Session Descriptions & Materials - Pomona

Many of my credential students and teachers indicate that one of their most serious challenges include the difficulties their students have with comprehension of informational and narrative text. This different form of a “Quickwrite” protocol is designed to fill the “space” between the teachers’ assigning of a reading selection and the students’ effort to read that selection. This “friendly” strategy provides a means for students to read, reinspect and increase transfer of information. The protocol facilities different forms of student discussion and has been used successfully with students from elementary through college. Many of our ERWC participants have indicated success with this protocol. The “Quickwrite” will be demonstrated in this session which was presented at CATE in 2022, 2023 and 20204 . The protocol was also featured in the May 2022 issue of the CATE journal, California English.

Many teachers are grappling with how to work with texts that are valuable for students’ growth as readers and thinkers but that can be troubling. One purpose of literature is to “trouble” conventional ideas and challenge readers to stretch. Reading lists, rather than expanding their range of authors and content, seem to be shrinking. This session will provide a rationale for embracing rich, contemporary literature and explore classroom practices that provide scaffolding for students who often find complex text opaque.

This session will focus on teaching students how to analyze evidence both to develop ideas and to communicate them. Using writing assignments from ERWC modules, we will consider what evidence students will have assembled by the time they get to the “writing” portions of the arc, how to identify what matters in the evidence they have chosen, and how to identify the patterns in that evidence that enable them to draw conclusions. We will consider how the evidence differs when they are writing a rhetorical analysis versus a call to action to create social change. Then we’ll address how to demonstrate analysis in different genres, how to teach students to help readers to see their evidence as they see it. This will be a hands-on session, in which participants can expect to work together to evaluate evidence, evaluate analysis of evidence, and do some of their own writing.

In this session, participants will engage in discussions about the ways in which critical media studies expands our understanding about the definition of text, author, and purpose. We will use the Critical Media Studies key principles to analyze advertisements, data, and music videos to develop students' identification and analysis of rhetorical appeals. These skills align with foundational principles in all ERWC modules. We'll explore how media texts are situated in broader discussions about race, immigration, gender and sexuality, and nationalism. Suggestions for texts and instructional strategies will also be shared. Our focus will be on how can we help students better read the world and create counter-narratives.

This presentation offers a preview of the new ERWC-ELD middle school curriculum. Written under the auspices of a National Professional Development grant, the curriculum offers modules for grades 6 - 12. We will share module texts, which include novels, poetry, graphic novels, as well as modules that invite students to explore current issues such as plastic pollution and the benefits and dangers of the metaverse. Participants will experience some signature activities found in the new modules. They will leave prepared to begin planning for how to extend the ERWC-ELD pipeline down into middle schools.

This session provides an overview of a new two-day advanced professional learning seminar called Teaching Writing Well, with a Focus on Feedback and Revision. In addition to stressing the importance of writing within the ERWC curriculum and beyond, the session will focus providing supportive feedback, using teacher/student writing conferences, promoting revision, and using AI ethically.

In this double session you will learn more about the EWRC (Expository Reading and Writing Course): a bit of history, rationale, how it works, and why it has been successful. Whether you are going to teach it in the classroom or lead others as they teach it, this session will provide you with an introduction.

Help us design ERWC language and literacy curriculum for grades 9 and 10! The ERWC team is developing over 30 new modules and mini-modules through funding from a 5-year Education Innovation Research Grant (EIR). In this special roundtable conversation, we discuss student-centered, inquiry-based learning experiences that support the critical transition from middle school to high school and beyond--a key focus of the grant. We want to hear your ideas for the next iteration of ERWC: What texts and issues are relevant and engaging for younger students? What are the interests, needs, and experiences of incoming high school students? What kinds of composing tasks and contexts develop students' agency and creativity? This is your chance to shape the future of ERWC!

My presentation is to use an ERWC module to show how we "build" our worldviews i.e. what I refer to as the Argument Structure. Once we are aware of the components needed to build this structure; namely:

1. Access to Information 
2. Validity of the Information 
3. Interpretation of the Information 
4. Cognitive Processing 
5. Moral Reasoning (values, morals, and ethics)

We then proceed to using rhetoric as to how best "communicate" the Argument Structure to others as well as active listening to understand the Argument Structures others have composed. The Scoratic Method is used, a unique template, as to how best we can conduct civil discourse.
 

In this session, participants will be exposed to the presenter's real-time approach to teaching, making pedagogical decisions, and creating classroom culture to address the difficult topics associated with the "Language, Gender, Culture" module, specifically Dr. Ashanti Young's piece "the Barbershop: prelude to Your Average N*gga: Performing Race, Literacy, and Masculinity." Participants will examine their own social positionality and its influence over their own pedagogical decisions and/or potential barriers inhibiting conversations, literacy development, and ultimately the nourishment of student voice. Potential questions tackled in this session: How does my own race and gender affect the delivery of these pieces to my students? Where am I, as the teacher/instructor, in my own understanding of racial justice and how might that indirectly affect my teaching of this module? Ideally, this session will examine specific passages from "The Barbershop" in the effort to discuss among our peers potential issues, barriers, or even awakenings from using this specific piece.

Rather than attempting to quantify learning by evaluating its products, learners who practice pedagogical documentation capture the process using multimedia tools and then, use the evidence gathered to tell rich learning stories that honor the whole of who they are and what they've experienced. This session will lay the process bare, welcome participants into classrooms where students and teachers have leveraged documentation to support learning transfer through storytelling and the exploration of dynamic case studies, and equip them to begin similar work in their own classrooms.

Explore the intersection of AI-assisted writing tools, rhetorical education, and ethical considerations. What strategies can effectively prepare students for an AI-augmented future? How do real examples of AI misuse inform our understanding of its practical and ethical challenges? How can we enhance student learning and teacher efficiency through AI integration? Discover essential skills for success in a digitally interconnected world. Presented by a 12th-grade ERWC teacher with 1:1 Chromebooks, this session promises practical insights for navigating technology's impact on literacy and rhetorical analysis. Come empower your classroom with AI literacy!

This panel seeks to support rhetorical transfer by highlighting how professional learning can support best practices for designing and implementing Universal Design for Learning in the secondary classroom. In particular this panel offers a "sneak peek" into the Universal Design for Learning 2 Day ERWC intensive (for full release in the fall of 2025). The presenters will demonstrate how the new Universal Design for Learned Guidelines (Version 3.0 to be released soon) prompt us to revisit UDL strategies in ERWC 3.0 modules to support better access and challenge, while also introducing participants to a goal setting protocol that supports transfer of learning. We also hope this sneak peek will give us an opportunity to get feedback about what audience participants feel that professional learning about UDL through ERWC should be sure to address and include.

An AI might perform many writing tasks, but can it express what it is to be me? This session will be a journey through past pedagogies in new permutations, specifically freewriting, focused freewriting, and other techniques for meaningful, low anxiety writing with a focus on individual expression.  We will freewrite, then we will expand, divide, share, consult, and smile. The goal is a series of activities that will help writers re-discover the joy of writing and the insight it brings. 

This session, the last of the day, will provide time for EAP coordinators and county office leads, as well as people interested in discussing the ins-and outs of processes and policies of ERWC as it pertains to their jobs, time to discuss English and specifically how their jobs relate to ERWC. The session is meant to provide answers to questions and a platform for discussion among the partners to ERWC.

This presentation offers a second look at the role of pathos in reading and writing rhetorically. With the assistance of Martin Luther King’s final speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” we will explore an ethically based approach to emotions in argumentation that I hope provides a fuller and more positive account of the affective side of rhetoric. Working as a group of the whole and in small groups, we will explore King’s complex synthesis of modes of argument and the ethical foundation they both stand upon and support. This discussion of rhetorical reading will lead us to consider the kinds of student writing that are enabled when emotion is embraced as an essential inventional option, rather than a potentially pernicious afterthought.

Publication is a part of the writing process that can get overlooked due to grading periods and schedules. In this session, we will explore the variety of prompts and writing opportunities students can engage with in ERWC modules and share a process for inviting students to publish their writing in a community literary magazine. We will share about our own journey toward creating a district-wide literary magazine in the San Juan Unified School District, including inviting and preparing student readers to review submissions for publication. Gain access to checklists and rubrics for inviting and celebrating a range of student writing around the theme of identity.

In an era where college and career readiness is paramount, it is essential to bridge the gap between academic knowledge and real-world application. Our goal is to demonstrate how the integration of Expository Reading and Writing Curriculum (ERWC) and Career Technical Education (CTE) can empower students with the rhetorical skills necessary to adapt and thrive in both postsecondary education and professional settings. By harnessing the power of ERWC's research-based strategies and CTE's focus on practical, industry-specific experiences, we aim to create a synergistic learning environment that fosters critical thinking, effective communication, and problem-solving skills. This presentation will explore the transformative potential of ERWC-CTE integration, showcasing how this approach can ignite student engagement, enhance college and career readiness, and equip students with the adaptable rhetorical tools they need to navigate an ever-evolving landscape of academic and professional challenges.

The presenter has created a module that helps students find their voices so that they will use AI generators ONLY for suggestions and not actual writing. Participants will be asked for input and will be asked to pilot the module in their classes in the fall to provide feedback to the module writer.

Join me for an enriching exploration of multilingual and multicultural approaches within the English classroom, guided by the theme "The Art of Adaptation." I delve into a series of modules designed to celebrate diversity and inclusivity in education. Rooted in culturally sustaining pedagogies, these modules within the ERWC framework emphasize the adaptation of traditional methods to honor the linguistic and cultural richness of students.
Through interactive activities such as Socratic Seminars, participants actively construct knowledge, collaborate with peers, and reflect on their cultural identities and biases.
We will study "The Cultural Memory of Music," offering unique insights into the celebration of multilingualism and multiculturalism. Dual-language activities further enhance linguistic and cultural exchange, fostering mutual understanding and appreciation among students.

Discover the power of FATt Thesis Statements to build your students’ confidence as writers and improve their performance on the CAASPP. Equip them with a way to initiate academic discussions of text, to identify and articulate main idea, to improve use of attribution, and to discover verbs that identify author’s intent. In this day of GOLO, Nutrisystem, and Noom, find reasons to celebrate “FATt”!

This session, the last of the day, will provide time for EAP coordinators and county office leads, as well as people interested in discussing the ins-and outs of processes and policies of ERWC as it pertains to their jobs, time to discuss English and specifically how their jobs relate to ERWC. The session is meant to provide answers to questions and a platform for discussion among the partners to ERWC.