The last quarter of the school year brings gifts all its own - it’s a time to celebrate all the investment that has been made during the first three quarters: our students have a sense of independence and ownership of their learning, and they are ready, willing and able to spread their wings… Continue reading Independent Writng: Multi-genre writing projects to celebrate a year of writing workshop
Author: Tara Smith
I teach Writing Workshop, Language Arts and Social Studies to sixth graders at a middle school in suburban New Jersey. This blog is my attempt to capture all the "stuff" that goes into my teaching life - the planning, the dreaming, the reading, the preparing, the hoping and (above all) the kids.
Please note that the content of this blog is my own. It does not reflect the opinions of my employer.
In my writing workshop: it’s finally time for photographs and digital stories.
At last August’s Summer Institute, Cornelius Minor, teacher extraordinaire and staff developer at TC’s Writing and Reading Project, gave an unforgettable presentation on technology in the classroom which I wrote about on my blog “A Teaching Life”. I left TC full of good intentions about infusing my sixth grade Writing Workshop with technology, and using… Continue reading In my writing workshop: it’s finally time for photographs and digital stories.
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Revisiting the Writer’s Notebook with “Revision Centers”
The last quarter of the school year signals a time of mixed feelings - the year is almost over, and even though we look forward to restful summer days, there is the sadness of knowing that this particular group, this classroom family, will never be together in the same way again. There is a lot… Continue reading Revisiting the Writer’s Notebook with “Revision Centers”
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Creating mini-units of study in writing workshop: writing to bear witness.
In my sixth grade class, we cycle through a set of genres every Writing Workshop year: personal narrative, memoir, feature article, poetry, profiles, and persuasive letters and research based essays. Taken together, these make for a jam-packed year of writing. And yet, every once in a while, an idea for something new to add to… Continue reading Creating mini-units of study in writing workshop: writing to bear witness.
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Celebrating Poetry: Making time for poetry all the school year long.
National Poetry month often brings units of poetry study into our classrooms - there are wonderful resources for so many creative poetry endeavors to be found, and both teachers and students seemed primed to welcome Spring with a celebration of poetry. But, what about the rest of the year? And, is there room in our… Continue reading Celebrating Poetry: Making time for poetry all the school year long.
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Notes from the SOLSC my classroom: how to leave “constructive comments”.
Writing a Slice of Life every day is challenging for us, and challenging for our students. And, just as we (may) struggle with getting to everyone and leaving a meaningful comment, so it is for our students, too. For my students, who slice every Friday, all year, as part of our writing workshop routine, commenting was something that had… Continue reading Notes from the SOLSC my classroom: how to leave “constructive comments”.
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WRITE, SHARE, GIVE: SOL TIME
“I write only because There is a voice within me That will not be still” ― Sylvia Plath, Letters Home Welcome, Tuesday slicers. It is the last Tuesday in February...four days from the start of our March Slice of Life Story Challenge. I, for one, am hoping that the voice within me will not be still… Continue reading WRITE, SHARE, GIVE: SOL TIME
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Some ideas about supporting young writers in the Classroom Slice of Life Story Challenge
On Monday, I wrote a post about our classroom writing blog and the way this type of “digital writing notebook” enhances our work in writing workshop and helps us gear up for the March Classroom Slice of Life Story Challenge. Long-time slicer extraordinaire Katie Muhtaris stopped by to leave this comment: Tara, I’m taking the… Continue reading Some ideas about supporting young writers in the Classroom Slice of Life Story Challenge
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WRITE, SHARE, GIVE: SOL TIME
Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer. - Barbara Kingsolver Welcome, Tuesday slicers! It is time to write your Slice, share your link, and give some comments to (at least three) other slicers. If you’re leaving your comment… Continue reading WRITE, SHARE, GIVE: SOL TIME
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Keeping a writing blog: taking our writing workshop online
With the Classroom Slice of Life Story Challenge just around the corner, perhaps some of you are thinking more than ever about starting a class blog just for writing. Over the past few years, we have taken our writer's notebook online in my classroom, not just for the month of March, but for the entire… Continue reading Keeping a writing blog: taking our writing workshop online
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Laying a strong foundation for writing nonfiction through mentor texts
We are moving from our researching phase into our first draft phase in writing workshop - and my sixth graders are beginning to experience the inevitable struggle of transforming their notes into interesting, well-written feature articles. “Inevitable” I say, because I go through this every year, at exactly this same time. Turning research into writing… Continue reading Laying a strong foundation for writing nonfiction through mentor texts
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WRITE, SHARE, GIVE: SOL TIME
With our Slice of Life Story Challenges just around the corner, there is still time to encourage friends and colleagues to create their blogs and get ready to join us as we "write, share, give" in the month of March. I have two colleagues who seem almost ready to take the plunge, and one who is… Continue reading WRITE, SHARE, GIVE: SOL TIME
