Puppets and Playdates: A Pre-Writing Strategy for Character Development and Writing Engagement in the Kindergarten Classroom

Wednesday May 11, 2022Tuesday May 17, 2022 Jenna Komarin1 Comment

Puppets are powerful vehicles through which kindergarten students can develop characters and experiment with storytelling and play is essential to the way that young children learn. By combining puppets and play, children can begin to do the important pre-writing work necessary to develop rich characters and powerful stories in writing workshop.

idea notebooks · kindergarten · primary grades · writing workshop

The Idea Book: A Tool To Help Kids Live Like Writers

Tuesday November 6, 2018Tuesday November 6, 2018 Kelsey Sorum9 Comments

It's never too early to instill writerly habits. A class idea book will inspire kids to collect seeds for writing everywhere they go (and much, much more!).

blogging · primary grades

Introducing a New Co-Author

Sunday April 22, 2018Sunday April 22, 2018 Stacey Shubitz17 Comments

There’s a new primary voice on our co-author team!

argument writing · immersion · informational writing · narrative · persuasive writing · picture book · poetry · primary grades · Read Aloud

Teaching the Four Types of Writing Through Texts

Sunday May 15, 2016Sunday May 29, 2016 Stacey Shubitz285 Comments

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.

assessment · primary grades · rubric · writing workshop

Looking at Student Writing

Wednesday February 10, 2016Tuesday February 9, 2016 Dana Murphy7 Comments

Comparing two writing samples may be as effective as scoring using a rubric

charts · dialgoue · primary grades · writing workshop

Dialogue in First Grade

Saturday January 23, 2016Saturday January 23, 2016 Dana Murphy9 Comments

See how these first graders added dialogue to their narrative writing.

primary grades · spelling · writing workshop

Brave Spelling

Thursday December 3, 2015Wednesday December 2, 2015 Dana Murphy11 Comments

How can we encourage our youngest writers to use brave spelling? How can we help them overcome their fear of getting it wrong?

aimee buckner · authors · biography · colleen cruz · Day by Day · early childhood · katie wood ray · Lester L. Laminack · LIWP · lucy calkins · primary grades · reflections · shared writing · thankful · writing workshop

In Thanks: Books That Built a Writing Teacher

Wednesday November 25, 2015Wednesday November 25, 2015 Kathleen Neagle Sokolowski10 Comments

What are the books that have shaped you as a teacher of writing? Reflecting today, in thanks, for the authors and books that have influenced my life as a teacher.

guest blogger · primary grades · writer's notebook

Setting the Stage for Summer: Write from the Start!

Sunday June 7, 2015Saturday June 6, 2015 guestteacher23 Comments

So I stepped back and let the writers get to work. The chatter was about organizing notebooks, planning where they like to write and sharing writing over the summer.