As teachers, most of us view summer as a much-needed period for decompression and recharging. But as teachers of writing, there are likely several of us who see summertime as a valuable opportunity to prepare. One thing I plan to do is purchase a summer notebook…
Here’s a fun strategy you can try to generate writing in your notebook this summer. Come back-to-school time, you can teach your students how to use this strategy if they get stuck.
How’s your OLW going this year? Mine has been popping up again recently and reminding me to make more of an effort.
One reason we write is to help us remember. As a result, a line-a-day journal is a great way to inspire kids to write daily all summer (and maybe all year) long.
My students got extra creative when we used some extra time in a spontaneous way!
It’s that time of year when we start to think about all the things we didn’t get to do with our students! Here are five writing exercises I am going to make sure students don’t leave without!
Four ways to encourage students to write after the school day is finished WITHOUT assigning writing as homework.
Nervously lowering myself into a chair, I scooted myself closer to the table. Around me sat three new colleagues. My new 7th grade teaching team. Having moved from my familiar home in small-town… Continue reading
We learn when we experiment and take risks. The writer’s notebook could be a place worth considering as a place to do some risk-taking!
Need a fresh idea for poetry? Try this lesson!
As I get ready for the March SOLSC, I’m thinking about ways to support writers when ideas, energy and inspiration waver.
Read what happens when Lisa makes a commitment to her writer’s notebook.
Without a notebook, my great ideas are going unrecorded and, ultimately, forgotten.
I started this summer with this confession to all of you about my less than steady notebook habit. And after I let you in on my little secret, I dusted off my notebook,… Continue reading
Before summer began, we at Two Writing Teachers planned this blog series, and I blithely volunteered to write a post about the value of notebooks in writing workshop. Notebooks. What was I thinking?!… Continue reading
Today is my last day of school! My third grade students and I have been writing our way towards goodbye over the last few weeks.
What option can you give your students when they just get stuck?
Should educators be writers? The conversation continues! We welcome your voice and ideas on how we can spread the word that when educators write, students grow as writers!
Using artifacts and photos from our life allows us to reconnect with stories and breathes in new life to our writer’s notebooks.
One of my favorite things about being a classroom teacher was taking educational field trips with my students. One year, I took my fifth grades on 20-25 field trips around the five boroughs… Continue reading
