School Workshops

 

Each year, Badgerdog sends professional writers into classrooms across Central Texas, where they inspire students to embrace the challenge and beauty of writing. Our teaching artists follow Badgerdog’s READ-WRITE-SHARE teaching model. Lessons engage students through creative and critical thinking, and invite young writers to explore how language is used to create meaning and affect readers. All lessons are TEKS-aligned and tailored to support grade-level curriculum.

To best meet schools’ and teachers’ needs, Badgerdog teaching artists work with classroom teachers to understand students’ skill levels, areas of difficulty, and language arts objectives. Workshops can be aligned closely with the school curriculum, or teaching artists can share the lessons they love most, exposing students to all genres and various writing techniques. Lesson topics include, for example: metaphor and simile, character development, poetic forms, imagery, dialogue, rhythm and rhyme.

Over the course of a workshop, students experience all stages of the writing process, from idea generation to revision to publication. We aim to provide every young writer with the opportunity to perform and publish his or her work—to bring it to life beyond the writing journal. All school workshops culminate with a reading performance on campus, where each student shares an original piece before an audience of students, parents, and teachers. Student work is also published online or in a library-quality journal at the end of the year.

Badgerdog workshops typically meet weekly (during the school day or afterschool) for approximately one hour and are scheduled according to teachers’ priorities. Workshop programs include:

  • Semester-long workshops
  • Six-week workshops
  • Three-week workshops
  • One-time, topic-focused workshops
  • Year-long workshops

Read students' poems and stories on our blog, Unbound.

 

 

Teachers Talk About Badgerdog

“The students were really excited to have the Badgerdog instructor work with them. She was great at getting the students to participate. She is really getting them to think and write on the spot, which is just the motivation they need.”– Ms. Cordova, second grade teacher at Brown Elementary

“The Badgerdog instructor was AMAZING, and the students really enjoyed everything he had to offer! We are very excited to produce more poetry.”– Ms. Garcia, second grade teacher at Brown Elementary

““I remember how successful my 4th grade class was the year we worked with Badgerdog. We actually had 100% of our students pass the state writing test, amazing!” – Melissa Puga, fourth grade teacher at Harris Elementary

“The Badgerdog instructor is FABULOUS! I love the writing topics and genres she is teaching them. I can already see them blossoming! Thank you for this awesome opportunity.”– Ms. Barrera, fourth grade teacher at Pioneer Crossing Elementary

If you’d like to learn more about Badgerdog’s in-school workshops, contact Programs Manager Katherine Lamb at: klamb@austinlibrary.org.