Participant Information Form #SOL20
Attention first-year and returning Slicers: Please fill out this year’s participant information form. Filling out the form takes less than five minutes and helps us stay organized during the Challenge.
The New Slicer’s Survival Guide to the March SOLSC
Have you signed up to take part in the March SOLSC for the first time? Are you on the fence about signing up and want to know a little more about how the challenge works? You are in the right place, my friend! Here is your New Slicer Survival Guide!
Planning for Independent Writing Time: A Middle School Solution
With the volume of students most middle school writing teachers serve, how is one to plan for differentiation? Using a basketball analogy, here is one play you can run…
Hands-on Tools for Purposeful Practice with Punctuation
Whether your writers are forgetting to use, incorrectly using, or using punctuation without much variety, these tips and tools can bring engagement and intention to conventions.
SOL Tuesday & Expanding Our Writing Community #SOL20
Have you intentionally and effectively expanded this writing community? If you are planning to invite a friend, family member, or colleague to join you for the Slice of Life Story Challenge this March, then you’ll want to read this post closely before you leave the link to your slice of life story.
Teaching Writing: A Review and Book Giveaway
“The most important belief is that kids need the opportunity to grow up as writers, writing a lot, just as they talk and read and do math a lot,” (Calkins, ’20).
2020 Slice of Life Prize Reveal
This year, we are trying out some different ideas for prizes, and we are excited to share what will be happening in March with the community!
How To Name An Explicit Teaching Point for Writers
A clear teaching point helps students understand the work, and makes your conference more memorable. A concisely stated teaching point is also is a tool for keeping your conference focused and effective.
SOL Tuesday + Slicer Swag #SOL20
Before you leave the link to your slice of life story today, please take a moment to read the announcements and enjoy a quote about writing.
ICYMI: Expand the Possibilities of the Genres You Teach
What lies beyond the genres you teach? Here is a round-up of our posts from our February Blog Series designed to help you explore and expand all the possibilities!
The Importance of Knowing the Standards: Expand the Possibilities of Genres You Teach
In expanding the possibilities of our different writing units, let us not forget the important guide points the Common Core State Standards – or whatever your local iteration of those standards are – provide us.
How-To Writing for All Ages: Expand the Possibilities of Genres You Teach
I was surprised to discover that some kids see How-To’s as something that is only for kindergarteners. I wonder how many teachers might also think of How-To’s as something that is too easy for older writers.
Opinion Writing: Expand the Possibilities of Genres You Teach
When planning any genre study, we can ponder: How can the experience children have with this genre become more like the experience they can have with it in the world? In doing so,… Continue reading
Using Technology in Informational Writing: Expand the Possibilities Blog Series
There are times students need tools to grow, but then there are times when tools can create possibilities beyond expectations and inspire writers in new and creative ways. When I think about how… Continue reading
Moving Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay: Expand the Possibilities of the Genres You Teach
Are students constrained when they write five-paragraph essays? If we change our working definition of essay writing, then we can teach beyond the five-paragraph essays we often see in schools.
Poetry Pathways: Expanding The Possibilities of Genres You Teach
Instead of being delegated to April only, poetry can be a pathway. We can make the deliberate choice to lead our students down this road on our way to learning and sharing new information, telling a story, discovering a person from history, persuading others, playing with language, responding to reading, opportunities for collaboration, and alternatives to morning work. Poetry should be woven into the fabric of your curriculum and, can be the new road you travel down to reach many goals and objectives. Please include your favorite poetry titles in the Padlet linked in the post!
SOL Tuesday #SOL20
We’re less than one month away from our month-long writing challenge! Get warmed up for our “March Marathon” by writing every Tuesday this month!
Narrative Writing: Expand the Possibilities of Genres You Teach
So many stories, so many possibilities for weaving narrative writing into other genres– and so much fun we can have doing it!
The Writer’s Process: Expand the Possibilities of the Genres You Teach
What do you find most challenging when it comes to the writing process? Have you considered a writer’s process as personal and unique or a step-by-step path rarely disrupted?
Expand the Possibilities of Genres You Teach Blog Series
All week at Two Writing Teachers we will be writing about how we can expand the possibilities of the genres you teach throughout the year.