STORYTELL: THE ROUX OF LIFE THE WAY YOU WANT TO SEASON IT. -delmetria millener
"There is no doubt being able to write expository and college essays is an important part of a teen's academic development, but at #TeenWritersProject, we show how creative writing can be used to strengthen the bridge between imagination and communication. We combine literary arts with education to show how writing, for all its purposes, breathes life for those who feel voiceless."
Writing Wednesday Creative Writing Workshops
Writing Workshops. From October to April, our 24-week program combines literary arts and education to boost the reading, writing, social and cultural literacy in teens who attend DFW-area high schools.
Each Wednesday during school or in an after school club, we partner with high school teachers to provide rigorous, engaging and interactive reading and writing workshops using pedagogy and resources that appeal to teachers but captivate teens!
Pedagogy. Students work with Writing Mentors to choose a compassion project that they are interested in, and by the end of our time together, they will have written a poem, speech, play, short story or other prose, an article and advertisement based on the theme of that project! Reading, writing, revising and editing, and inferencing, analysis, discussion, critical thinking, performance and publication are the standards-based skills we apply as a power source to keep high school students thoroughly and thoughtfully engaged.
Performance & Exhibit. At the end of our time together, we host Rough Drafts: Street Side Museum as a display of our literary citizenship. Participating teens collaborate with English, history, art, math and CTE teachers to set up, promote, exhibit and perform poetry, readings and other literary works that they have written during our workshops.
Data. Through data analysis and personal anecdotes from teachers and students, we consistently prove the power of reading and writing in and outside the classroom. Reading and writing is not a trend. It's a lifestyle that affords teens the option to change or improve their personal narratives.
Literary Citizenship. Before working with teens, our Writing Mentors are required to undergo a thorough background check and complete our rigorous training program.
Each Wednesday during school or in an after school club, we partner with high school teachers to provide rigorous, engaging and interactive reading and writing workshops using pedagogy and resources that appeal to teachers but captivate teens!
Pedagogy. Students work with Writing Mentors to choose a compassion project that they are interested in, and by the end of our time together, they will have written a poem, speech, play, short story or other prose, an article and advertisement based on the theme of that project! Reading, writing, revising and editing, and inferencing, analysis, discussion, critical thinking, performance and publication are the standards-based skills we apply as a power source to keep high school students thoroughly and thoughtfully engaged.
Performance & Exhibit. At the end of our time together, we host Rough Drafts: Street Side Museum as a display of our literary citizenship. Participating teens collaborate with English, history, art, math and CTE teachers to set up, promote, exhibit and perform poetry, readings and other literary works that they have written during our workshops.
Data. Through data analysis and personal anecdotes from teachers and students, we consistently prove the power of reading and writing in and outside the classroom. Reading and writing is not a trend. It's a lifestyle that affords teens the option to change or improve their personal narratives.
Literary Citizenship. Before working with teens, our Writing Mentors are required to undergo a thorough background check and complete our rigorous training program.
Literary Citizenship
Students can write.
We help teachers unleash the writer within their students - without the drudgery of test prep drill and kill.
We help teachers unleash the writer within their students - without the drudgery of test prep drill and kill.
We want teachers to be successful in their classrooms! So we are singularly motivated to inspire teenage writers to create thought-provoking compositions and to develop a healthy respect for the craft that unites all disciplines – writing! To help us achieve this essential mission, we create experiences designed to revive the love of writing in high school students. Our three core values (LIT) are the foundation of our culture and our work:
- Literary. We believe that every student should have equal access to quality, classic, modern, contemporary culturally responsive reading and writing resources.
- Inclusive. We advocate for students and teachers in vulnerable populations. We teach the whole child, despite the lifestyle, always and all ways.
- Teacher/Student Collaboration. We support varied perspectives in literature by collaborating with teachers and students around the globe as a best-practice to shape worldviews in all stakeholders.
LitPARTNERS: Professional Learning
Teachers, let's change the narrative about writing in secondary schools!
Teachers, let's change the narrative about writing in secondary schools!
During this training, we partner with teachers who struggle or just want to spiral in more fun, engaging, culturally inclusive teaching methods with what you already do!
We practice: Our Writing Mentors coach your students on a weekly basis. Think literary circles with an end game: the incubator for writers who will be published before they graduate!
We produce: Our mentors immerse your students in the recursive writing process about subjects they want to discuss. Our interactive, skills-based approach targets students in the bubble and alleviates some of teacher workload by serving as their writing lab teachers or writing club facilitator at least once per week.
We publish: Students will publish at least one piece of original work in our ezine, #TeenWritersProject. To further develop student agency and articulate the entrepreneurial nature of writing, your students will also be exposed to self-publishing platforms that offer them the freedom to capitalize on their creative works.
We perform: Each year, #TWP participants will participate in a culminating interdisciplinary showcase where they present and defend their work.
We practice: Our Writing Mentors coach your students on a weekly basis. Think literary circles with an end game: the incubator for writers who will be published before they graduate!
We produce: Our mentors immerse your students in the recursive writing process about subjects they want to discuss. Our interactive, skills-based approach targets students in the bubble and alleviates some of teacher workload by serving as their writing lab teachers or writing club facilitator at least once per week.
We publish: Students will publish at least one piece of original work in our ezine, #TeenWritersProject. To further develop student agency and articulate the entrepreneurial nature of writing, your students will also be exposed to self-publishing platforms that offer them the freedom to capitalize on their creative works.
We perform: Each year, #TWP participants will participate in a culminating interdisciplinary showcase where they present and defend their work.
We are currently scheduling sessions for the 2021 summer school session and the 2021-2022 school year. It is our pleasure to answer any questions you may have to make our transition to your campus a seamless one.
THE LitLOUNGE
A collaborative and engaging space for teachers to support #BrownTeensRead.
A collaborative and engaging space for teachers to support #BrownTeensRead.
Got it? Share it. Need it? Get it! Questions? Ask.
Unadulterated Teacher Support. Plain and simple.
Good readers are great writers! But, high school teens admittedly don’t do enough of either. As a result, many students in vulnerable populations become high school seniors who cannot read or write well or simply hate reading outside of forced classroom reading for a grade!
As a solution, The LitLounge teacher book club connects teachers around the world to support our #BrownTeensRead initiative! Teachers pay monthly or annually to join our book club where we read together and share resources about how to teach culturally responsive texts and other ideas on reading and writing in the high school classroom.
One-hundred percent of all membership dues collected is spent on books that are then donated to a high school classroom with a bookshelf to match! Teachers simply fill out an application to be considered. Winners will receive a box of culturally responsive texts and a book shelf on which to house them. To make sure that the texts support our goal of issuing books that are a reflection of all students and experiences in a classroom, the book selections are curated by publishing house editors and a carefully selected group of teachers.
Join The LitLounge and hang out with us to learn more and support!
Good readers are great writers! But, high school teens admittedly don’t do enough of either. As a result, many students in vulnerable populations become high school seniors who cannot read or write well or simply hate reading outside of forced classroom reading for a grade!
As a solution, The LitLounge teacher book club connects teachers around the world to support our #BrownTeensRead initiative! Teachers pay monthly or annually to join our book club where we read together and share resources about how to teach culturally responsive texts and other ideas on reading and writing in the high school classroom.
One-hundred percent of all membership dues collected is spent on books that are then donated to a high school classroom with a bookshelf to match! Teachers simply fill out an application to be considered. Winners will receive a box of culturally responsive texts and a book shelf on which to house them. To make sure that the texts support our goal of issuing books that are a reflection of all students and experiences in a classroom, the book selections are curated by publishing house editors and a carefully selected group of teachers.
Join The LitLounge and hang out with us to learn more and support!
#BrownTeensRead is a literacy program that promotes reading, writing, social and
cultural awareness in classrooms of teens in vulnerable populations.
cultural awareness in classrooms of teens in vulnerable populations.