Event: Heart of Texas Writing Project Activities for National Day on Writing
When: Tuesday, Oct. 20
Where: K-12 classrooms in Austin, Lake Travis, Leander and Del Valle
Background: The Heart of Texas Writing Project is participating in the National Day on Writing by working with K-12 teachers and students across Austin to celebrate the wide range of writing people use in their daily lives, whether at work or play. The Heart of Texas Writing Project is a collaboration among The University of Texas at Austin’s College of Education and Austin area schools, and the aim is to provide professional development in the teaching of reading and writing across all subject areas. The National Day on Writing was initiated by the National Council of Teachers of English.
Below are descriptions of writing-related events occurring in Austin area schools on Tuesday:
Austin Independent School District
- Katie McKay from Becker Elementary is organizing a reading of her students’ work at Café Caffeine at 5:30 p.m. and inviting students’ families and members of the community.
- Alice Sanderson and her fellow language arts teachers at St. Elmo Elementary are having their classes participate in a community story-writing project across the grade levels.
- Angela Gatto and her students at Reagan High School will create a writing quilt by writing original pieces on construction paper, laminating those pieces onto a quilt and hanging it in the front of their school.
- Students at the International High School at Johnston will be writing throughout the day. Angela Hinz’s students have begun a writing gallery walk with a project that will make writing visual. Other classes have been encouraged to add to the gallery walk with their own pieces.
- Kendra Young’s Electronic Magazine class at the Liberal Arts and Sciences Academy will be preparing their feature articles for the Liberal Arts and Sciences Academy’s electronic magazine.
Austin ISD contact: Andy Welch, 512-414-1700
Lake Travis Independent School District
- Martha Medlock is editing a gallery of writing from Lake Travis Middle School for National Council of Teachers of English National Gallery of Writing that will open on Tuesday.
Lake Travis ISD contact: Marco Alvarado, 512-533-6046
Del Valle Independent School District
- Amber Futch, Jessica Beck and Patti Young at Ojeda Middle School will be unable to participate on Oct. 20 but have arranged to celebrate writing on Nov. 4 with the entire school participating in four different writing activities all morning.
Del Valle ISD contact: Celina Bey, 512-386-3070
Leander Independent School District
- Reagan Elementary in Leander ISD will display “Writing Is…” bulletin boards on which students have completed the “writing is….” phrase with information about writing, pictures to illustrate what they think writing is and samples of students’ writing.
Leander ISD contact: Dick Ellis, 512-570-0028
Learn more about the National Day on Writing.
For questions about the Heart of Texas Writing Project, contact Dr. Randy Bomer, project director and associate professor in the College of Education, at 512-497-3655 or rbomer@mail.utexas.edu.
