Westerly High School Writing Lab: Creating a Writing Culture

Anne Barnhart, English TeacherCarmela Sammataro, Dean of Students

Developing a Culture of Writing

What does writing look like in…

Writing Across the Curriculum

What does instruction look like in a world of…

Commonality in Assessment & Instruction

Not Your Typical Writing Lab

DATA-driven decision

School-wide COMMON assessments

Cross-discipline OWNERSHIP of writing

Genesis of WL

WHS Writing Lab Philosophy

➢ Request WL educator to collaborate for writing-instruction-geared task

How does it work? Interdisciplinary Professional Development

crafting prompts &

instructions

how to userubrics to assess

sharing best

practices

Collaboration

➢ WL educator models lesson for peer educator

How does it work?Interdisciplinary Professional Development

Cross-

Curricular

➢ Students access WL educator for short

term intervention

by teacher by RtI request

How does it work?Interdisciplinary Professional Development

Confidence &

Competence

Shifting to Educators & Learners

Evolving Educators

Evolving Learners

I like the writing lab because all the teachers in the lab are dedicated to helping me and making me a better

writer. If I’m having trouble, someone will sit with me until I understand it.

Writing lab has helped me in all my classes —

not just English.

My writing is more

structured and I actually

understand why.

Writing lab has really helped me learn to integrate quotations more

smoothly and purposefully.Writing lab gave me many tips and more “big

kid” words.

Lab as a Place for. . .

❖ Experimentation ❖ Modeling & Observation❖ Research ❖ Collaboration ❖ Sharing❖ Play

Reflection