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.
Category: research
Conducting Effective Internet 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.
The Payoff
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 students. I have learned so much about collaboration through this experience. One of the parts they designed was to collect key information… Continue reading The Payoff
21st Century Research
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 meet the needs of 21st century learners. Today Shelley Kunkle invited her students to BYOT -- Bring Your Own Tech. Most took… Continue reading 21st Century Research
Informational Writing Can Be Informational Learning: A Guest Blog Post by Christopher Lehman
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.
Another Kind of Share
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 try out new ideas. I can test my theories. Often he gives a little laugh and then says, "Sure, go ahead and… Continue reading Another Kind of Share
QR Codes
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 them. Today in the Tech Workshop (which should be renamed to Taking Time to Tackle Technology), we talked a little about QR… Continue reading QR Codes
Infographics
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. (I've been thinking of making this a goal --- to include more images in my posts.) As a teacher I'm well aware… Continue reading Infographics
Martha Horn!
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, just click here for registration information. Do you know her book, Talking, Drawing, and Writing? She wrote it along with Mary Ellen… Continue reading Martha Horn!
Words that are Speaking to Me
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
Nonfiction Writing Celebration
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 teachers like Gretchen and Christi who push me to become a better teacher. So the celebration . . . how do I… Continue reading Nonfiction Writing Celebration
Fiction + Research
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 school year. One of the things I'm noticing about myself as a fiction writer is a natural affinity for research. It's not… Continue reading Fiction + Research

