Please keep in mind that April is the students’ turn to take on the challenge of slicing. Melanie and Leah are supporting this effort with posts that invite, inspire, and inform, as well as one that leans into the power of perspectives. Please consider reading and commenting on some of the posts our younger community members are sharing. You can find links to their posts here.
With the adults’ Slice of Life Story Challenge wrapping up, there was a shared message about writing identities and joy in the lives of both students and teachers in a couple of posts. Lainey’s post about writing initiatives in her district provides an important and positive update on work she’s done to improve students’ attitudes about writing. Jess’s post also leans into the joy of finding stories to celebrate and share. Both of these posts will inspire readers to think about how to find joy in writing.
Speaking of joy… Leah’s post about nonfiction writing is sure to bring you some! With cockroaches as her reference point, she has categorized the types of facts nonfiction writers might address. You will NOT want to miss the visuals, bugs and all.
Knowing the difference between accommodations and modifications can be tricky, and Betsy’s post helps differentiate between the two. Checklists can be used within both accommodations and modifications, and Melanie’s Tip for Tomorrow explores ways to get students using them on this podcast episode.
AI is a hot topic in writing instruction, and Stacey and Melanie share student-facing AI tools and ideas in the second of two podcasts about it on this episode. If you have extra laundry to fold or a drive, catch up with the first one about ways teachers can use AI within their writing instruction.
TWO WRITING TEACHERS 