Personal Writing Calendars for Each Student
With a personal writing calendar, each kid can see what is going to happen in the unit of study, and has the power to adjust it.
The Importance of Knowing the Standards: Expand the Possibilities of Genres You Teach
In expanding the possibilities of our different writing units, let us not forget the important guide points the Common Core State Standards – or whatever your local iteration of those standards are – provide us.
Literacy Coaches: Thinking Ahead to May & June — Already?!
Here are three things I’m working on, right now, in the first week of February.
Finding Purpose Before We Write: Making the Most of Planning & Rehearsal
Writers need a purpose. A foundation. Yet sometimes we rush kids through the planning and rehearsal phase of writing. What are some ways to support kids in heading into writing grounded in purpose? Read on to learn a few strategies…
Conferring Notes: The Key to Unit Planning
Crafting a system for conferring notes can be a catch-all of sorts, a strategy for ensuring that teammates engage in the highest leverage instructional conversations before the unit begins—even if they haven’t had extended time to unit plan together.
Teaching Shares: Ending Strong
Working within a tightly segmented middle school schedule (or any pre-planned schedule) can sometimes pose a challenge to “fit in” an opportunity for closure. With this special challenge in mind, how can we perhaps be more intentional about this important time in our workshops?
Listening Bit by Bit
Using video and visuals helped this young third-grader lead his class in a lesson on rehearsal and planning.
End of Year Reflections and June Planning
As we approach the end of another school year, many of us begin making plans for outgrowing ourselves. But what might be some lenses to think through when taking on such a task? I have a few ideas . . .
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.
Plan Boxes as Management Tools
Do you struggle with students working — rather than socializing — during independent writing time? If so, here’s a solution to keep your kids engaged as writers so you can maximize the number of students you meet with during independent writing time.
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…
Unit Planning: Writing Workshop Fundamentals
Planning a unit of study is like planning for anything in life. You can’t predict exactly what will happen, but you can project what you think will mostly likely happen, based on what you know.
Literacy Coaches: Schools out. Now what?
Four practical priorities for this summer.
Sharing the Work: Assigning Teacher Leaders for Unit Planning
There is an adage: if the teacher is working too hard, the students aren’t working hard enough. There are many cases where this is true: in a writing conference when … Continue Reading Sharing the Work: Assigning Teacher Leaders for Unit Planning
Minilessons: It’s All About the Link
It’s all about the link. Make sure your minilessons link to ongoing work. Link to making choices. Link to all the other minilessons. Link to the charts and resources in the room. Most of all link your minilesson always to problem solving and independence.
Get Out Your Calendars! It’s June Planning Time!
If we do nothing else, we do this one thing…Read this post to find out what it is!
How Do First Graders Choose Narrow Topics?
We will be starting a unit on informational writing to wrap up the school year. I wanted to demonstrate a different way of finding a topic, a narrow topic. I … Continue Reading How Do First Graders Choose Narrow Topics?
A Mini-Crash-Course on Oral Storytelling
It’s been several months since I’ve written for Two Writing Teachers. In December my son was born, and I was on maternity leave until a few weeks ago. Then, in March I pushed … Continue Reading A Mini-Crash-Course on Oral Storytelling
Scene Changes
I’ve been trying to think through how to explain thinking in scenes to young writers in a way that makes it accessible. It seems they either write two scenes and … Continue Reading Scene Changes
Planning Idea
I’m super fortunate to be working with a couple of third grade teachers (Hi Sandy & Dan!) who are interested in helping their writers to naturally develop more sophisticated writing … Continue Reading Planning Idea
