What are the books that have shaped you as a teacher of writing? Reflecting today, in thanks, for the authors and books that have influenced my life as a teacher.
Year: 2015
Tuesday Slice of Life Story Challenge on #TWTBlog
Welcome to the Slice of Life Story Challenge on this great Tuesday. We are so glad you are joining us today.
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Living the Life of a Writer
At this point of the school year, your writing workshop is probably in full swing. You are chugging along through your writing curriculum, and you are probably using checklists and rubrics to assess your young writers' developing skills. Today's post is a reminder to step back and think not only about the discrete writing skills… Continue reading Living the Life of a Writer
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Drilling Down into the Writing
Of the many ways I gain an understanding of my writers, my favorite and most valuable is gathering up all the writing and diving into reading ALL the students’ work.
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Welcome to the World, Oliver!
We're throwing a virtual baby shower for Anna, who welcomed a new baby into the world yesterday.
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A Short & Sweet Minilesson Formula
There is a formula that I use, time and time again, to adapt my own minilessons. Yes, this formula helps me keep my minilessons to about ten minutes and makes planning more streamlined, but more importantly this formula helps me with one of my personal goals as a teacher: student engagement.
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The View from Pennsylvania: A Trip to Highlights Foundation
A little over a year ago, Stacey posted about an "Unworkshop" at a place called the Highlights Foundation. Her experience sounded blissful and it soon became something on my bucket list. I then began looking for workshop opportunities at this special little place in Pennsylvania. What I found was that they offered a variety… Continue reading The View from Pennsylvania: A Trip to Highlights Foundation
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Quality Reading Instruction Leads to Better Writing: A Review of Jennifer Serravallo’s Independent Reading Assessment
When I tested Jennifer Serravallo’s Independent Reading Assessment (Scholastic), I was an immediate believer. Finally, here is a reading assessment that gives rich, clear information about upper grade readers, using an authentic reading task (It is the only reading assessment system to date in which readers read a whole book. This assessment system is directly correlated… Continue reading Quality Reading Instruction Leads to Better Writing: A Review of Jennifer Serravallo’s Independent Reading Assessment
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Where do your minilessons live?
How do we keep these minilessons alive for our kids? What do we do to make sure our kids have these anchor charts to reference as they begin drafting, revising, editing?
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Join Us! The Tuesday Slice of Life Story Challenge on #TWTBlog!
No shadow No stars No moon No care November It only believes In a pile of dead leaves And a moon That's the color of bone Tom Waits, 'November' Do you wish your writing had stronger imagery, or sounded smooth, like the lyrics of a song? Well, today is your day! Practice your craft and post… Continue reading Join Us! The Tuesday Slice of Life Story Challenge on #TWTBlog!
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New Mentor Texts for Information Writing
The books featured in this post, all of which were published in 2015, represent a variety of information writing. All of these are texts that can pull double- and even triple-duty in your classroom, thereby allowing you to use a text during read-aloud time so you can revisit it during a writing workshop minlesson and/or in a content area.
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A Tale of Teachers: Collaboration, Community, Connection
Once upon a time, there was a teacher who became a better teacher by connecting with other passionate educators...
