Slice of Life Story Challenge · the persona of a writer · writer identity · writers

Sign up for the 16th Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge #SOL23

Attention new and returning Slicers: Please fill out this year’s participant information form. Filling out the form takes less than five minutes and helps us stay organized during the Challenge.

informational writing · video · writer identity · writing workshop

Energizing Information Writing

While none of these ideas for information writing require that students go through the entire process of writing an introduction-to-conclusion information piece, they do have the potential to inspire students to do some on-the-spot information writing, and sometimes these short spurts provide the practice or jump-starts that students need.

lessons learned from students · poetry · reluctant writers · writer identity

The Power of Writing Identity

I was in a fifth grade classroom in February during writing workshop, and a student flagged me down, eager to share her work. Now this is a student who (historically), I have been much more likely to encounter reading on the sly than writing during workshop. 

writer identity

Nurturing Your Writing Soul: Rethinking Self-care

Everywhere I look, the world wants me to engage in self-care. Instagram posts, TV commercials, Twitter threads, email newsletters…all of them chock-full of reminders that even as the world falls to pieces around us, It's important to fill our buckets, put on our own air masks first, give ourselves grace. But how about creative self-care? What can we do to make our writing selves feel stronger, happier, more resilient?

agency · process · student engagement · writer identity · writing process · writing workshop · writing workshop routines

Mining the Moments Between Minilesson and Work Time

In those quick moments between minilesson and work time, as writers are settling in (or not), I pay attention to what is—the current reality. I seek leverage points to both know writers better and to support writers in continuing to grow. Over time, I notice as more and more writers find the processes and strategies that work for them.

English as an Additional Language · writer identity · writing process · writing workshop

Getting to Know the Writers in Your Classroom- Part 1: Academic and Linguistic Domains

Who students are and what their past experiences have been impact them as writers, and those impacts should have implications on instruction. Therefore, it's worth the time and energy to have systems and structures for learning about students as writers in your classroom.

Voices from the Community · writer identity · writing life

Writing with Wren: Nurturing a Writing Identity

An eight-year-old writer helps her mom reflect on ways that teachers can help to foster the habits and conditions that nurture children who grow up believing that they have words, ideas, and stories worth writing and sharing.

informational writing · writer identity · writing workshop

Identity Webs to Generate Ideas for Information Writing

When it comes to generating ideas for information writing, my experience has been that some students freeze. There are two things I have learned about why this occurs.

emergent writers · kindergarten · purpose · writer identity

Celebrating Growth When(ever) it Happens

It’s dramatic when the light comes on, when a writer suddenly takes a step they had only recently not yet been ready to take. As a teacher of writers, I can’t wait to pounce on those moments, to facilitate the avalanche of growth on the horizon. 

cultural relevance · early childhood · Read Aloud · reading-writing connections · storytelling · writer identity

Fostering Authorship, Identity, and Agency in the Early Childhood Classroom Through Storytelling

As the storytelling culture is developed in the classroom, children are likely to begin to see themselves as authors and to use their voices in braver ways to share their ideas and who they are with their peers.

back to school · conferring · family · parent involvement · remote learning · routines · writer identity · writing workshop · writing workshop routines

A Letter to Families as we Launch Remote Writing Workshop

As I considered what to write this week, I decided to share a piece I was crafting for back to school, as an instructional coach/remote kindergarten teacher this year. The process helped me to focus on what families might need, as they experience writing workshop in new ways (i.e. at their kitchen tables).