The Rhode Island Writing Project (RIWP) is a network of teachers dedicated to the improvement of teaching and learning in all schools. Local teachers – we hope that you'll join our warm community for continued learning and professional development and that you'll encourage your students to participate in our K-12 programs as well.
Join the Rhode Island Writing Project for our free spring Open Air Institute. In conjunction with Women’s History Month, come learn and write about the achievements, contributions, and impact of women on the largest island of the smallest state. Register today...
Inspired by Hartford’s city motto, Post Nubila Phoebus (After Clouds, the Sun), this place-based day trip with the Rhode Island Writing Project invites you to explore the literary landscape of a historic New England city...
Join the Rhode Island Writing Project for our free, beloved event – our writing marathon. This is an opportunity for writers to gather, write, walk, talk, explore, and grow through shared experience, led by RIWP board member Laura Maxwell. Register today...
The Rhode Island Writing Project's Summer Writing Camp is a program designed for students in grades K-12 who enjoy writing. The camp costs $225 and registration is needed...
Join the Rhode Island Writing Project this summer (July 21-23 & 28-30) for our free New Teacher Camp. We're excited to welcome rising teachers to the RIWP community. Camp is intended for teachers entering year 1–3 of teaching in any age group and content area...
Join the Rhode Island Writing Project this summer (July 21-23 & 28-30) for our free New Teacher Camp. We're excited to welcome rising teachers to the RIWP community. Camp is intended for teachers entering year 1–3 of teaching in any age group and content area...
Affiliated with the National Writing Project in Berkeley, California, and reflecting its model of “teachers teaching teachers,” Rhode Island Writing Project teachers are leaders in their schools and communities, working in all content areas and at all grade levels to support students as they become avid and accomplished writers, readers, and inquirers. And it's these skills and experience that RIWP teachers bring to our professional development events and to their interactions with new teachers and K-12 students who participate in our activities.
The RIWP has provided supportive events and professional development opportunities for teachers as well as programs for K-12 students since its establishment in 1985. We offer the Summer Institute, the Open Air Institute, the Spring Conference, Embedded Institutes, and many other sources of learning. By supplementing teachers’ knowledge and skills surrounding diverse literacy practices, we work toward positive social change.
Keep up with the Rhode Island Writing Project's latest events and happenings by receiving our monthly newsletter! Send us a quick email to get on our mailing list.
The Open Air Institute is a place-based form of professional development that integrates state and local history, geography, and culture with writing and educational practices. This unique, largely outdoor opportunity exposes participants to a wide variety of locations and experiences as we explore the features that make Rhode Island special. Each year’s event centers around a common theme. Past years’ themes have included topics ranging from rivers and coastlines to libraries and farms.
In our New Teacher Camp we welcome our rising teachers into the RIWP community. New Teacher Camp is designed for teachers entering year 1–3 of teaching in any age group and content area. Join us for a collaborative and supportive professional development opportunity. This experience will provide you with strategies for successful teaching practices, efficient day-to-day routines, self-care, and meeting others who are on this journey with you. NTC’s camp counselors are experienced teachers who will lead full-group gatherings, provide individual writing time, invite guest speakers, and offer many opportunities for learning. This event is free unless you would like to enroll in CURR 520 for 3 credits.
A diverse mix of experienced and soon-to-be educators will listen to and learn from an equally diverse mix of speakers and presenters. In a typical RIWP fashion, all will enjoy a professional development experience that is both informative and enriching.
Join us for a wonderful day that follows our typical pattern: we listen, learn, collaborate, write, and share. And at the end of the day, we often feel invigorated by the content and enriched by the camaraderie – as always.
Summer Institute (SI) is at the core of the National Writing Project's teachers-teaching-teachers model of professional development. Our institute is open to all current teachers who serve in K-12 classrooms. All content areas, including speciality areas such as special education and multilingual learning, are welcome to join us. Yep, you read that right: You do not need to be an English teacher in order to participate in this experience!
Ideal applicants are:
“As an educator and human being, I find myself more enabled to act on behalf of myself, my colleagues, and my students learning what I have during these past two weeks.”
“I was very thankful to focus on re-vision and advocacy after the stressful year I had had; I was able to look back at the advocacy from the previous year and analyze it to move forward and figure out how to better go about it in the future. It made me ready to start fresh.”
Our Summer Sampler is three days of professional development focused on a central theme, with each day tackling that theme through different modalities, settings, and practices. Teachers and pre-service teachers can participate in individual days or take part in all three days at a discount and gain Professional Learning Units:
Write Time is a monthly opportunity to work on your own writing in community with other educator-writers. Prompts will be provided by the facilitator in case you want to play with something new.
WAM stands for Writing, Art, and Movement. These are the hallmarks of our time together. In the past, we've had themes like "Tend Your Garden" where we stamped with veggies and wrote about food memories as well as "The Artist in You" where we created mixed media self-portraits and wrote artist statements with light stretching, yoga, and breathing practices sprinkled throughout. WAM is a refreshing and renewing personal and professional development experience!
Writers from grades 1 to 12 will spend two weeks in early July experimenting with writing in a variety of genres and sharing their work with peers. Whether writing personal narratives or new works of fiction, creating poetry or exploring the RIC campus in search of topics, or simply interacting with each other, students will enthusiastically engage in the process of writing. The writing camp is open to all students (K-12) who enjoy writing. For more information or questions, please reach out to Camp Director, Jeff Lawton.
“I love just everything we did and I’m also excited to perform our play!” -Grade 3 Student
“I think that this camp is amazing! It is fun and I meet so many great people that I look forward to seeing each summer!” -Grade 7 Student
“I am so happy that this program exists. I would rate the program a 10, as it’s a very positive and beneficial experience for the students. I’m thankful and happy that my child attended Writing Camp this summer.”
"My daughter appeared to get inspired and enjoyed the creative exercises right from the start. She enjoyed the group of students she was placed with and was motivated each day to return.”
