The things that motivate author Dana Kramaroff, to push through writing heavy content, are also what motivates so many of her students. She values the habits that energize her process, the tricks she uses to keep going, and the ways in which she helps herself when writing is difficult.
Category: writer’s notebook
Revisiting Writing Through a Lens of Gratitude
As we head into a season of thanksgiving and celebrations, it is worth it to take the time to simply pause and reflect on writing with our students.
From the Outside In: Covering Writers’ Notebooks
How do we help students to see the power in the writer's notebook? It can start before the pen even hits the page. It can start from the outside in.
Word Games in the Workshop
Creative play with words can spur ideas writers didn't know they had tucked away!
Gratitude Journaling
Back in January, my students began writing gratitude journal entries. As unpredictable schedules and interuptions await us, gratitude journaling might be just what your students need now!
Entry Points to Get Students Writing in Their Writer’s Notebook: Our Favorite Things
It takes more than a new writer's notebook and preferred writing utensils to get kids writing! Teaching students a variety of strategies to generate writing in their notebooks is helpful if we want them to view their writer's notebooks as both a workbench and a playground.
Seen, Valued, Heard: Leveraging Shared Writing to Build Community
In my experience, many young writers struggle to use a writer’s notebook as a tool. They’re excited to have a notebook but unclear about what to “do” in there. Shared writing can be a powerful way to teach writers how to generate ideas for writing and to get themselves started, based on the books we are reading and discussing as a community.
Journal Writing Strategies While Living Through a Pandemic
"Writing about distressing events and how we feel about them is the only kind of writing that clinically has been associated with improved health," Louise DeSalvo
Engage Striving Writers by Keeping a Notebook During the COVID-19 School Closures
Brevity, choice, and routine matter when you’re trying to encourage a reluctant writer to put words on the page when you’re engaging in remote schooling.
Focus Lessons: A Review and Giveaway!
Reading Ralph Fletcher's newest book, Focus Lessons, revealed memories of my childhood much the way photos can be revealed in a pan of solution. Slowly, vividly, and magically.
Wait Time
There have been many times I have had to hang on to patience, hold my breath, and wait. I have had students that do not hesitate to jump into writing and others, not so quick to jump. When our invitations to write are not always quickly accepted or at times declined, waiting for a student… Continue reading Wait Time
Food Writing, Community Building, and a Book Giveaway
Writing workshop thrives when a community of children come together as writers who know each other. The first six weeks of school is when we build community. Here's one way to build relationships and encourage kids to write about one of their favorite things simultaneously. Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win a copy of Eric Carle and Friends' newest book, What's Your Favorite Food?