Time to Recharge Our Batteries: A Summer Break and Some Ways to Keep Learning

Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes (619 words)

Whether you’ve closed up your classroom for the summer or you’re still waiting to cross the school year finish line, summer is upon us once again. As always, our team at the Two Writing Teachers is taking a break for the summer to rest, recharge, and reset for the upcoming school year.

Summer doesn’t mean the learning and growing has to stop, though. Here are some great ways to keep up (and catch up) with the Two Writing Teachers blog and #TWTpod this summer!

Check Out the Latest TWTPod Episodes!

Stacey and Melanie are wrapping up the second season of the Two Writing Teachers Podcast this Sunday, June 2. Don’t miss the final episode of the season, and make sure to check out some of the highlights from this year, including episodes on AI tools, addressing perfectionism, leveraging oral language, building writing toolkits, and more!

Stacey and Melanie are taking a much-deserved break in June, July, and August and will be back with all-new episodes on Sundays starting on September 1. 

The Beauty of Opinion Writing: A Digging Deeper Dialogue – Two Writing Teachers Podcast

Opinion writing in grades K–6 is more than just persuasive essays. It lets kids express what they really think and see their ideas matter on the page. In this episode, we look at what makes opinion writing special: children sharing real opinions on topics they care about, building their sense of self, and bravely taking risks with their words. You’ll hear how opinion writing grows from simple preferences with pictures and labels to more thoughtful arguments that consider other viewpoints. We also share a list of mentor texts you can use to lift the level of your students’ opinion writing. Finally, we offer ways to celebrate students’ work, like author’s chair, hallway displays, family mailings, and online publishing, all focused on giving students a voice and the joy of sharing their opinions with real audiences.Go Deeper Doug KaufmannTracey LafayetteBeth Moore’s website for paperThe New York Times’ Writing ContestsBooks We Mentioned:1,000 Awesome Things by Neil PasrichaBreakfast on Mars and 37 Other Delectable Essays: Your Favorite Authors Take A Stab at the Dreaded Essay edited by Brad Wolfe and Rebecca SternDon’t Feed the Bear by Kathleen DohertyCan I Be Your Dog by Troy CummingsEating to Save the Planet by Ann BroylesOur Favorite Day of the Year by A.E. AliThe Black Mambas by Kelly CrullThanks to our affiliate, Zencastr! Use our special link (https://zen.ai/mqsr2kHXSP2YaA1nAh2EpHl-bWR9QNvFyAQlDC3CiEk) to save 30% off your first month of any Zencastr paid plan. Send us a textPlease subscribe to our podcast and leave us ratings/reviews on your favorite listening platform.You may contact us directly if you want us to consult with your school district. Melanie Meehan: meehanmelanie@gmail.com Stacey Shubitz: stacey@staceyshubitz.com Email us at contact@twowritingteachers.org for affiliate or sponsorship opportunities.For more about teaching writing, head to the Two Writing Teachers blog.

1. The Beauty of Opinion Writing: A Digging Deeper Dialogue 39:27
2. Finding Home and Building Voice with Mentor Texts: A Tip for Tomorrow from Stacey 08:09
3. Inspire Students to Set Goals: The Writing Roundtable 35:38
4. Shape the Trajectory of Writing Units: A Digging Deeper Dialogue 29:25
5. Build Strong Writers with Executive Function Tools: A Tip for Tomorrow from Stacey 05:42

In the meantime, if you have liked what you’ve heard during seasons one and two, we’d be honored if you took a moment to rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And if you have a favorite episode, please make sure to share it with a friend or colleague!

Revisit a Series

Each TWT blog series is a collection of current thinking, best practices, resources, and tools to support writing teachers in all settings and stages of your career. Catch up on the 2023-24 series:

• Fall Blog Series: Save a Seat For Every Writer
  Looking for ideas to start next school year with energy for every unique writer in your classroom? This blog series focuses on seeing the strengths in every type of writer to kick of the year with success.
• Winter Blog Series: Build Your Expertise
  The educational landscape is grounded in evidence-based practices. This blog series is a round-up of the most current research to support writing workshop structures and practices, including oral language, community-building, invented spelling, explicit teaching of grammar and conventions, and more.

Keep Your Learning Going

• Write with us every Tuesday for our weekly slice of life. Whether you’re a seasoned slicer or new to the community, summer is the perfect time to spread your writing wings and share your story! Post to your blog, share the URL to the call for slices on the blog every Tuesday, and share comments on other writers’ posts.
• Join Lainie’s Summer Writing Circle. Check out the details here.
• Catch up on some treasures from years past by checking out our monthly round-up of “From the Archives” posts. Here are a few can’t-miss resources to get ready for the new school year:
  • The Build a Writing Community collection from Jenna Komarin
  • The Leaping into Whole Class Instruction collection from Stacey Shubitz
  • The Paper Choices collection from Betsy Hubbard.
• Follow us on social media, where members of our team will share our learning throughout the summer. You can find #TWTblog on both Instagram and Facebook.

What’s Next?

We’ll return from our summer blogging break on Friday, August 2. Our back-to-school blog series will launch on Sunday, August 4. Here’s a quick sneak peek:

We wish you a safe, happy, and relaxing summer and look forward to sharing even more writing tips and ideas in the fall!

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