A meeting place for a world of reflective writers.
It’s dramatic when the light comes on, when a writer suddenly takes a step they had only recently not yet been ready to take. As a teacher of writers, I can’t wait to pounce on those moments, to facilitate the avalanche of growth on the horizon.
There’s no question it is challenging to get to know writers deeply via Zoom. And yet. . . something is working, because all of my remote kindergartners are writing. They are all making books. And while I might not have an hour each day to be side by side with them in the classroom, there is no question I am finding ways to get to know what kind of writers they are and what they need.
It’s the beginning of kindergarten, and that means there are lots of scribbles in books. An inquiry mindset can help us decide how to best support writers.
For young children, one of the most challenging parts of writing a sentence is including spaces between words. I’ve collected a variety of strategies and tools to support writers with this feat.
How do you when you are a writer? I’ve been following my daughter’s journey and watching her grow in her belief she is a writer. I’m a believer, too.
In A Teacher’s Guide to Getting Started With Beginning Writers, Katie Wood Ray and Lisa Cleaveland help us think with our beliefs — in the decisions we make, in the questions we ask, in our actions, in the language we use, and in how we see children. In everything we do, we send a message, and that message should align with our beliefs.
Are we putting additional stress and pressure on kids to write words? With purpose and joy, kids can go from compliance to engagement and become the kinds of writers who add words as powerful information to their books.
When you love writing, and love teaching writing, and when you blog often about the teaching of writing, it’s a wee bit awkward when your own first grade son refuses to write in school.
