Slice of Life Story Challenge

DAY 2 OF THE MARCH SOLSC! #SOL20

It's the second day of our 31-day writing challenge. Join us by writing your slice of life story, sharing the link to it in the comments section, and giving comments to at least three other Slicers.

Slice of Life Story Challenge

DAY 1 OF THE MARCH SOLSC! #SOL20

March has arrived, which means it's time for our month-long writing challenge. Please take a few minutes to listen to the YouTube announcement and flip through the embedded PPT for some essential information about the Challenge.

giveaway · Joy · writing workshop

Start With Joy: Book Review and Giveaway

Even if you don’t win the copy of Start With Joy as a giveaway from us, I hope you will consider adding it to your collection of professional books. Students face so many pressures and challenges in their daily lives, both in and out of school. Ultimately, we want them to learn, for sure, but we also want them to find joy in the process. This book not only reminds us of the importance of happiness, it also provides ways to design for joy.

classroom environment · environment · music

Background Noise for Writing Workshop

How quiet is too quiet, when it comes to writing workshop?

charts · independence · scaffolding charts · strategy charts · teaching tools

The Power of Silent Teachers: Helping Writers Increase Productivity and Build Independence Through Interdependence with Tools in the Classroom

We give our writers a lot of stuff. Their folders are full of charts, worksheets and examples meant to be helpful for independent writing, but are students using these tools to their fullest capacity? Are writers waiting for us to say “get out ___” or “look at ____”? This post will give you some practical ideas for how to help students achieve interdependence and utilize the silent teachers in the classroom to their fullest capacity.

Slice of Life Story Challenge

The Final SOL Tuesday Before Our Month-Long Writing Challenge Begins #SOL20

March is almost here! Please check out the announcements before you share the link to your slice of life story today.

immersion · informational writing · nonfiction · nonfiction writing · noticings · writing workshop

The Immersion Phase of a Unit: Reading and Writing Collide

The immersion phase of a unit allows us all to get to know our subject. For students, it might be ideas they have and for teachers, it is about getting to know their writers a bit better.

slice of life · Slice of Life Story 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!

conferring · differentiation · middle school · small group

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...

conventions · early childhood · punctuation

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.

Slice of Life Story Challenge

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.

teacher writing · Teachers who write · writing workshop

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).