After yesterday's writing, I was reminded of something I read in Ralph Fletcher's A Writer's Notebook: Unlocking the Writer Within You. (Since this is the second reference for this book in less than a week -- Stacey's post is here -- you may want to consider buying it! Wink . . . Wink!) He writes:… Continue reading Old Photos
Category: writing workshop
Memoir Monday: How things used to be.
From my writer's notebook yesterday: Today I came across an old mini-golf score card from when I beat Andy. (This doesn't happen very often, so I stuck it in my very first writer's notebook in order to remember.) Like a whoosh from opening a bottle of pop, I was flooded with feelings of how things… Continue reading Memoir Monday: How things used to be.
Share this:
Share this:
Thank You!
Little did I know what I was in for when I asked for response. Thank you! Thank you! I cannot even begin to tell you how your response has stretched me as a writer and gave me insight as a teacher. What a neat little community we have here of teachers and writers together. Thank… Continue reading Thank You!
Share this:
Share this:
Take off the Top of Your Head!
After all of the writer's notebook work and the storyboard work and the oral storytelling, it sometimes seems as though students don't realize how they then need to craft their draft. I've found that explicit teaching of this idea is important. Today I did just that with some third graders. I showed them my storyboard… Continue reading Take off the Top of Your Head!
Share this:
Share this:
What really happens to you?
This past March we started the Slice of Life Story Challenge in an effort to help teachers (and kids) preserve little moments of their lives in writing. Most of us, myself included, live extremely ordinary lives. However, there's something about carving out a slice of one's day, and writing about it, that can make the… Continue reading What really happens to you?
Share this:
Share this:
Glimmers
I love having days when I witness signs of my students becoming stronger writers. Here are four glimmers from my day: One of my students shared an original poem that she mentored after "How to Eat a Poem" during our Morning Meeting Poetry Friday Share. Her first line was mentored after the first line of… Continue reading Glimmers
Share this:
Share this:
Writing That Matters
Yesterday I worked with three students, from different classes, who were writing about the death of a parent. That's rough. My first thought is sometimes: Who's encouraging topic choice? No thank you! I didn't sign up for this. Anyone who knows me, knows that's not what I really believe. First, I'm the one encouraging topic choice. … Continue reading Writing That Matters
Share this:
Share this:
Write for a Purpose
Most of us know the importance of writing with our students. However, there is a significant difference between being a genuine writer and writing simply for the sake of having an model to share with students. When we enter focus lessons with a piece of our writing in tow, and yet already have all of… Continue reading Write for a Purpose
Share this:
Share this:
The Craft Table for A SWEET SMELL OF ROSES is complete!
I dissected Angela Johnson's Book, A Sweet Smell of Roses, to the best of my ability today. I created wordy teaching points so you can truly help your students to see what craft moves Johnson made (at least, the ones I think she made). This will help you show the writers in your classroom how… Continue reading The Craft Table for A SWEET SMELL OF ROSES is complete!
Share this:
Share this:
Be a GENUINE Writer.
What is the one thing that will make the biggest, lasting impact in our writing workshops? Being a writer ourselves. Now I'm not talking about writing in order to be an example or a model to our students (although this is a positive side-effect). No, the kind I'm talking about is writing for a purpose greater than… Continue reading Be a GENUINE Writer.
Share this:
Share this:
Start Photocopying Student Work Before Its Published!
Sometimes I think we forget to preserve our students' writing work as they're going through the writing process. Too often, I've forgotten to photocopy a great timeline or a first draft in which the child goes back, using revision strategies, adding more or taking huge chunks away with scissors or a thick marker. So this… Continue reading Start Photocopying Student Work Before Its Published!
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.
