A meeting place for a world of reflective writers.
I was conferring with one of my students in Writing Workshop yesterday and quickly found, as I researched, my compliment (meaningful line breaks while drafting) and teaching point (using figurative … Continue Reading Teaching Figurative Language with Mentor Poems
My comments about a student’s memoir (draft one) Originally uploaded by teachergal This is the other way I respond to my students’ drafts for all assignments. I always attach a … Continue Reading Another Way of Responding to Student Writing
My room was pin-drop quiet during Writing Workshop today. Why? I did that great Katherine Bomer Activity I blogged about earlier this week entitled “Inside Me/Outside Me.” The kids not … Continue Reading Pin-Drop Quiet in W.W.
Today’s Writing Workshop lesson went soooo well. I had never had kids write about quotations before, but it was such a success! I look forward to folding this lesson into … Continue Reading Quotes & Poetry
Even if you’re a few days behind, don’t fret. C’mon in and join JOY: Five Senses Poem Originally uploaded by teachergal I chose to write a poem about the emotion … Continue Reading Stacey’s Seventh of Eight Poems
1. Noticing the growth in a young writer: I conferred with one of my students today who fought with me tooth-and-nail at the beginning of the school year when it … Continue Reading Writing Things That Make Me Happy
It’s true what Lucy always said about speaking loud enough so other students hear you while you confer… they do learn by listening in! I’ve known this for awhile, but … Continue Reading Conferring
Today in a workshop, Carl Anderson emphasized the point of being intentional about approaching our conferring from the point of strength of the student. Basically, we learn what they are doing … Continue Reading becoming better.
I introduced the idea of Plan Boxes (see Lucy Calkins’ Units of Study for grades 3-5 if you want more info on these amazing management tools!) to my class today. … Continue Reading Plan Boxes
My fourth grade colleague and I have decided to share the photocopying responsibilities. Since my week is next week, I went to her today to find out if she’d be … Continue Reading Selecting a variety of notebook entries…
Small Group Work Space or Coffee Clutch? Originally uploaded by teachergal When I moved from New York City to Rhode Island I brought some furniture with me that I knew … Continue Reading Strategy Lesson and Conferring Coffee Table Area
I often feel like I’m conferring with the same kids over and over again in Writing Workshop. Hence, I’ve created a new tool, a KID TRACKER, to help me keep … Continue Reading Keeping Track of Writing Conferences
So here I am, on a mission, to find the perfect notebook to use as my MASTER NOTEBOOK (sounds kind of funny calling it that) for my conferences. I think … Continue Reading Operation Notebook
Angela Redden got me thinking about all of my goals for the upcoming school year. I thought this would be a brilliant place for me to articulate my writerly goals, … Continue Reading My Writing Teacher Goals
Last week I blogged about a Recipe for Conferring Success. I’ve done some more thinking about it in recent days and am left pondering the following questions for myself as … Continue Reading One notebook or many?
I baked a delicious chocolate peanut butter chip quick bread this past weekend. It came from a mix. (See how honest I am!) However, it required a few ingredients, such … Continue Reading Recipe for Conferring Success
TWO WRITING TEACHERS 