blogging · writing workshop

Scaffolding Student Blogging: Setting Students Up For Success

Using what we know about best practice and scaffolding writers, our blog writing begins.

Slice of Life Story Challenge · writing workshop

Tuesday Slice of Life Story Challenge

Welcome to our community or writers, readers, and commenters.

summer vacation · writer's notebook

One Line a Day

One reason we write is to help us remember. As a result, a line-a-day journal is a great way to inspire kids to write daily all summer (and maybe all year) long.

family · independent writing projects · purpose · summer vacation

Six REAL Purposes For Kids to Write This Summer and Beyond

We do all we can to keep kids writing over summer. But are we assigning tasks and busywork, or actually enriching their writerly lives? I've created a tool to share with families and students of all ages to inspire writing for REAL purposes this summer and beyond.

minilesson

Teach Kids How To Teach Minilessons

Teaching kids how to teach a minilesson might be easier than you think.

conventions · grammar · punctuation · writing workshop

Patterns of Power: Review + Giveaway

At a time when  thoughts turn to sandy beaches and alarm clock-less days, it takes a very special professional book to make me wish (at least a little) that it was September and I could start implementing all these fabulous, fun and important lessons now! Patterns of Power: Inviting Young Writers into the Conventions of Language is a book that will make you happy to have the opportunity to be a teacher, working with young writers to help them explore, wonder, and apply the conventions they learn. It's a book that I believe will transform how teachers and students look at conventions

writing workshop

Tuesday Slice of Life Story Challenge

Welcome to the Tuesday Slice of Life Story Challenge!

conferring · goals · Jennifer Serravallo · writing workshop

A few ideas for conferring

Potentially, one of the most impactful opportunities we have for making a lasting difference on our students as writers is when we pull up next to them and confer with them. It's SO worth spending some time reflecting, setting goals, and developing tools and strategies for the conferring work we do as teachers. 

audience · authentic writing · writer's notebook · writing workshop

Spontaneous Sparks

My students got extra creative when we used some extra time in a spontaneous way!