spring Inservice page to find out when we are offering this workshop next. |
Practice Prompts for the State Writing Test
New for 2008-09! Two former Head Readers from the Northern Nevada Writing Project--Kay Henjum and Dena Harrison--and one current Head Reader--Carol Harriman--spent their summers collaborating to create a new resource for fifth grade teachers preparing to take the state writing assessment.
We now proudly feature three practice prompts for fifth graders that we hope teachers will use in the Fall before they take the January test. Each practice prompt comes with resources designed to help students understand the test-takng process better, but more importantly each practice prompt now comes with a set of annotated and scored student samples from Nevada fifth graders. We provide these samples for two purposes: 1) to help teachers independently score their own practice prompts; and 2) to encourage the teachers to use the scored samples as a teaching tool with their students.
Kay, Dena, and Carol are currently working on creating a set of annotated samples for 4th, 7th and 8th grade too. Click here to access this new resource.
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Lesson-Building Workshops:
Picture Books as "Mentor Text"
 NNWP Teacher Consultant Kim Polson coordinates a one-credit lesson building workshop each Spring.
Five NNWP Consultants present demonstration writing lessons that were inspired by picture books and that are featured at WritingFix's Picture Book Lesson Page.
At the final session of this class, each teacher participant proposes a new lesson that we might post on-line, and half a dozen of the best proposals are posted as new lessons at WritingFix.
Visit our Fall Inservice page or our Spring Inservice page to find out when we are offering this workshop next. |
Lesson-Building Workshops:
Literature Excerpts as "Mentor Text"
 NNWP Teacher Consultant Tamara Turnbeaugh coordinates a one-credit lesson building workshop each Fall.
Five NNWP Consultants present demonstration writing lessons that were inspired by excerpts from literature and poetry and that are featured at WritingFix's Literature-Inspired Lesson Page.
At the final session of this class, each teacher participant proposes a new lesson that we might post on-line, and half a dozen of the best proposals are posted as new lessons at WritingFix.
Visit our Fall Inservice page or our Spring Inservice page to find out when we are offering this workshop next. |
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Lesson-Building Workshops:
Chapter Book Excerpts as "Mentor Text"
 NNWP Teacher Consultant Amie Newberry coordinates a one-credit lesson building workshop each Spring.
Five NNWP Consultants present demonstration writing lessons that were inspired by chapter book excerpts and that are featured at WritingFix's Chapter Book Lesson Page.
At the final session of this class, each teacher participant proposes a new lesson that we might post on-line, and half a dozen of the best proposals are posted as new lessons at WritingFix.
Visit our Fall Inservice page or our Spring Inservice page to find out when we are offering this workshop next. |
Lesson-Building Workshops:
Song Lyrics as "Mentor Text"
 NNWP Teacher Consultant Rob Stone coordinates a one-credit lesson building workshop each Fall.
Five NNWP Consultants present demonstration writing lessons that were inspired by song lyrics and that are featured at WritingFix's iPod-inspired Lessons Page.
At the final session of this class, each teacher participant proposes a new lesson that we might post on-line, and half a dozen of the best proposals are posted as new lessons at WritingFix.
Visit our Fall Inservice page or our Spring Inservice page to find out when we are offering this workshop next.
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Our Writing Lesson of the Month Archive
Missed any of our past featured writing lessons? Click here to access them all.
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Join our Writing Lesson of the Month Network
Join thousands of educators worldwide in receiving a free, high-quality writing lesson through e-mail every month. Click here to join.
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Celebrate our Mentor Text of the Year!
Teachers exploring and sharing how to inspire students from a selected mentor text. Click here to access this resource.
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The
Northern Nevada Writing Project: |
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We're teachers teaching fellow teachers how to use writing as a powerful learning tool in all our classrooms. |
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