If you're a teacher of older students (3rd grade and up) and have ever found yourself asking what you can do for kids who are still struggling with basic capitalization and punctuation, you're not alone! Today's post provides ideas to support teaching and transfer of sentence writing conventions in authentic and fun ways with our older writers.
Category: authentic writing
PBL in the Writing Classroom
Real world, authentic opportunities to engage in writing with the goal of enacting change is something all students can really sink their teeth into. PBL and writing workshop go hand in hand.
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Writing and Playing: A Natural Pairing in the Kindergarten Classroom
Writing and playing are not one and the same but there is deep value in forging connections between the two by finding regular opportunities to have children both write while they play, AND play while they write!
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Ups and Downs: Writing Our Way Through
How might our first moments back from break welcome back students and staff and all that they may have experienced since we were last together? Tell us how you make space for the ups and the downs and everything in between!
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Graphic Organizers Limit Creativity: Resetting Our Workshop Practices
Many teachers assign graphic organizers to help students learn about structure and organization. But do these organizers actually impede authentic writing and student agency? Read about why Leah chose to stop mandating graphic organizers, and some tips for letting go!
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Ruminating Process Alongside Kidlit Creators: Centering Our Why
As we move forward this season, near concluding a challenging 2021, I aim to respect the messy writing process for myself. We will share with our students over and over that getting your ideas out doesn’t have to look one way; that they can move forward and backward and around again. They can toss out ideas and start anew. And while I do that, I’ll hold Jasmine and Olugbemisola’s thoughts close: as educators, let’s not stifle by virtue of supposed tos. There’s no wrong way. The final product need not look the way we initially imagined.
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When Writing Feels Right: Exalting Choice and Purpose in Workshop
When writers feel empowered to write for their own personal catharsis, it matters. When writers know they will have the opportunity to strengthen their writing alongside peers, it matters. When writers have greater degrees of choice around topic and genre, it matters. And when, at times, there’s a wider audience for writing, beyond classroom walls or the teacher’s eyes alone, there is often deeper motivation.
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I Remember
What is a memory? What makes a moment memorable? Were they moments of utter joy and warmth? Or was there embitterment, stress, and even trauma that made it special? For me, the 2020-2021 school year had many moments that were both. As much as I would like to move forward from last year, those memories… Continue reading I Remember
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Beliefs Inspire Actions During Remote Learning
My beliefs about teaching and learning have grounded the decisions I make, in the classroom and now during this time of remote learning. Come with me on a video tour of how my beliefs are shaping my actions. Share in the comments how your beliefs are influencing the instructional decisions are you are making.
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Writing on the Walls
What we place on the walls of a classroom tells students, or any other person who enters the room, what is valued most, and what we should value most in our classrooms is student work.
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Thinking Big About Writing
The writing work in our building is transforming, and it is exciting to be a part of the change, to witness the impact on kids as we make our workshops increasingly authentic and compelling. We are constantly reflecting on what’s working—what’s leading to measurable shifts in how we plan for writing (and how kids experience writing)—as well as where we might be getting stuck: places there is genuine motivation to transform the task, and yet, our best intentions are still missing the mark in some significant way.
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Yes &… with Digital Tools We Can
As we set off to create writers who write in tandem with the printed world and the digital world there are a few we need to consider.
TWO WRITING TEACHERS 