Four ways to encourage students to write after the school day is finished WITHOUT assigning writing as homework.
Category: colleen cruz
In Thanks: Books That Built a Writing Teacher
What are the books that have shaped you as a teacher of writing? Reflecting today, in thanks, for the authors and books that have influenced my life as a teacher.
Four Books for Your Summer Reading List
These four titles are inspirational and useful resources for teachers. Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win one of them.
Writing Behaviors & the Process
With the action research project I'm about to embark on, I'm trying to get a better hold on the writing behaviors my students, who do not write regularly, possess. I reached for M. Colleen Cruz's New Book from the Workshop Help Desk Series entitled A Quick Guide to Reaching Struggling Writers. This book is chock-full… Continue reading Writing Behaviors & the Process
Writing Space
Over the mid-winter recess I asked my students to sketch out their at-home writing space. Further, if they didn't have an at-home writing space, I asked them to create one. They came back from vacation with sketches of what they created, which was fascinating. However, the most fascinating was one of the boys in my… Continue reading Writing Space
Ideas for Creating a 3-D Character from Today’s M.L. Active Engagement
First, I have to say that today's lesson I taught, which was adapted from Session 11 of Calkins & Cruz's Book on Fiction Writing in Grades 3 - 5 is AWESOME. It's all about revising with different lenses. My students read my story yesterday and commented on it, which was helpful to me. One thing… Continue reading Ideas for Creating a 3-D Character from Today’s M.L. Active Engagement
Teaching Fiction in a Pin-Drop, Silent Room
WN Entry - Fiction pg. 1 Originally uploaded by teachergal Today's Writing Workshop Teaching Point came right out of Calkins and Cruz's Short Fiction Book - Session 1. While I used the skeleton of their lesson, my demonstration was all my own. During the active engagement, I reread an old entry from August 2006 to… Continue reading Teaching Fiction in a Pin-Drop, Silent Room