feedback · reflections · rubric · writing · writing workshop

Reimagining Writing Assessment: A Reflection + Giveaway

In the opening pages of Maja Wilson's book, REIMAGINING WRITING ASSESSMENT, Thomas Newkirk gets the ball rolling with this statement, "Rubrics regularly fail to offer help to a writer because they focus on what writing has (features) not what writing does (effect)." Today I'm sharing my reflections as well as offering a giveaway to one lucky reader.

checklists · conventions · graphic organizer · guided writing · writing workshop

Transitioning From Support to Independence

What areas of independence do you wish writers took on more freely in your workshop?

slice of life · writing

Write. Share. Give.

Welcome to the final month of 2018's Slice of Life community!

adolescent literacy · mentor texts · quick write · writer's notebook · writing · writing workshop

The Quickwrite Handbook, A Review +Giveaway

Linda Rief has collected a treasure of mentor texts and created a guide to encourage you to find your own treasures! Start here, get inspired, and then see what you find when you start looking. It can be as small or big as you want when you begin and Linda gives us all the right tools to get started.

blog series · Notebooks as a Writer’s Tool Blog Series · writer's notebook · writing workshop

ICYMI: Notebooks as a Writer’s Tool

We hope you enjoyed our November Blog Series all about writer's notebooks. In case you missed it, here is the recap to get you up to speed!

Notebooks as a Writer’s Tool Blog Series · writer's notebook · writing workshop

Whose Notebook is it Anyway? Notebooks as a Writer’s Tool

Encouraging engagement with notebooks means we may need to get out of the way. The notebook should always feel like it belongs to the writer.

mistakes · writing process · writing workshop

The Writing Process for Perfectionists

To put it simply, the writing process can be excruciating for our perfectionists. If we aren’t careful, we can unintentionally curb the enthusiasm of a writer who leans toward perfection.

research · research-based writing · Sketchnoting · writing workshop

Synthesizing: The Step Between Research and Writing

Synthesizing is that step we can't skip when teaching our writers to craft research writing. It is within the wait time between the research and the writing that students gain their best understandings. Here are five strategies to help your writers fill that wait time with meaningful ways to get their gears in motion in a mixing of new thinking.

collaboration · drafting · plan · Talking · writing workshop

Listening Bit by Bit

Using video and visuals helped this young third-grader lead his class in a lesson on rehearsal and planning.

poetry · writing workshop

Stepping Toward Poetry

Did you experiment with some poetry now that the school year is in full swing? If not, here are a few more ideas to convince you poetry can be woven into your day. It starts with you.

poetry · writing workshop

Poetry Every Day in 5 Minutes or Less

For some, this might be your last evening before school begins. For others, you might be on your third week! Tonight I'm sharing five, five-minute ideas that might just help you fit poetry into your day, each day. I needed to find a solution to the lack of poetry in my day for my students and I'm hoping these ideas might just inspire some of your own as you begin a new year.

independent writing · Reflective Practice · revision · self-assessment · visual thinking strategies · writer identity · writing process

Five Tips to Building a Rereading Habit

Do you make time for your writers to reread? Rereading is one of those pieces of the workshop we might be assuming our writers are doing but direction is needed to really make it a habit. Here are five tips to give rereading a place in your writing workshop this year.