It has been a common practice of content area teachers to exclusively emphasize content information with little integration of reading and writing strategies into their curriculum. Many content area teachers regard writing and reading strategies as separate and isolated practices that do not play a role in their teaching practices. We know through research that writing is integral to the thinking process and is a way to cement learning of concepts.

Take Expository Reading and Writing by Storm!™ has been developed to provide content teachers with the information and tools they need to teach students to write expository compositions and to increase reading comprehension in their content areas. “Writing to learn” is purposely targeted throughout the program. With the secondary teachers in minds, the lessons are filled with scaffolds and strategies that will facilitate learning for students. More importantly, it compliments and dove-tails with the Foundations training. When content area teachers and language arts teachers simultaneously implement Write Up A Storm!®, a support system for both of the curricular domains emerges resulting in added support for students in writing.

The book is a compilation of teaching strategies and activities that content area teachers can use to ensure students are indeed internalizing content information, improving their reading skills so that subject matter is more comprehensible, and improving their expository writing skills. These strategies and activities can be used in whole class, group, partner, or individual settings. The book also includes strategies recommended by The Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Alliance for Excellent Education recommended in Reading Next: A Vision for Action and Research in Middle and High School Literacy. Attendees are provided with a “Write Up A Storm!® - Take Expository Reading and Writing by Storm!” ™ teacher’s manual.

Duration: 6 Hours