Gearing Up for the Classroom Part of the Slice of Life Story Challenge

Sunday February 22, 2009Sunday February 22, 2009 Stacey Shubitz12 Comments

Are you planning to host a Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC) in your classroom during the month of March? If so, here are some basic tools to launch it this-coming Sunday, 3/1/09. #1) Send home an announcement about the SOLSC this week. Here's an example of the one I'm sending home, which looks a… Continue reading Gearing Up for the Classroom Part of the Slice of Life Story Challenge

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messy assessment :)

Sunday February 22, 2009Sunday February 22, 2009 Ruth Ayres1 Comment

Terri left the following comment on a recent post, "Tracks of Teaching." I was just thinking of this very thing this morning. How do you assess kids on what you have taught if none of it is evident? For example, I taught a unit of study on narrative poetry. A student turned in an essay… Continue reading messy assessment 🙂

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tracks of teaching.

Saturday February 21, 2009Saturday February 21, 2009 Ruth Ayres4 Comments

I've always been a big believer that the "tracks of teaching" should be evident when walking into a classroom. By this, I mean that if I simply scan the walls of a classroom, I should be able to know what has been studied. Right now, if you would enter the classroom I teach in, you… Continue reading tracks of teaching.

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Hooray! Hooray! Today’s the 100th Day!!!

Friday February 13, 2009Friday February 13, 2009 Stacey Shubitz2 Comments

I used to think the 100th Day was bogus (when I started teaching). I didn't get it (probably because I never celebrated it as a kid). However, as the years went on, I've grown to LOVE the 100th Day of School. I have soooo much planned to do today, which includes a Poetry Friday Poem… Continue reading Hooray! Hooray! Today’s the 100th Day!!!

big picture · writing workshop

Recap of Last Week’s Big Picture Series

Sunday February 8, 2009Sunday February 8, 2009 Stacey Shubitz2 Comments

TBPS Logo for Week of 020109 Originally uploaded by teachergal Here's a recap of all of our "Getting Back to Basics" Posts: SUNDAY: structures & routines MONDAY: minilessons TUESDAY: mentor texts WEDNESDAY: conferring THURSDAY: sharing FRIDAY: assessment SATURDAY: strategy charts There was a lot of discussion around the conferring post, but we'd love to have… Continue reading Recap of Last Week’s Big Picture Series

big picture · minilesson · strategies · strategy charts · writing workshop

Back to Basics: Strategy Charts (Part of TWT’s Big Picture Series)

Saturday February 7, 2009Sunday February 8, 2009 Stacey Shubitz

Memoir: Early Strategy Chart Originally uploaded by teachergal I tend to have a lot of mini-charts for my students' notebooks rather than hanging large ones around the room (these days). However, I thought this one was worthy of some wall space. Essentially, these are the teaching points from the first four collecting minilessons of our… Continue reading Back to Basics: Strategy Charts (Part of TWT’s Big Picture Series)

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Back to Basics: Assessment (Part of TWT’s Big Picture Series)

Friday February 6, 2009Friday February 6, 2009 Ruth Ayres1 Comment

Assessment. Is there anything basic about it? As I've lamented about what to post on this topic today, I decided to look back and share how I survived assessing writing when I first began teaching according to the Writing Workshop philosophy nearly nine years ago. Here is a golden nugget: Assess writing through different lenses.… Continue reading Back to Basics: Assessment (Part of TWT’s Big Picture Series)

slice of life · writing workshop

Drawing

Wednesday February 4, 2009Thursday February 5, 2009 Stacey Shubitz1 Comment

SOLSC Drawing for 020309 Originally uploaded by teachergal And the Items from KisforCalligraphy go to... Kelly! The video is very blurry, but feel free to watch it (and get a good chuckle about my digital video skills).

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A Word About Giveaways.

Wednesday February 4, 2009 Ruth Ayres3 Comments

After having several emails in regards to our decision to give away "prizes" to our well-loved Slicers, I feel the need to make a public post about our rationale. The long and the short of the matter: We thought it would be fun. In no way did we imagine it would be at odds to… Continue reading A Word About Giveaways.

big picture · minilesson · tcrwp · writing workshop

Back to Basics: Minilesson Parts (Part of TWT’s Big Picture Series)

Monday February 2, 2009Monday February 2, 2009 Ruth Ayres3 Comments

So what are the basic parts of a minilesson? Here's a short list according to the Teachers College Reading & Writing Project at Columbia University: Connection -- The reason for teaching today's lesson. A great way to start out is with these words, "Yesterday I noticed . . . " Our teaching should be in… Continue reading Back to Basics: Minilesson Parts (Part of TWT’s Big Picture Series)

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THIS WEEK: Another Big Picture Series

Sunday February 1, 2009Thursday February 5, 2009 Stacey Shubitz2 Comments

Ruth and I talked last week about some of the comments and e-mails we've been getting this week. Many of the comments are from teachers who are feeling torn about test prep, while many more of the e-mails are from teachers who are implementing Writing Workshop for the first time and are looking for assistance.… Continue reading THIS WEEK: Another Big Picture Series