I was conferring with one of my students in Writing Workshop yesterday and quickly found, as I researched, my compliment (meaningful line breaks while drafting) and teaching point (using figurative language, specifically similes). I started to demonstrate what similes were by reviewing the concept of comparing two things with the words like or as. However,… Continue reading Teaching Figurative Language with Mentor Poems
Category: writing workshop
“Memoir Mondays” Inspiration
Is there a place you have been eating at for years… by yourself or with family? Is it a place you come back to for comfort food again and again? Have you celebrated special occasions at this place or is it just a local hangout? Consider indulging your writing (and maybe your palette too) this-coming… Continue reading “Memoir Mondays” Inspiration
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thinking things through.
The past week of my professional life has been dedicated to meeting with teachers and reflecting on their writing workshops. The gist of our meetings involves discussing successes and general good stuff happening in workshop, as well as goals and hopes for next year. I'm touched by how driven many teachers are in the quest… Continue reading thinking things through.
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The Queen of Forms Page Led Me to Create This!
elementary school version of the end of the year reflection tool that ruth created Originally uploaded by teachergal I went to Ruth's Queen of Forms Page, as per her earlier post today, to take a look at the Year-End Writing Evaluation that she has for middle school students. I adapted it to my elementary school… Continue reading The Queen of Forms Page Led Me to Create This!
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remember this.
From time to time I check in on Sara Holbrook's blog. Today I was shocked and saddened by the death of her 7 year old granddaughter earlier this month. I was also touched by her genuine emotions and willingness to share these emotions with the strangers of cyber space. I was reminded of the importance of being… Continue reading remember this.
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end of the year student reflection.
Last week I posted an end of the year refection for teachers to use to assess their writing workshops. I also believe it's important for students to do this same sort of work. Although I have students complete writing analysis alongside each published piece, I also ask they do a more comprehensive reflection on themselves… Continue reading end of the year student reflection.
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Ruth’s SOLSC: Keeping Company.
Sunday morning the little voice came to me through the monitor, "Momma, I'm uuuupppp." Since I was single-parenting-it (due to some massive sporting event in Indy that my husband was attending) and had just stepped out of the shower I thought, You're going to have to waaaaait. Then the knock at the door. Just a minute,… Continue reading Ruth’s SOLSC: Keeping Company.
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Poetry: 50 Stories Above the Surface
Prudential Center: Skywalk Observatory Originally uploaded by teachergal The entire fourth grade went high on Friday. What did we do? We went up to the Skywalk Observatory at the Prudential Center in Boston. (We didn't hit any traffic AND no one got motion sickness.) Kate and I gave our students a packet for them to… Continue reading Poetry: 50 Stories Above the Surface
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WN ENTRY: This Work Matters!
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“Responding to Poetry” – Form Evolution
Kate and I have been going back-and-forth with "the best" format we can use for getting our kids to start responding to poetry. After something didn't work as well with my fourth graders (as it did with my fifth graders), we worked together to recreate the fifth grade sheet I had so that it would… Continue reading “Responding to Poetry” – Form Evolution
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What do you notice about this poem?
Brainstorming About "Pencils" by Barbara Esbensen Originally uploaded by teachergal Since I came back today, my kids only had one day's worth of formal poetry instruction. Hence, I wanted to spend some time doing some noticing of the tools one poet used in their poem (in this case, Barbara Esbensen's Poem "Pencils," which I've used… Continue reading What do you notice about this poem?
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Writing Workshop Teacher – Reflection
A few days ago Ruth blogged about "end of the year reflections," where she posted a link to her wiki where one could download an end of the year teaching reflection about Writing Workshop. Still wound-up from my day in Boston, and needing to get focused back on preparing for the week ahead, I decided… Continue reading Writing Workshop Teacher – Reflection
