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Category: informational writing
A Quick Way to Deal with Bibliographies for Elementary School Writers
Have your upper elementary school students spent lots of time creating a reference list? Free up the time spent on making a reference list perfect by using an online citation tool.
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No More Cookie-Cutter Teaching
As educators, we need to take ownership of our teaching. If you think your tried and true lessons are lackluster, change them. Start with looking at your students and asking yourself, what do my students need? What are their strengths? Next, look at the VERBS in your standards. Precisely what is it your students need to master in this unit? Finally, embrace the art of teaching, follow their lead.
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When Ideas Collide
I'm not someone who rides horseback but I often get to let go of the reigns and see where I might end up. My students never disappoint.
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Addressing Knowledge Issues in Informational Writing
If we do not possess a good amount of background knowledge, if we are not interested in the topic, and we were not given a choice, our writing typically suffers. Lack of knowledge in particular, as Mary Ehrenworth suggests, manifests quickly as writing weakness and writing problems. As writing workshop teachers, how might we think about and address these challenges?
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Keeping Narrative Alive
By the middle of October, many students in our district are nearing the end of their first writing unit, and in almost all grades, that first writing unit has a narrative focus. Students are gearing up for information writing, and then later in the year, opinion writing. Sometimes, when we leave a genre, we forget… Continue reading Keeping Narrative Alive
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Writing Celebrations…But Why?
With all the pressures imposed by a segmented, unforgiving middle school schedule, why make time for writing celebrations? Are they really that important? Yes!
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Connecting Through Story
"Story is the basic unit of human understanding." - Drew Dudley, Day One Leadership. We have been learning through story for thousands of years. Our innate fascination for wanting to know what happens is an undeniable trait of humanity. Yet, in spite of what we know about story as a fundamental building block for learning,… Continue reading Connecting Through Story
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Transitional Phrases for Information Writing
Information writing is a great opportunity for teaching students about fluency and transitional phrases.
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Setting Up for Writing about History
Will you be teaching your students to write about history soon? Read this first!
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Teaching the Four Types of Writing Through Texts
Janiel Wagstaff's books will help you teach primary writers about the four types of writing in an engaging way. Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win her series of Stella books.
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Building Ideas in Research Writing
Research-based writing need not be collections of facts. Teach your students to interpret as they research and to use their ideas to expand their writing.
