Do you have writers who are reluctant to edit (or avoid it altogether)? Here are three approaches to make this part of the writing process more manageable for writers of all ages and abilities.
Category: differentiation
Imagination Bait: Meet (and Hook) Advanced Writers Where They Are
My strategy for meeting the needs of advanced writers: personalization. Strategic, pre-planned opportunities, set like a vision trap to capture the imagination of each writer. Once caught, these writers can be reeled in to a level of complexity they had no idea they were ready (and willing) to try.
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Thoughts on a Way Forward: An Interview with Cornelius Minor
When the COVID-19 crisis hit, probably like many of us, I sought out voices of hope. For me personally, I knew one of those voices would be Cornelius Minor. I knew him to be the kind of teacher with the capacity to help us all see things in a new way during this unfamiliar period of virtual teaching. Fortunately, I was able to reach him by text. We sat down recently on a Zoom call to discuss his views on teaching remotely, his book, and a way forward.
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Planning for Independent Writing Time: A Middle School Solution
With the volume of students most middle school writing teachers serve, how is one to plan for differentiation? Using a basketball analogy, here is one play you can run...
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Everyone Gets What They Need: Reaching Your Writers
How a story about babies and bandages helped kids and families differentiate between equity and equality....and what it looks like for everyone go get what they need during writing workshop.
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Curating an Array of Mentor Texts
If we’re committed to differentiating instruction, then it’s important to use a variety of mentor texts to meet students’ needs.
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Differentiating the Writer’s Notebook for Every Stage K-8: Notebooks as a Writer’s Tool
If you can't sketch quickly or jot words quickly, or the lines in on the paper feel too small, or you find it difficult to organize your ideas on a blank page, then perhaps there might be other tools that are a better fit for you.
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Coaching Writers in the Small Group
Coaches of young athletes often offer tips, reminders, and suggestions from the sidelines in hopes of eliciting the best possible performance from the team. As teachers of writing, we can borrow this structure in our small group settings.
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Teaching Small Groups in the Middle School Writing Workshop
For many middle school teachers, planning and teaching small groups in writing workshop feels a little like the Rubik's Cube; like this famous puzzle, there is a sense that small groups are doable (somehow, maybe?), yet the orchestration of all the many parts can make them feel overwhelming and perhaps even insurmountable. If you feel this way, know that you are not alone.
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Some Issues to Consider: Homework and the Writing Workshop
Pushing the dance studio door open, I watched my two daughters and their two best friends bound playfully out to the parking lot. Walking next to me was Jamie, their mother. "Sorry," she whispered, "we can't do dinner tonight. Blake's got homework." Blake, a fourth grader, after attending school all day and now having finished… Continue reading Some Issues to Consider: Homework and the Writing Workshop
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Not All Writers Are the Same! Ideas for Differentiating in the Writing Workshop (Part 2)
The fact is, just like athletes that show up to the first day of practice, writers bring different skill sets. Some arrive to middle school not knowing where to put a period, while others already know how paint vivid pictures with words that knock our socks off. How do we plan for such a wide variety of writers?
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Not All Writers Are the Same! Ideas for Differentiating in the Writing Workshop (Part 1)
Celebrating differences among our writers can sometimes be difficult for teachers of writing. But by expecting and planning for differences, we can set our students on trajectories more matched to who they are as writers. Here are a few ideas...
TWO WRITING TEACHERS 