I'm sitting in Nashua preparing for tomorrow's presentation. Part of my preparation means returning to my old binders and files when my thinking changed about the teaching of writing. The shift in my thinking came in 2006 when I was engaged in my studies as a graduate student in the Teachers College Literacy Specialist Program.… Continue reading Thinking More About Teachers & Notebooks
Category: writer’s notebook
Teaching Writing Workshop with A Wide-Open Notebook
Here's the public version of the presentation I'll be giving at the New England Association of Teachers of English's Fall Conference tomorrow. Click on the link below to view the presentation, which I'll post on our Presentations Page too. NEATE - Fall 2008 Conference - Inspiring Children to Write - Upload a Document to Scribd
Share this:
Share this:
Getting Motivated
This is my final post for this week's Big Picture Series on Genuine Writing. Therefore, I wanted to leave you with a draft of a handout I'm planning to hand out when I present at the 2008 NEATE Fall Conference next week-end. The conference's theme is “Who Is Responsible? Literacy and Education for All.” This… Continue reading Getting Motivated
Share this:
Share this:
Thoughts About Working with a REALLY Reluctant Writer
Ro asked: I have a student in my class who is on the spectrum and is extremely reluctant to writing. He doesn’t think anything is important or worth writing about. It’s extremely difficult even getting him to write a few sentences because he is so defiant. My next step is getting him to try writing… Continue reading Thoughts About Working with a REALLY Reluctant Writer
Share this:
Share this:
Ruth’s Memoir Monday: Getting Laney.
Earlier this week I wrote a quick write in my writer's notebook about getting my cabbage patch kid. (Last week for Memoir Monday, I toyed with the So What? of writing about Laney.) I thought I'd get it scanned and then posted in that format, yet, it just hasn't happened. So, because it's nearly Poetry Friday… Continue reading Ruth’s Memoir Monday: Getting Laney.
Share this:
Share this:
Storyboards.
This summer I heard Penny Kittle speak about using storyboards. This week I've tried them out in classrooms. They aren't all that different from one of the ways I talk to kids about planning. I encourage them to think in scenes & then sketch in their notebook a flow chart of sorts, using pictures and… Continue reading Storyboards.
Share this:
Share this:
Ruth’s Slice of Life: Messy Bedroom.
I read in Katie Wood Ray's Study Driven: Showing what surrounds a character can help the reader understand a lot about the character (34). It inspired me to write about my daughter's bedroom in order to make sense of what's happening inside of her lately. Out of respect for her, I don't want to share… Continue reading Ruth’s Slice of Life: Messy Bedroom.
Share this:
Share this:
Considering what one’s piece is REALLY about
Nurturing Originally uploaded by teachergal I put together a mini-chart for my students to tape into their writer's notebooks after tomorrow's minilesson so that they'll have a permanent record of their writerly options when they get to the developing/nurturing point of the writing process.
Share this:
Share this:
Peek In!
Peek into two a strategy lesson and a conference I had during today's Writing Workshop. 1. Strategy Lesson With Ruth's Blessing, I printed out her the Slice of Life Story (SOLS) she wrote about Sam's Nighttime Secret. I gathered four of my students together on the small rug of my classroom and handed them a… Continue reading Peek In!
Share this:
Share this:
Paragraphing in Notebooks
Today was the first day I checked my students' Idea Notebooks, using the rubric I adapted from Buckner's Book, since the school year began. The frequency with which the kids have been writing is amazing to me! One student even received a 4- on her notebook today and I gave her one of these to… Continue reading Paragraphing in Notebooks
Share this:
Share this:
Yo-Ho-Ho, A Pirate’s Life for Me!
Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day (link takes you to Wikipedia; here is the official site). Next to Christmas, this may just be my favorite! 🙂 A little known secret is that I'm an avid pirate-lover. I love all things Pirate (except for the baseball team)! Today my little family of five is celebrating. … Continue reading Yo-Ho-Ho, A Pirate’s Life for Me!
Share this:
Share this:
Preview Our NCTE Presentation
Ruth and I are getting ready for our presentation in San Antonio, which is just a couple of months away. We joined the NCTE 2008 Conference NING, where we're posting an abridged version of our presentation, which we'll give on November 22nd. Recently, Ruth suggested that we post the abridged presentation here at TWT. (The… Continue reading Preview Our NCTE Presentation
