Quick-Start Conference Days: Introducing Units of Study in Reading and Writing

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Schools or districts that wish to provide teachers with a quick overview of the Units of Study series for either Opinion/Argument, Information, and Narrative Writing, K-5 and 6-8, the Up the Ladder Accessing Grades 3-6 Writing Units of Study, or for the Units of Study for Teaching Reading Series, K-5 and 6-8, may request a one-day workshop that can help teachers become oriented to the resources and the curriculum provided by the Units of Study books written by Lucy Calkins and colleagues.

These one-day workshops are ideally tailored to either K-2, 3-5, or 6-8 teachers (although it is also possible for these days to support a group of teachers who work across larger grade spans (K-5, K-8 or 3-8). A school or district can request a day on either reading or writing, but not both topics within a single day.

Our Quick-Start day-long conferences are designed for schools (or school districts) that are new(ish) to this work. The conference will include a brisk overview of the foundations of either the reading or the writing workshop, and a quick overview of the key methods and the important structures that teachers will need to be acquainted with in order to teach this curriculum. For example, portions of the day will focus on: planning a year long curriculum, teaching brisk, engaging minilessons, leading small group work, assessment-based instruction, and managing workshop instruction.

Usually these Quick-Start days are held within a school building and engage a group of 10-40 teachers and are usually, but not always, led by someone from the team of teacher-educators who are especially experienced at leading these introductory overview days. Sometimes a district requests a Quick-Start day that supports a larger group of teachers—sometimes a group as large as 500+ teachers. Those days are generally led by fulltime TCRWP staff developers or senior leaders, and the cost is generally a bit higher.

Typically, a school that provides teachers with a Quick-Start Unit of Study conference day will follow this day with other forms of staff development like summer institutes, homegrown institutes, or by becoming a Project school. Many schools who receive this one-day jumpstart request a follow up day a few months later—we can sometimes, but not always, provide that support.

Schools that would like to schedule a Quick-Start day or to discuss alternatives can email uos@readingandwritingproject.com.

View and print our brochure on our Quick-Start Conference Days that support the Units of Study and various ways to connect with the TCRWP.