There are many strategies we can use to help us be the best teachers we can be for all of our students, but keeping good strategies in the forefront can be especially helpful for EAL students. By adding some simple strategies, we can also help EALs enjoy rich and meaningful learning experiences in the classroom.
Month: August 2020
A Letter to Families as we Launch Remote Writing Workshop
As I considered what to write this week, I decided to share a piece I was crafting for back to school, as an instructional coach/remote kindergarten teacher this year. The process helped me to focus on what families might need, as they experience writing workshop in new ways (i.e. at their kitchen tables).
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Writing Together in Remote Spaces
One of the many changes brought about by the pandemic, whether we are returning to school in-person or remotely, is the ability to gather together in close proximity to learn and write together. I have been thinking a lot about this: How might we as teachers replicate or create the emotionally safe space normally held by a warm, close classroom in a digital space?
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10 Books Celebrating Black Joy and Daily Life
While books about oppression, struggle, and suffering are of critical importance to read and discuss with children, so are books about Black joy and about the daily lives of Black children. I've curated a list of ten new (i.e., published in 2019 and 2020) texts that focus on Black people living life. Depending on who your students are, these books could serve as mirrors, windows, and/or sliding glass doors.
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Tuesday Slice of Life Story Challenge
It's Tuesday! Please join us for the Slice of Life Story Challenge. Write. Share. Give.
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Writing About Reading: Building a Resource Toolkit for Middle School
Calling all middle school teachers! Today I'm sharing a ready to use resource toolkit for adolescent readers and writers featuring the book, Look Both Ways, by Jason Reynolds.
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Wordless Slides: Another Way To Get To Know Students
No matter where or how the year begins for classrooms, getting to know students is one of the most important parts of teaching. Wordless slides worked great!
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Write the Moments: Documenting a Most Unusual School Year
If ever there were a moment in education to pay attention, be astonished, and tell about it in our writing, I wager it's now. This is the season of school evolving and changing. This is the back to school season with words we never imagined before- sneeze guards, Zoom breakouts, synchronous and asynchronous, mask breaks, temperature checks, distance learning, hybrid model. What we always knew is no longer, for the most part. What remains? How do we teach well in a COVID-19 world? What matters? What doesn't? This year, we need to write the moments.
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A Very Kindergarten Appropriate Assessment: Writing and Drawing Observations
Instead of an on-demand writing assessment early on in kindergarten this year, I drafted a Writing and Drawing Observation. This is an informal observation of children drawing and writing during their writing workshop time. Observing young children and keeping anecdotal records of their behaviors is a time-tested tradition in early childhood education.
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Tuesday Slice of Life Story Challenge
It's Tuesday! What might you write and share today as part of our #TWT community? We welcome your voice and your stories.
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Oral Storytelling Before Writing
“Let me tell you a story…” are some of the first words that make their way out of my mouth and into the imaginations of students who don’t quite know what to think of me at the start of the year. They come in cautious. In a few days, they will come to school carrying far beyond the simple feeling of cautiousness. They will, many of them, bring with them fear, worry, and anxiety. #TWTBlog
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Point-Less by Sarah M. Zerwin: A Review and Giveaway
Sarah Zerwin is workshop to her core, and she has found ways to ensure that her assessment practices are not sending conflicting messages to kids. Point-Less will challenge readers to reflect and inspire them to advocate for change.
TWO WRITING TEACHERS 