The past eight days have been exceedingly busy, while also being exceedingly great. First, Ruth was here and we spent a lot of time planning out the final third of our book. Then, I traveled to Philadelphia for the NCTE Annual Convention. On Monday, I was in a new school working with a dynamic group… Continue reading Mentoring Primary Writers
Category: conventions
Formal and Informal Writing with Conventions
I use conventions in my writer’s notebook and in e-mails. I tend to write with proper conventions when I’m IM-ing since I know it makes my message easier for my reader to decode when we’re writing back and forth rapidly. I write with conventions when I jot notes to my husband. I consistently write with… Continue reading Formal and Informal Writing with Conventions
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Good Ol’ Apostrophes
A couple days ago I was looking at our blog stats and noticed our blog was being searched for apostrophes. Not just any apostrophes, but someone was specifically looking for "creative use of apostrophes." Therefore, I thought it might be fitting to write a bit about one of my favorite ways to teach apostrophes from… Continue reading Good Ol’ Apostrophes
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The Power of Three
When I was at the TCRWP's Writing Institute a couple of weeks ago, there was a buzz about the power of three. Funny how I've been in and around lots of writing-related professional development in the past five years and have never heard anything about the power of three until mid-August. I heard it first… Continue reading The Power of Three
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The Joy of Apostrophes
Is there any joy when teaching apostrophes? Certainly! The only thing is that the joy doesn't come from disseminating worksheets to kids... it comes from using books to demonstrate the concept. A couple of weeks ago I received a review copy of Wiggens Learns His Manners at the Four Seasons Restaurant by Leslie McGuirk and… Continue reading The Joy of Apostrophes
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Conventions Celebration
I spoke with my student teacher about a half hour ago. She's designing an assignment for my students to show-off their knowledge of conventions since we're ending our unit of study (on conventions) this week. Our celebration is set for Friday, but we weren't sure exactly what their finished piece would look like, how it… Continue reading Conventions Celebration
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Commas and Conjunctions
My class is still in the thick of our Conventions Unit of Study. We're nearing the end of our comma study, but have chosen to study how to use commas with conjunctions for an entire day. One of my colleagues was making her chart for the minilesson and found a useful site that explained when… Continue reading Commas and Conjunctions
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Punctuation Police
Today was my first day back to the classroom after being under the weather and out for two-and-a-half-days. I hesitated jumping back in, realizing I had a lot to catch-up on in my kids' lives. However, after a fluid Morning Meeting, I decided to forge ahead with my lesson on PERIODS. (How exotic!) I put… Continue reading Punctuation Police
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Thinking About Punctuation in Texts
My students shared their findings about punctuation marks, from earlier in the week, with each other yesterday. The charts, below, were eye-opening for me since not all of the descriptions about why the authors used them made sense to me. Further, some of the examples didn't quite match-up. Nonetheless, these were from the first two… Continue reading Thinking About Punctuation in Texts
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The “No Worksheet” Zone
I started teaching a unit of study on Conventions yesterday. (I really think I need a more dazzling name for this, but for now, it's going to be known as the "Conventions Unit of Study.") This entire week is going to be spent with the kids noticing how authors use punctuation in books like Mutt… Continue reading The “No Worksheet” Zone
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Learning More About Conventions Through the Close-Study of a Text
I've been thinking a lot about conventions and their importance. Without proper conventions, how can a piece of writing hold its own? All of our young writers need to realize that published writers use conventions when they're drafting, not just as an editing tool. There's a new book coming out on Tuesday, 3/10 entitled Alex… Continue reading Learning More About Conventions Through the Close-Study of a Text
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Noticing Exclamation Points and Periods in a Published Text
I've been preparing for a p.d. session on conventions that I'm leading with one of my colleagues next Friday. Hence, I'm trying to look at picture books with an eye for grammar and mechanics. Over the weekend I picked up a new, adorable book called Artichoke Boy, written by Scott Mickelson, and looked at it… Continue reading Noticing Exclamation Points and Periods in a Published Text
