Here's a great link to some persuasive letter lessons, complete with a business letter template, which I've used with my students since I started teaching, over at Scholastic.com. True, it's written for high schoolers, but you can adapt some of these sheets, as well as the lesson, for an elementary school Writing Workshop.
Category: writing workshop
Amazing Reasoning
I tried to announce a working snack time, like I always do, at the end of Writing Workshop today. However, my students didn't budge. Every single child in the classroom stayed-put where they were sitting and continued to write! What were they writing? Well, they were writing down the logical reasons they'll use to try… Continue reading Amazing Reasoning
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Choice & Genre Studies
After I attended the November 17th NCTE Workshop entitled "Where Has All The Real Choice Gone?" my mind started turning. Ruth and I went out for cupcakes and coffee at Buttercup Bake Shop hours after attending together and we couldn't stop talking about the issue of choice in the writing classroom. Hence, after grappling with… Continue reading Choice & Genre Studies
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New Header
Joel from "So You Want To Teach" created our new image header. It's a combination of our old one (sans the paper clips) and a little something new. Please let me us know what you think of it (and which one you prefer: the old one or this one). THANKS!
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More from NCTE
Ruth and I joined up this morning for two workshops: "Where has all the Real Choice Gone? Revisiting an Essential Element in Writing Instruction" and also for "Where Social Justice and School Meet." We're going to chat this evening over coffee and cupcakes to talk about the issues that were presented in those sessions, as… Continue reading More from NCTE
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big week.
Tomorrow starts a four day workshop that I'm leading. It's a basic introduction to writing workshop with practical tips on how to get started. It's filled pastthe brim with 31 teachers and has a 12 person waiting list. (And this happened within a week of the workshop being posted.) Woah! So, needless to say, I… Continue reading big week.
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Blogger Challenge
I've started a BLOGGER CHALLENGE over at DonorsChoose.org in order to get some funding for writing into other teachers' classrooms. As you know, our motto is "Write: It's Good For You!" Therefore, we hope you will consider funding these proposals that OTHER teachers (not us) in high-need/high-poverty schools have submitted on DonorsChoose. THANKS, in advance,… Continue reading Blogger Challenge
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A Must-Read for All WW Teachers
An article published this past summer in Education Next came across my desk today. "The Lucy Calkins project: parsing a self-proclaimed literacy guru" disturbed me for two reasons: 1. Lucy was my professor for four courses when I was a graduate student at Teachers College. She taught me how to be a better teacher of… Continue reading A Must-Read for All WW Teachers
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Thinking Critically About the Writing Workshop: Reflecting on the Way I Teach Writing
I wanted to reflect on some questions my former professor, Stephanie Jones, presents at the end of chapter 11 in her book Girls, Social Class, and Literacy. She asks readers to consider some questions about the Writing Workshop that they teach. Here are her questions and my answers: 1. How are students positioned in Writing… Continue reading Thinking Critically About the Writing Workshop: Reflecting on the Way I Teach Writing
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i flopped.
Big Time. Seriously. It wasn't pretty. But it was a good experience. Here's the scenario -- A classroom of first graders + Exploding folders filled with stories + Each story is written across pages + NO staples + A weak focus lesson = Monster Chaos The teacher took a photo & I must say a… Continue reading i flopped.
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Here’s what’s going inside of the memory box I’ll create tomorrow with my students…
1. Golf Glove purchased on Kiawah Island in the late 1990's. Used twice. Maybe three times. Stories from my golf lesson abound. (I think this is what I'll model with during my Minilesson Demo since I have very few memories of using this item. But the ones I do have are pretty funny, albeit embarrassing.… Continue reading Here’s what’s going inside of the memory box I’ll create tomorrow with my students…
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Memory Boxes
We're creating Memory Boxes in Writing Workshop tomorrow. (Then on Tuesday they'll start writing entries based-off of the items in their box.) Problem: It's 10:03 p.m. and I haven't figured out what to put in my box yet. ARGH!!! I've started looking around my desk and have come up with items that I'm unsure of...… Continue reading Memory Boxes
