There can be many moving parts in the writing workshop. Partnerships can be a driving force in the growth and goal setting of writers within your classroom. In my experience, there are three areas I work to strengthen within my writers to ensure partnerships foster this growth and development across the year.
We say to kids, “Here’s your notebook! Now you are writer!” We want kids to write in school and beyond. Maybe there are things we can do in school to keep their writerly lives going–even when our units of study and minilessons have moved on to other aspects of the work.
Intentional practice leads to better performance. Writing instruction follows a similar pattern, and by about six weeks into the year, teachers know their students. Just like soccer coaches, teachers can start to develop some responsive instruction, both from the figurative sidelines, as well as through direct instruction.
If we are not intentional, we can easily rush into many teaching points, instead of only one. We can overwhelm ourselves and our students. If we are not careful, we can miss the most important reason we sit with a student―the opportunity to listen and learn.
The mindset of our writers has a direct impact on the progress and success of our writers.
Conferring with young writers is far too complex to boiled down to just one important aspect. But… if you had to name the most important part of a writing conference, what would it be?
Teaching is an art, and sometimes tweaks don’t work as we hope or envision. However, I hope that these three ideas do increase the clarity of instruction in ways that help all students learn to be independent confident writers.
Welcome to the next stop on Melanie Meehan’s Every Child Can Write blog tour! Today’s focus is on Chapter 8, which has excellent ideas for educators when it comes to teaching striving writers about spelling and conventions. Be sure to comment on this post for a chance to win your own copy of Every Child Can Write! (You are going to want a copy of this book ASAP! It is THAT good!)
What are the themes that you come back to each school year? Today I explore the topics that I come back to each new year and share links from previous posts. Please share your ideas in the comments!
Inspired by a recent conversation I had with some fourth graders, today I want to share a post with you that is also something you can share with your students. Feel free to read, display, or otherwise share with your third fourth, fifth graders, and middle schoolers.
When we’re new at doing something, we try to achieve perfection too soon. Greatness isn’t something that can be achieved when we begin teaching writing using a workshop approach. It helps to extend ourselves some grace and accept being “good enough” when we start.
Write your post. Share it with the community. Comment on at least three other posts.
We can change up how we are teaching depending on the situation and circumstances, but in order to do that, we have to know some choices and moves we can make. Knowing this, there are a few quick ways we can think about repertoire within our whole group instruction.
The truth… I’d rather not talk about spelling. There are more important things in a writing workshop, than to talk about spelling. Spelling well is a good thing. When we edit what we write, it is profusely important, but it has nothing to do with growing a writer.
When we focus on spelling or grammar correctness, the growing writer becomes stifled.
While every day is an opportunity to practice kindness, put our arms around the people we love, and cherish all that is good in our lives, perhaps today is an especially good day to remember the importance of doing those things.
Write your post. Share it with the community. Comment on at least three other posts.
Do your writers know how strategies can help them reach their destination? Better yet, do they know where they are going?
Welcome to the Slice of Life Story Challenge. Write your post. Share it with the community. Comment on at least three other posts. This month, I have collected some quotes from Toni Morrison… Continue reading
For students, a read aloud is a serious tool. It is a source of building community, language, literacy, and much more. Read alouds offer a lot for the growth of a reader, but… Continue reading
The more that we understand the distinctive characteristics of the intelligences, the better we can recognize ways to differentiate for learners, honoring the spectrum of learning styles that exist in not only our classrooms, but also our world.
