Writing and Teaching Creative Nonfiction, Dayton & Doe, Summer 2019

Note: Course payment of $1,250 by check or purchase order, payable to Castleton University, is due at the time of registration. A purchase order number can be entered into the online registration form and the purchase order can be uploaded to the registration form. If paying by check, please mail the check to: Financial & Registration Services, Castleton University, 62 Alumni Drive, Castleton, VT 05753. To help us ensure that your payment is applied to the correct course, PLEASE WRITE “CFS” IN THE CHECK MEMO LINE. Thank you.

Course Description

Writing and Teaching Creative Nonfiction allows participants to return to the values that drew them to teaching: passion for subject matter and nurturing the growth and development of their students.  The course addresses current educational initiatives; however, its ultimate value is providing an outlet for understanding self and life experiences from joy to trauma.  To this end, participants will write about their lives using memoir (both prose and poetry) and personal essay. At the end of the five-days, teachers will have a collection of their “stories well-told” and a series of lessons that promote literacy and create a classroom community based on inclusion and resilience. The course is appropriate for all teachers in grades 3-12, including special educators.

Course Goals & Objectives

• To understand the relationship between creative nonfiction, memory, and fact
• To provide a student-centered approach to creative nonfiction
• To practice effective reading and writing strategies to use with students

Course Expectations

• Participate in all classes and activities;
• Create a portfolio of writing to use as models for students;
• Create a notebook of lessons;
• Present selected writing and lesson(s) to instructors and other participants.

Course Schedule

            Day 1: How Memory Drives Creative Nonfiction

            Day 2: How Middle C Leads to Good Writing

            Day 3: The Power of Collections

            Day 4: Rituals and Recipes

            Day 5: Assembling and Presenting Portfolio

Each day is divided into three 1 ½ hour instructional sessions, a working lunch, and a two-hour writing workshop.   

Required Texts

Readings are provided by course instructors.

Soldier. June McBride

Educated. Tara Westover

Wilfred Gordon MacDonald Partridge. Mem Fox

Home Place, Crescent Dragonwagon 

Selected poems, narratives, essays from Patricia Hampl, Carl Sandburg, Shel Silverstein, Maya Angelou, William Stafford, Jeannette Walls, George Ella Lyon, Billy Collins among others

For additional course information

Alison Dayton

(802) 388-7882

Marianne Doe   

(802) 462-3169                                                                                                                                                        

For additional registration information

Bethany Sprague
(802) 468-1325

Register online now!