Happy Thanksgiving from #TWTBlog!
We are grateful for the community of educators who read this blog since you are invested in constantly improving the teaching of writing for your students.
Author Archive
NCTE 2018: Here We Come!
Here’s a peek at the dates and times three members of our co-author team will be presenting at NCTE this weekend.
Six Ways to Keep the Energy of Writer’s Notebooks Alive All Year Long
You spent the first couple months of the school year helping students understand their lives are significant, their stories are worth recording, and their notebooks are the place to make all of that happen. What’s next now that it’s November?
Writing on a Snow Day
Matthew Cordell’s new picture book provides inspiration for kids to CHOOSE to write when they’re snowed-in during the winter. Read through my Q&A with Cordell to start thinking about how you could encourage your students to decide to write when they’re homebound this winter.
After you read the Q&A, leave a comment on this blog post for the chance to win a copy of King Alice.
How a Portable Word Wall Can Help Your Students with Spelling
Do you differentiate your students’ spelling lists by giving them personal spelling words? If so, you can take those lists a step further by providing them with portable word walls for their writing folder and/or for at-home use.
A Quick Way to Deal with Bibliographies for Elementary School Writers
Have your upper elementary school students spent lots of time creating a reference list? Free up the time spent on making a reference list perfect by using an online citation tool.
Conferring Carl on Writing Conferences
Want to improve your conferring? Carl Anderson’s new book, A Teacher’s Guide to Writing Conferences, will help you learn the ins and outs of conferring well with young writers.
Read the Q&A with Carl, then leave a comment on this blog post for a chance to win a copy of your own!
Books to Begin the School Year
Add six new picture books to your back-to-school read alouds and to your mentor text collection this fall.
After you read through this post, be sure to leave a comment about how you’d use these books in your classroom for a chance to win all six of them.
Playing Around with Instagram Stories
I’ve been tinkering with Instagram Stories this summer. I’ve discovered several ways teacher-writers can use them as a tool for living and storytelling.
Be a Teacher Who Writes!
Have you resolved to write alongside your students this year? If so, join us today and any Tuesday year-round for #sol18.
Our Favorite “Back-to-School” Posts
Whether you’re already back in school or returning in the next two weeks, I’ve rounded up some of our team’s best blog posts that will help you launch & sustain writing workshop in 2018-19.
SOL Tuesday
Be a teacher who writes! Join us for our weekly writing challenge. #sol18
SOL Tuesday
Please take a moment to read a short announcement before you leave the link to your slice of life story today.
This is the year I’m going to keep better records.
Want to keep (better) conferring records, but don’t know where to begin? This post will help you discover analog and digital record-keeping systems.
Read all the way through since there will are lots of downloadable templates to help you get started.
SOL Tuesday
Join us by sharing a slice of your life with our community of writers.
Memory Chains: A Strategy for Writer’s Notebooks
Here’s a fun strategy you can try to generate writing in your notebook this summer. Come back-to-school time, you can teach your students how to use this strategy if they get stuck.
One Line a Day
One reason we write is to help us remember. As a result, a line-a-day journal is a great way to inspire kids to write daily all summer (and maybe all year) long.
ICYMI: The 4th Annual #TWTBlog Author Spotlight Series
Last week, nine authors and illustrators stopped by to share their expertise with us. In case you missed it, this post includes links to each of their posts, which include giveaways of their books, virtual author visits, and more!
Announcing the 4th Annual #TWTBlog Author Spotlight Series
For the next eight days, published picture book, middle-grade, and professional book authors will take over #TWTBlog to share their thoughts on writing, their writing processes, and the path to publishing with you.
Oh, and there will be giveaways!
Learn How to Entice the Hard-to-Reach Writers in Your Classroom
I found myself annotating Enticing Hard-to-Reach Writers as I read in an effort to hold on to all of Ruth’s wisdom about reaching students who are hiding – physically or emotionally – in our classrooms. As a result, I asked Ruth to answer a bunch of my burning questions about her book, which you need to put on your summer reading list!