It was through engaging in writing partnerships that I gained greater compassion for my own writers.
Category: partnerships
Partners in the Process
We’re hunched over a table, sitting in chairs made for kindergarteners. The sun hasn’t fully risen yet, and the hallways are still quiet. There’s a typed piece, a draft, laid out between us. On that draft is black chicken scratch, the initial thoughts, and suggestions made by my writing partner, Dawn. One line at a… Continue reading Partners in the Process
Shake Up the Structure of Workshop
Writing workshop is not about playing someone else’s setlist. Workshop is a flexible set of practices that are meant to be improvised. The structure of workshop is one more way teachers can customize learning for those currently in the room.
Seven Ways to Help Students Catch Up After a School Absence
Here are several possibilities to get students up to speed after being absent from school.
Building Stronger Writing Partners
As schools begin to restart, I have been thinking a lot about ways to begin building community within our new COVID reality. Specifically, I have been thinking about ways we as teachers might harness the structure of writing partnerships as a means by which to help create meaningful, supportive connections between writers. Here are a few ideas . . .
Seen, Valued, Heard: Writing Partnerships to Establish Community
In our blog series this week, the team at Two Writing Teachers hopes to support you in the common purpose of building community in your classrooms, however those classrooms may look this year. One important building block of community is helping kids feel connected through partnerships. Read on for ideas on this important topic . . .
Something Do-Able to Try: The Editing Minute
Most of us probably do it without even thinking much about it, but our young writers might not have developed this important habit.
Three Keys to Writing Partnership Success
There can be many moving parts in the writing workshop. Partnerships can be a driving force in the growth and goal setting of writers within your classroom. In my experience, there are three areas I work to strengthen within my writers to ensure partnerships foster this growth and development across the year.
Three Ways to Introduce Personal Editing Checklists in Writing Workshop
Here are three different ways you might introduce individual editing checklists to your students.
Strengthening Writing Partnerships, Part 2
In my previous November post about partnerships, three ideas were shared: (1) Study existing partnerships to assess current and potential effectiveness; (2) Teach a replicable process for meaningful revision; and (3) Teach writers how to create process pages. Today I will share just a few more strategies for supporting and strengthening writing partnerships...
Strengthening Writing Partnerships, Part I
A writing partner provides a sounding board and creates a social opportunity for feedback, criticism, and notions of what improvement could look like or sound like. The problem with partnerships, however, is that left to their own devices kids are not very good at being partners. How can we help kids get better? Here are a few strategies...
Partnerships Can Provide Purpose and Power
All writers seek feedback. All writers write for an audience. All writers question themselves. And for these reasons, writers long to bring their work to another person-- another set of eyes, another pair of ears. Hence, the writing partner in writing workshop. When working well, partnerships can help grow the confidence of each writer in our classes by providing support, authentic peer feedback, and a sounding board for ideas. Here are a few ingredients to consider when creating a community of writers...