This was the title of Katherine Bomer's keynote speech which she gave at 9 am this morning. Katherine was inspiring and uplifting and simply amazing. Anyone who has read this blog for any amount of time knows that Stacey and I are both believers in the power of art. About two years ago I went… Continue reading Reading [Student Writing] Like an Artist.
Category: writing workshop
All-Write Summer Institute 2008: Day One
Today I've been able to soak up thinking and ideas and general good stuff from: Penny Kittle. Lester Laminack. Katherine Bomer. My, oh my! To say my brain is swirling would be an understatement. How do I even begin to capture my learning and thinking and growing? I think I'll begin a list of stuff… Continue reading All-Write Summer Institute 2008: Day One
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getting organized for next year
Conferring Notebook Tabs Originally uploaded by teachergal Anyone who puts up next year's bulletin boards before the school year ends will feel at-home when reading this post since that's what I do since I don't like waiting to do everything in late August. Hence, today I also began working on my writing conference notebook. I… Continue reading getting organized for next year
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Flipping My Schedule Upside Down
Today might be one of a handful of times I will ever teaching Writing Workshop after lunch when my kids come back from dance. (I LOVE teaching writing in the morning. When I was in NYC, my principal gave me special permission to do this since we were supposed to teach it in the afternoon.)… Continue reading Flipping My Schedule Upside Down
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Two Writing Teachers Turns One Today!
1st blog birthday card to ruth Originally uploaded by teachergal One year ago, today, Ruth and I started this blog. For two months we wrote content and tried to finesse it so that it was ready to go "out into the world." And here we are, one year and over 800 posts later! What a… Continue reading Two Writing Teachers Turns One Today!
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Favorite Genres
One of the questions on my Year-End Writing Evaluation was "What was your favorite genre/unit of study this year and why?" All of the kids only choose three genres from a list of eight. They chose (in order of popularity): Memoir Poetry Picture Books/Fiction The unpopular genres were personal narrative, friendly letters, personal essay, literary… Continue reading Favorite Genres
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Shifting Gears: From Drafting to Revision and Editing
Poetry is one of my favorite genres to teach. I simply love the way the genre empowers ALL kids to have success with their words. (Quite frankly, I wish I could teach it in November, right before personal essay, but for some reason it never happens that way! Making it the last genre of the… Continue reading Shifting Gears: From Drafting to Revision and Editing
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Preparing for Tomorrow’s Mentor Poems Lesson
Starting My Poetry Craft Table Originally uploaded by teachergal Tomorrow, I'm doing some explicit instruction on identifying poetic tools in poems we admire and then trying to use those tools in our own poetry. Hence, I'll be using this Poetry Craft Table, which I either adapted from Pat Werner or from Davis & Hill's Book… Continue reading Preparing for Tomorrow’s Mentor Poems Lesson
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the big picture.
Yesterday I received a note in snail mail from a former student who graduated this year. Here is what it said, typed as closely as possible to the original: Thank you Mrs. Ayres, you tought me alot you always were there for me to help me through the ruff times. you Believed in me when… Continue reading the big picture.
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Making Mentor Poems Accessible At Any Time
Mentor Poems Bulletin Board, originally uploaded by teachergal. I realized the other day that it was unfair to only provide extra mentor poems, from my mentor poems binder, to kids when I conferred with them. Hence, in addition to handing out a packet of mentor poems after each minilesson, I also put together this new… Continue reading Making Mentor Poems Accessible At Any Time
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Summer Reading.
At my daughter's k - 3 school, there is a summer reading challenge. Each year the challenge changes, but the idea is to encourage a LOT of reading over the summer. This year it is to read 1000 pages over the next 10 weeks. Wow! At first I thought we'd have trouble. However, last night… Continue reading Summer Reading.
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Thomas Sweet: The Evolution of My Blend-Ins
My father began taking me to Thomas Sweet Ice Cream Shop when I was around six or seven years old. He introduced me to Blend-Ins, which is ice cream that is blended with candy in a special machine. YUM! I started off with Sweet Cream Ice Cream and blended-in Oreos, Plain M&M's and Reese's Peanut… Continue reading Thomas Sweet: The Evolution of My Blend-Ins
