Graphic novels are a rich, complex resource that can enhance your classroom and engage your students! Learn about the different types of graphic texts, and develop an artist’s eye for interpreting their visual elements. Practice applying different cognitive strategies to this unique combination of text and art. Explore this unique format while being introduced to a variety of titles, artists, and writers that will have an impact on your students.

Alan Anderson teaches drawing, painting, sculpture, photography and art history at Mapleton Jr. High school. He is currently working on writing and illustrating a graphic novel series.

Heather Price is the teacher librarian at Skyridge High School, after working as a librarian at both the elementary and junior high levels. Working in the library lets her interact with students, books, and technology–all of the things she loves!

Karen Brown loved working in the Provo School District for 34 years—as an English teacher at Provo High School, as the district literacy specialist, and as the principal at Provo High. She currently teaches reading and pedagogy classes in the English Ed program at BYU.

Off topic. 

Lacks focus or central idea. 

Did not address the entire prompt. 

If this is the kind of feedback your students receive on their writing, they may benefit from learning how to use a Do-What Chart. Likewise, you as an educator might discover a few ways the Do-What Chart can help improve your prompt writing skills!

Chris Thompson teaches at Spanish Fork Junior High. During her seventeen years at the schoolshe has taught 7th and 8th Grade English, Leadership, and ESL. She became a Fellow of the Central Utah Writing Project in 2011 and has been an Associate Director of CUWP since 2015. The past four years she’s had the opportunity to serve as a Teacher Consultant for the Pathway Project to Academic Success, sponsored by NWP and UCI Writing Project.

Joseph Wiederhold teaches at Provo High School. He has taught 7th-12th grade English, Yearbook, AP Language and Composition, and Creative Writing. He has served as an Associate Director of CUWP since 2015. The past four years he has had the opportunity to serve as a Teacher Consultant for the Pathway Project to Academic Success, sponsored by NWP and UCI Writing Project.

Lead students through organic use of cognitive strategies to solve the mystery of what happened the night before by investigating clues left in the trash. In this interactive session, teachers will do the detective work of reconstructing the series of events from discarded clues. Then, learn how to make natural thinking processes visible to students by guiding them through metacognitive reflection of their detective work.

Chris Thompson teaches at Spanish Fork Junior High. During her seventeen years at the schoolshe has taught 7th and 8th Grade English, Leadership, and ESL. She became a Fellow of the Central Utah Writing Project in 2011 and has been an Associate Director of CUWP since 2015. The past four years she’s had the opportunity to serve as a Teacher Consultant for the Pathway Project to Academic Success, sponsored by NWP and UCI Writing Project.

Joseph Wiederhold teaches at Provo High School. He has taught 7th-12th grade English, Yearbook, AP Language and Composition, and Creative Writing. He has served as an Associate Director of CUWP since 2015. The past four years he has had the opportunity to serve as a Teacher Consultant for the Pathway Project to Academic Success, sponsored by NWP and UCI Writing Project.

Are you tired of teaching grammar the old-fashioned way? Do your students cry at the thought of compound sentences? In this interactive presentation, two ELA teachers will lead participants in sentence combining activities that can immediately be implemented in the classroom. Come learn how to teach writing for effectiveness, not correctness, and help your students learn the creative power of words.

Jade Weinheimer is in her 11th year of teaching middle school ELA and Chinese. She currently teaches at Mountain Creek Middle School. She is a 2017 Central Utah Writing Project fellow, an experienced presenter, and has published in the Utah English Journal. Jade loves to travel, dance, and sing karaoke.

Megan Russell teaches 10th grade ELA at Payson High School, and is in her 6th year of teaching. She is trained in the Pathways program and is a 2020 Central Utah Writing Project fellow. She is working on her first novel while consuming large amounts of reality TV. 

Pick up your brush and paint with us. In this session, we will explore the brushstrokes of Harry Noden’s Image Grammar and practice ways to take student writing from bland telling to vibrant showing. We will discuss author’s craft as a way to help students see themselves as writers trying to help their readers visualize and interpret their words. Participants will leave with a way to easily apply specific grammar concepts in the classroom and in connection with their students’ writing.

Deon Youd teaches English 11, AP English Language, and English 1010 at Spanish Fork High School. Deon is a fellow of the Central Utah Writing Project and Pathways trained. She loves reading historical fiction, watching her nieces play softball, and eating a warm chocolate chip cookie. 

Rachel Billings teaches English 1010/2010 and English 12 at Skyridge High School. Rachel is a fellow of the Central Utah Writing Project. She is currently pursuing a PhD in literacy education through Utah State University while also teaching full-time and being a wife and mother.

Do your students groan when you mention the word “revision”? Who hates revision more – you or your students? In this interactive session, you will learn concrete, easy, and engaging ways to make revision a regular and effective writing habit. Using principles from Deborah Dean and Kelly Gallagher – such as DRAFT and RADAR – you will walk away from this session with tools and options for your students to make Revision Decisions with confidence. 

Sara Strachan has taught 7th grade reading and language arts for 14 years and currently teaches at Mountain Creek Middle School. She is a 2012 Wasatch Range Writing Project fellow, has presented at UCTE, and has published in the Utah English Journal. She loves hiking, reading books, and any kind of chocolate.

Have you ever wondered how to get your students to be more analytical during the writing process? When students are in the midst of writing, they often struggle to see strengths and weaknesses in their own work. Having a color coded visual representation of their writing helps students know what they do well and where they can improve. This interactive session will focus on Color Coding–a powerful tool to aid student writing, analysis, and revision.

Ashley Frey has previously taught at a Utah high school, and has just finished teaching 8th grade at Spanish Fork Junior High, Nebo School District. She is currently teaching 9th grade.

 Melissa Heaton has taught for 23 years and currently teaches 8th grade English at Mapleton Jr. High School in Nebo School District. Recently, Melissa organized the school’s writers club. She enjoys spending time with all of her student writers.

As teachers of reading, we want our students to use their reading skills as a window to view the myriad of possibilities the world has to offer, and a place to reflect on their own place in it.  We rely on cognitive strategies to improve student comprehension, aid in analysis, and encourage the growth of empathy.  But are we utilizing all the strategies at our disposal?  

In this workshop, teachers will explore cognitive strategies that support students in their journey to become masterful readers of text.  Teachers will discover ways to help students when they struggle grasping and analyzing the meanings and structures in texts or understanding different points of view.  Teachers can encourage habits of mind that help students as they wrestle with these unique aspects of reading.

Rillene R. E. Nielsen began her teaching career later in life.  Don’t let the gray hair fool you!  Her children gave them to her, not her students.  Now in her fifteenth year at Spanish Fork Junior High, Rillene has taught English 7, English 9 and Freshman Honors ELA, Creative Writing, and Film as Literature.  She is a fellow at the Central Utah Writing Project.

 Georgina Dibble is in her seventh year of teaching 7th and 8th grade English and Yearbook at Juab Junior High. She is a CUWP fellow and a current graduate student at Johns Hopkins University. When she’s not teaching she enjoys reading, vacationing, and going to concerts.

Do your students stare at a blank screen during your writing time?  In this session, presenters will identify ways to help students apply cognitive strategies to their writing. The session will focus on two cognitive strategies: planning and goal setting and forming interpretation. Participants will learn to teach the cognitive strategies in student friendly ways to apply to the writing process. 

Susan Anderson currently teaches 9th grade English at Spanish Fork Jr. Her 17 years of experience spreads between the grades of 6-12. 9th grade is her favorite because it has the best literature!

Kimberly Stewart currently teaches 7th grade Language Arts and Reading at Mountain Creek Middle. She has taught for 15 years- always in the middle grade level. She loves all things middle school, especially middle grade books.