EgonWriter: November 2013

Notes from a National Writing Project Annual Meeting Session (B12)
~Lynne Anderson-Inman, Oregon WP at University of Oregon

The funding is out there. The problem is having the time and the skills to write the proposal.

The Five Major Parts to a Grant Proposal:
1. Significance (May call it: Purpose, Need, Problem, Importance, Outcomes, Expected Impact, etc.)
-They are wanting to know: Why is this important?
-This is the MOST important part of the grant

2. Background (May call it: Content, Evidence, Research synthesis)
-Find out the context in which you are working. Is it a research project? Is it a professional development project and you've previously done similar things?

3. Plan of Work (Goals, Objectives, Activities, intervention, evaluation, measures, etc.)
-What are you going to do? What materials are you going to use?

4. Resources (Personnel, Collaborators, institutional support, matching funds, grant history, experience, etc.)
-Assure them that if they give you money, you will do a good job.

5. Budget
-How much money do you need?
-How are you going to spend it?

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1. Significance = Persuasive Essay
Goal is to persuade reviewers your idea should be funded

Create awareness of a problem you intend to solve
Take a position on how to solve it (thesis)
Present arguments for your position
Use evidence to support your arguments
Counter the arguments of opposing positions (Draw attention to how other people have approached this problem but has been inadequate or inappropriate)
Link your position/solution to your proposal

*Some problems are more compelling than others!

Don't do this:

-Our school is poor and needs money for computers. (Frankly, they don't care.)

Instead:

-Our students need 1:1 computer access to learn 21st century literacy skills. (That's something you can sell!)

Don't:

Teachers need more professional development in writing.

Do:

Students' writing scores in our district have not improved in five years.

Don't:

The number of English Learners is increasing every year.

Do:

Graduation rate for English learners is far below that of non-ELs.

Our turn: Write a problem you intend to solve.

*Using visuals can also be highly beneficial!

2. Background = Classification Essay

Goal is to provide reviewers with context for the proposal. Classification essay breaks complex subject into manageable parts.

Review existing knowledge or classroom practice
Organize existing knowledge into categories
Communicate the classification scheme
Present the evidence by category
Show how your proposal builds on this knowledge

*Numbers are good! It provides a sense of authority on the content.

Example: Research Review:

Organize research by categories

-Related research has examine three major interventions...

-Existing research has revealed three major influencing variables...

-Work to date has addressed the needs of three different student populations...

3. Plan of Work = Technical Writing

Goal is to convince reviewers you can do this work.

Emphasis is on objectives and activities
Be specific: strategies, techniques, tools
Make an outline of information needed
Use language that is clear and concise
Go from whole to part
make effective use of lists
Explain all acronyms
Use charts, graphs, and tables

4. Resources = Expository Writing

Goal is to provide information about your site's capacity.

Break section into topics or subsections
Provide overview statement

Finding Funders

Federal (www.grants.gov is great for finding grant competitions)

-US Department of Education

-National Science Foundation

Institute for Education Sciences http://ies.ed.gov/funding

National Science Foundation http://www.nsf.gov/funding

National Endowment for the Humanities http://www.neh.gov/grants

Friday, November 22, 2013

Coding to Write: A Hands-On Introduction to Scratch

Hacking the Storybook: A Print Circuitry Workshop

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Grant Writing 101