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Reading and Writing
A(ugusta) Baker’s Dozen
A(ugusta) Baker's Dozen is a storytelling festival for Midlands-area children held each spring in honor of the late Augusta Baker, the School of Library and Information Science's former storyteller-in-residence. For more information, call Ginger Shuler at Richland Public Library at 803-799-9084 or visit http://www.richland.lib.sc.us/baker.htm.
Caught in the Creative Act
Free and open to the public, "Caught in the Creative Act" is a course for everyone who enjoys fiction and poetry and wants to better understand literature. Meeting twice weekly at USC Columbia, the evening course features as many as a dozen visiting authors during a semester. Class participants read each of the novels or poetry collections, then attend a related lecture presented by Janette Turner Hospital, USC's Professor of Creative Writing and Distinguished Writer-in-Residence. The visiting writer then comes to class to give readings, answer questions, and sign books. The popular program is sponsored by the Department of English in the College of Arts and Sciences and is supported by public donations. For more information, phone 803-777-4203, or visit the Web. Learn more about the 2007-2008 lineup.
Children, Libraries and Literacy
Led by the School of Library and Information Science, this $6 million campaign will try to eliminate illiteracy in South Carolina. The program will enhance existing literacy initiatives; train teachers, daycare workers, and parents; and specifically target children up to third grade and their families. The South Carolina Center for Children’s Books and Literacy will be used for statewide outreach, with a satellite center at USC’s Child Development and Research Center. The program also will launch a ReadMobile traveling exhibition that will tour critical areas in the state and connect families with local library services. The program will fully endow USC’s Augusta Baker Chair in Childhood Literacy, which will focus research on literacy and libraries in South Carolina. For more information, phone 803-777-3858 or read more about the program at http://www.sc.edu/cmcis/news/archive/SLIS05/litinitann.html.
First-Year English Program
The English department in the College of Arts and Sciences sponsors the First-Year English Program, which helps high school teachers and students to understand what college writing entails and how it is taught through visits to area high school classrooms and teacher workshops. For more information, call 803-777-2137 or visit www.cas.sc.edu/engl/fye/index.html.
Maggie's Drawers—USC Upstate
USC Upstate's Fine Arts, Languages, and Literature Division provides Maggie's Drawers, a literary magazine dedicated to presenting the work of young writers and artists from middle schools and junior high schools throughout the Upstate. A high school publication, A Near Miss, is dedicated entirely to the work of young writers and artists in area high schools. Maggie's Drawers and A Near Miss are edited and published by the Division of Fine Arts, Languages, and Literature. For more information, call Dr. Fred Moore at 864-503-5688 or go to www.uscupstate.edu/academics/arts_sciences/
languages_literature/maggies_drawers.asp.
Midlands Writing Project
A partnership between USC's Department of Instruction and Teacher Education in the College of Education and six school districts, the Midlands Writing Project provides in-service programs in the teaching of writing and writing-to-learn. Outstanding teachers attend the four-week Midlands Writing Project Invitational Summer Institute in the summer; graduates of the institute become National Writing Project Teacher-Consultants and help train others about the teaching of writing. For more information, go to www.ed.sc.edu/mwp.
SC READS
SC READS provides statewide literacy coaches who facilitate study groups and classroom-based coaching for all K4-grade 3 teachers, administrators, and other teaching personnel. Participants receive funding and support to enhance practice in their classrooms and literacy learning for more than 20,000 children in South Carolina. For more information, call USC's Department of Instruction and Teacher Education in the College of Education at 803-777-5129.
South Carolina Center for Children’s Books & Literacy
The South Carolina Center for Children’s Books & Literacy – formerly the BEST (Books Evaluation Selection Training) Center—is a previewing and reviewing center for recently published materials for children and young adults. The center provides educators, parents, students, and librarians with hands-on access to recent and award-winning books for children and young adults. The center, designated by the S.C. Commission on Higher Education as the official preview center for recently published children's books and other learning resources for children, also provides access to book reviews, bibliographies, professional journals, and other instructional materials. The center's permanent collection includes award-winning books, professional materials, books designated as instructional materials, foreign language books, wordless picture books, autographed books, and books on tape. The center is housed in the S.C. State Library and operated by the School of Library and Information Science in the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies. The SCCCBL is open to the public and is available for classes or special tours upon request. For more information, call 803-734-8207 or visit http://www.libsci.sc.edu/ccbl/index.htm.
South Carolina Reading Initiative
This statewide staff-development effort involves 121 schools, 51 school districts, and an estimated 1,800 teachers and principals. For more information, call USC's Department of Instruction and Teacher Education in the College of Education at 803-777-8185.
Split P Soup: Poetry for the Community
USC's Department of English in the College of Arts and Sciences, in partnership with Richland County School Districts 1 and 2, sponsors Split P Soup: Poetry for the Community, in which English department faculty and graduate students offer community poetry writing workshops for K-12 students, weekend workshops for young adults age 15-18, a workshop series for women at a Columbia halfway house, and special events in conjunction with the S.C. Arts Commission Young Artists' Festival and the TRIDAC Consortium for the Arts. For more information, call 803-777-2374 or visit www.splitp.org/index.asp.
Teenage Readers
Inspired by reading initiatives of the state's former first lady, Rachel Hodges, students in the USC School of Library and Information Science are trained to read to disadvantaged children and give them a free book donated by Scholastic Press. Some 12,000 books have been distributed to children across South Carolina. Contact the School of Library and Information Science at 803-777-3858.
Writing Center
USC's Writing Center, part of the Department of English in the College of Arts and Sciences, provides solutions to writing problems (grammar, usage, punctuation, spelling, etc.) through one-on-one sessions, workshops, and its Writer's Hotline. Each year the center schedules thousands of one-on-one sessions and answers countless questions from citizens outside the University. Web site: http://www.cas.sc.edu/write/. E-mail: grammar@sc.edu; Writer's Hotline: 803-777-7020.
Writing Improvement Network
The network is a partnership of eight S.C. writing project sites and their university or college affiliates, 85 school districts, and the S.C. Department of Education. For more information, call USC's Department of Instruction and Teacher Education in the College of Education at 803-777-0340 or visit the Web site.
Writing Project—USC Upstate
The USC Upstate project provides training, workshops, and conferences during the summer for public school teachers in the seven school districts of Spartanburg County, which includes nearly 70 schools. High school students also participate in summer writing programs. For more information, call 864-503-5684.
Posted: 11/07/05 @ 04:56 PM | Updated: 07/10/07 @ 12:03 PM | Permalink