A meeting place for a world of reflective writers.
Slowing down the brainstorming part of the writing process and recognizing the emotionality of feedback has big rewards for two published authors, in addition to our young classroom writers.
I remember the day I ran over to my partner teacher’s classroom. If my memory serves me well, I may have darted over to her classroom, flailing a single sheet … Continue Reading A Writer’s Purpose.
We are now entering week seven in our school district. At the start of the year, there was much to think about and much to worry about. There were many … Continue Reading Three Ways to Find Joy & Keep Writing
Of the many ways I gain an understanding of my writers, my favorite and most valuable is gathering up all the writing and diving into reading ALL the students’ work.
Peruse some of our past posts that will help you and your students find more things to write about.
I’m super fortunate to be working with a couple of third grade teachers (Hi Sandy & Dan!) who are interested in helping their writers to naturally develop more sophisticated writing … Continue Reading Planning Idea
Peek into two a strategy lesson and a conference I had during today’s Writing Workshop. 1. Strategy Lesson With Ruth’s Blessing, I printed out her the Slice of Life Story … Continue Reading Peek In!
Aimee Buckner’s Book, Notebook Know-How, is an excellent resource for providing kids with strategies for generating notebook writing. Since many folks who took our poll asserted that they wanted more … Continue Reading Sharing a Notebook Lesson
Liza Lee Miller said: Okay . . . here’s a question for you. As a teacher, as a writer, as an artist . . . what is the difference between … Continue Reading Writer’s Notebooks, Art Journals, Scrapbooking, Blogs???
I’ve been having my students map their hearts, to help them generate ideas for writing, when they’re stuck, for as long as I’ve been teaching. However, last week when I … Continue Reading Heart Mapping & Writing Territories
I was out due to the extreme amount of neck pain I had yesterday. Therefore, when I returned to school this morning, I found the students’ work trays brimming with … Continue Reading Trusting Me With the “Stuff” of Their Lives
I started thinking about the next unit of study, Literary Essays, that I’m going to teach in March (even though my students are only half-way through their fiction unit of … Continue Reading Literary Essays
I tried to announce a working snack time, like I always do, at the end of Writing Workshop today. However, my students didn’t budge. Every single child in the classroom … Continue Reading Amazing Reasoning
My husband (that feels cool to write) took this photo of me on our honeymoon. He captured me writing an entry, on the beach, in my writer’s notebook. I think … Continue Reading Practice What You Preach
During my first year of teaching I attended a Calendar Day hosted by the TCRWP where I got the idea for creating portable folders for my students to use in … Continue Reading Creating Folders for “Patches of Thought”
My grandmother passed away nearly seven months ago. In the days prior to her death she was lucid. I tried asking her lots of questions about her life, but she … Continue Reading WN Entry: A gift that really sticks in my memory
Pages 3 and 4 of my collecting entry on Miketz Originally uploaded by teachergal …and this is some of what I have. I’m trying to take on this task methodically, … Continue Reading I’ve started collecting…
Every week my synagogue attaches a D’var Torah, which is an interpretation of the week’s Torah portion, to the weekly newsletter. I decided to volunteer to write a D’var Torah … Continue Reading A writing challenge I volunteered for… and it’s going to be challenging!
Like Stacey, I think it’s imperative that kids have lists in their notebooks about writing ideas. I think one of the most powerful lessons we can give students in regards … Continue Reading more on generating writing ideas.
We just returned from Cape Cod and Nantucket where I had the privilege of spending some time at the seashore breathing in the fresh, clean, New England Air. Ahhhh! We … Continue Reading WN Entry: Collecting Seashells at the Seashore
TWO WRITING TEACHERS 