Swan Boats: Boston -- June 2009 Originally uploaded by teachergal A few days ago, one of our readers pointed out that we were getting close to having a half-million hits here on TWT. Today 500,000 hits became a reality. On behalf of both of us, thank you for being part of our blog about the… Continue reading 500,000

Need some inspiration?  Check out this post and the comments from the weekend!  Thanks everyone for participating in Living Like a Writer.  If you participated and haven't left a comment, it's not too late -- the comments are still open!  🙂  Tracy even made a video!  Make sure to check it out!

I've been thinking a lot about the everyday stories of life.  There is so much power in the ordinary, routine, and daily living that we do.  Yet so often, this living just passes through us like the air we breathe.  Suddenly the week is over.  Suddenly it's the weekend.  Suddenly summer is over.  Suddenly the… Continue reading Finding Meaning.

My slice of life involves painters arriving at 8:00 am + four rooms and a hallway.  I was up until after 1:30 am removing wallpaper glue and back at it at 5:30 am this morning.  Suddenly I remembered I'm responsible for hosting Slice of Life Story Challenge.  So here it is . . .  

Stacey and I decided to use Fridays throughout the summer to share inspiration for living like writers.  Since storytelling is on my mind (and many of yours -- thanks for the comments!), I thought I'd offer this challenge: Tell a story this weekend.  While you're at it, why not tell it a couple of different… Continue reading Living Like Writers: Storytelling.

We went to the library yesterday, and my son checked out the same book that he has been checking out on a regular basis for two years.  (That's over half of his life!)  The Trucker by Brenda and Mark Weatherby is a hit in our house -- the girls have given it a thumbs up… Continue reading Mentor Text Thursday: The Trucker

Recently I saw this advertisement on a rare stint in front of a television. Story Matters Here. It caught my attention.  Partly because of the design and the color and the lettering.  Mostly because I liked the ring of it.  Story matters here too, I thought. It has remained in my thoughts and I kept… Continue reading Story Matters Here.

You mustmustmustmustcheck out Mary Helen Gensch's blog, Book Savors!  The entire blog is dedicated to using books as mentor texts -- she gives a title, a brief summary, and then a handful of teaching points from the book.  Wow! While you're at it, you may want to read her initial post which shares the mission… Continue reading Mentor Text Thursday: A GOLDMINE!

We've had many positive comments in regards to Mentor Text Thursdays. This is why Mark Overmeyer's recent post may be of interest.  He reviewed two books about reading like a writer.  Katie Wood Ray's Wondrous Words is one of my favorite (and most influential books) about the teaching of writing.  The other one is a… Continue reading Reading Like a Writer