I would have missed this if I weren't on Twitter. Check it out: Writing in the Digital Age from Joel Malley on Vimeo.
Author: Ruth Ayres
Unhurried. Finding the magic in the middle of living. Capturing a life of ridiculous grace + raw stories.
Encourage Writing
Here are a few ways to encourage your students as writers. October 20 is The National Day on Writing created by NCTE. In light of the significance of writing in our national life, to draw attention to the remarkable variety of writing we engage in, and to help writers from all walks of life recognize… Continue reading Encourage Writing
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Show Don’t Tell
In narrative writing, it is difficult to shift from telling the story to showing the story. I've helped launch a fiction study in a couple of fifth grade classrooms this week, and we've decided to really focus on helping students make this shift as writers. So we made a chart with four "telling" statements: She… Continue reading Show Don’t Tell
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Twitter Update
After three days of tweeting, my life is changed! A special thanks to those who left a comment and sent out a tweet about us. Wow, what a warm welcome to a new community. I can't say that I have a complete understanding of the genre (exactly what is a hashtag?), but I do know… Continue reading Twitter Update
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Words that are Speaking to Me
I don't create characters so much as I make room inside my heart for them to come and get me. I am drawn to characters who make me feel deeply --- make me mad, confuse me, make me wonder, break my heart, stagger me with what they are up against. --- Carolyn Coman
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Tweeting?
Several months ago, like back in February, I set up a Twitter account for Two Writing Teachers. And then I let it be. I thought about tweeting, but I wasn't quite sure how to do it. Silly, I'm sure for those of you who are regular-tweeters. I hope, eventually, this admission will be a little… Continue reading Tweeting?
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Minilesson Part II
The other day I posted about minilessons being one way to plant a seed of learning. I firmly believe this is a purpose of a minilesson and then through independent practice, conferring, and sharing, the learning "seed" grows and becomes personal and solidified in each writer. After I posted, I was reading a friend's thoughts… Continue reading Minilesson Part II
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Minilessons Plant a Seed
One of the things I'm working on as a writing teacher is keeping minilessons, well, mini. As I've focused on this goal, I've realized sometimes lessons go long because I'm working toward perfection. I try to cover all of the bases so students can write in exactly-the-right-way. It is hard to admit this to myself,… Continue reading Minilessons Plant a Seed
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Words that are Speaking to Me
And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. --- Sylvia Plath
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Draft More Than You Publish
You know how athletes practice more than they play in games? The same is true for writers, especially our student writers. They must write more than they publish. When I first started following the writing workshop philosophy, I had a misunderstanding about the writing process. I imagined that once kids "got on the tracks" they… Continue reading Draft More Than You Publish
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Let’s Celebrate!
How are you planning to celebrate the authors in your classroom? The longer I'm a part of writing workshops, not to mention the more I write, the more I believe in the importance of celebration. Celebration fuels writers. When I first started, I used to think perfection was needed to celebrate. Since becoming a recovering… Continue reading Let’s Celebrate!
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Words that are Speaking to Me
Giving characters free will, instead of outlining them in detail before writing begins, allows the story to flow naturally and allows the characters to become more real and more interesting than they could be if they had to act within a rigid profile created in advance of the actual writing process. --- Dean Koontz Obviously The Tension of… Continue reading Words that are Speaking to Me
