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.
Today’s guest blog post comes from Library Media Specialist, Shannon Betts.
Lauren Castillo, a Caldecott Honor author and illustrator, kicks off this year’s Author Spotlight Series with a piece about how important research is to her artistic process.
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.
Melissa Stewart, award-winning author of more than 150 nonfiction books for children, steps into our Author’s Spotlight today. In her post, she shares about the chunk and check process, which will help your students conduct research.
Many students struggle with the research portion of research-based writing. Here are some tips to help students to conduct Internet searches safely and effectively.
I’ve been working with Keith Bollman and his fifth grade class on a research project. The end result is a tour of the solar system, completely planned, designed, researched, and created by the… Continue reading
This is the view from the beginning of my day. Our middle schools are working toward an Academic Learning Fair. We are being intentional about considering Common Core standards and making shifts to… Continue reading
Students’ informational writing can change dramatically when we include an extra step in between: 1) take notes, 2) experiment with those notes by teaching-through-writing, 3) write a draft.
We’ve been researching in Keith Bollman’s 5th grade class. Because Keith and I have been working together for years, I know he will let me play a little in writing workshop. I can… Continue reading
My kids are junkies when it comes to QR Codes. They love spotting them. They are addicted to the thrill of scanning. They like the possibility of where the QR Code might take… Continue reading
Words + pictures have always intrigued me. As a scrapbooker I use words + pictures to document life. As a blogger, I know when an image is included it always impacts me more.… Continue reading
Martha Horn is coming to NE Indiana on October 14, hosted by the All-Write Consortium. I’m super excited to hear her thoughts about teaching our youngest writers. If you are interested in attending,… Continue reading
Fiction is not a dream, nor is it guesswork. It is imagining based on facts, and the facts must be accurate or the work of imagining will not stand up. —Margaret Culkin Banning
I’ve just gotta tell you, I attended an incredible writing celebration today. Not only was the celebration itself cool, but the way it evolved rocked too. It was a true collaboration. It is… Continue reading
Some of you know I’ve been dabbling with writing fiction for the past six months. I’ve also had the pleasure of leading a fiction writing unit of study in two different classrooms this… Continue reading
