So today I was in a second grade classroom. After the focus lesson, I sent them back to do some important work on envisioning their story and making a plan. Students are all of the place as far as their personal writing processes and their work toward writing a personal narrative. Therefore, there were many,… Continue reading Let ‘Em Work It Out!
Category: writing workshop
Student Teachers & Writing Workshop
One of our readers, who has asked to remain anonymous, e-mailed me this morning with regard to the student teacher in their classroom. The person who is student teaching is great, but is 'slowing down' Writing Workshop. Therefore, I offered to blog a bit about this topic since I had a steady stream of student… Continue reading Student Teachers & Writing Workshop
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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!
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Develop a Vision.
I've been thinking lately about the importance of writers having a vision for the work they will do. This is one of those ideas that has become more and more important to me as I work with more and more students. The ones who write well are the ones who are able to envision their… Continue reading Develop a Vision.
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Inquiry Stance.
Many of the classrooms I'm working in are launching into a personal narrative study. I've encouraged all of them to approach their study from an inquiry stance. Meaning, get lots of personal narratives and have students read, read, read them. Then choose a couple and have students study them as writers. I've been reading Study… Continue reading Inquiry Stance.
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Write Beside Them.
Late last week, this book came in the mail. Write Beside Them, by Penny Kittle has me glued to the couch, with highlighter in hand. I'm beginning to think it may be easier to highlight the stuff that I don't want to remember than all of the words that are striking me at the… Continue reading Write Beside Them.
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Hello Slicers!
Welcome! Please link your Slice of Life Story.
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Ruth’s MM: Laney Windelon.
In 1984 my parents gave me Laney Windelon, my very own Cabbage Patch kid to adopt. I remember Laney being the first gift to ever bring tears to my eyes. She was made just for me. I wanted: red hair; two braids; blue eyes; closed mouth smile; and a dimple. My mom searched… Continue reading Ruth’s MM: Laney Windelon.
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Inspiring Writers.
My presentation, Inspiring Writers, is divided into a few different parts. First, a read aloud: Second , the slide presentation: Inspiring Writers - Upload a Document to Scribd Next a writer's notebook entry: Make a list of things that make you happy. Click here for inspiring tunes. Then an excerpt from Penny Kittle's… Continue reading Inspiring Writers.
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Inspired Writers?
Tonight I'm giving a presentation entitled: Inspiring Writers. I chose this title a month ago because I knew it was general enough to cover anything I may want to discuss. For the past few weeks I've been struggling with this presentation. Simply, what do I want to tell these teachers? How, in an hour, can… Continue reading Inspired Writers?
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Discussion Forum.
Woo-hoo, I'm going to be teaching my English 9 class in a 1:1 Classroom. This means there is a computer for every student! As you can imagine, the wheels are spinning about ways I can use technology to help students become more authentic readers and writers. I'll be using Moodle as the course management system. … Continue reading Discussion Forum.
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Playing with Time
Since my students are quickly publishing a small moment story this week, I only had one day (yesterday) to teach a revision strategy. I chose to teach them how to play with time, which is an idea I adapted from Jim Vopat's Micro Lessons for Writing book. I gave my students a mini-chart for the… Continue reading Playing with Time
