With no rigid rules, free verse poetry invites every writer in. Discover how including poetry at the beginning of the year celebrates student identities and builds an inclusive classroom community.
Author: Shawnda Fukano
I am a biliteracy coach at a Spanish-English dual language elementary school and an OCDE Project GLAD trainer. My son and twin daughters keep me pretty busy, but when I have a spare moment you can find me digging in my garden, baking in my kitchen, exploring at the beach, or writing in my journal.
More Chants for Handwriting and Conventions
Check out these three chants I wrote to help primary students with handwriting and conventions!
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Class Newsbooks: Daily Interactive Writing and Language Development That Builds Community
Class Newsbooks are an interactive writing routine designed to support oral language development and writing skills, plus foster strong classroom community in the primary grades. Read all about how to get started with this routine in your own classroom.
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My Summer Reading List
These are the two professional books I’m excited to read this summer as my school heads into our second year implementing an inclusion model.
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What We Value: The Power of Displaying Student Writing
Why should we display student writing? Because doing so tells our students that writing is important and we value the work they do as young authors.
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From Field Trips to Fire Drills: Writing About Shared Experiences
Can’t think of something to write about? Language learner? Reluctant writer? Need a story to model for your class? Try writing about a shared experience to improve the targeted support you provide and increase student success.
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Connecting with Author Bios
As readers, we connect with authors through their author bios. Let's teach our young authors to write author bios that connect to their writing and their readers, too!
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Adding Workshop Elements to Non-Workshop Curriculum
If you teach with curriculum that isn’t workshop based, but know that those missing workshop elements would increase your students’ writing development, then it’s time to “workshopify” the curriculum!
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Making the Case for Paper Charts (Plus Some Tips)
Charts have become less common in the classroom as slides become more prevalent. But paper charts serve specific purposes that slides can't serve. Here’s why we all should be making more charts.
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One Topic Writers: The Importance of Interest in the Writing Workshop
What do we do when a student wants to write about the same topic every day? Let them be! Keep reading to explore why interest is so important for our student authors.
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Year-Long Planning: Keep the Big Picture in Mind from the Beginning
Don’t lose sight of the big picture with all the things to do at the beginning of the year! Read on for reasons why making a year-long pacing plan for yourself is so important, and use the included calendar templates to get started on your year-long plan as well as monthly unit planning.
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Year-End Reflections & Next-Year Goals
Reflection is at the heart of teaching. It is the springboard for improving teacher practice and becoming a more effective educator. Here are some questions to think about as you reflect on the year that is wrapping up and start thinking about goals for the year to come.
