Prepare yourself for some exquisite words to get your writing week off to a wonderful start.
Category: writing workshop
Writing on the Walls
What we place on the walls of a classroom tells students, or any other person who enters the room, what is valued most, and what we should value most in our classrooms is student work.
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Thinking Big About Writing
The writing work in our building is transforming, and it is exciting to be a part of the change, to witness the impact on kids as we make our workshops increasingly authentic and compelling. We are constantly reflecting on what’s working—what’s leading to measurable shifts in how we plan for writing (and how kids experience writing)—as well as where we might be getting stuck: places there is genuine motivation to transform the task, and yet, our best intentions are still missing the mark in some significant way.
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Overview of the 13th Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge
This March, we’ll host the 13th Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge.
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Engaging a Writer’s Emotional Awareness
I'm on a path to understanding how emotions connect to engaged writers. Today I'm sharing some resources to bring you along with me.
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A Peek Into the Start of an Information Unit
When we show students examples of what they should be creating before and during their writing, we are, in many ways, providing them a figurative ride up the chairlift with many good skiers in front of them. In two separate classrooms, I introduced an information writing unit with a classroom teacher with a pile of books and writing samples and the students sitting in a circle. "Your job," I said, "is to look at these books and pieces like writers. What did the author do? How did they do it?"
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The Importance of Audience
When we create space for our students to have authentic and meaningful experiences, we shift the learning and growing of the writer. Something extraordinary happens deep inside a writer that excites and illuminates purpose when publishing for an authentic audience.
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Write. Share. Give.
It's a great day for a slice of life story! What stories must you share today?
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Interview with Teacher and Author Kate Narita + Giveaway
4th grade teacher and published author, Kate Narita, answers my questions today about being a writer and an educator who is currently in the classroom. Be sure to comment for a chance to win a copy of Kate's book 100 Bugs! A Counting Story, a class set of bookmarks, and a 15 minutes Skype with Kate!
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Three Ways To Make Your Conferring More Effective
I've been trying to improve my own skills as I sit down next to writers throughout my years of teaching writing, and there is so much more to conferring than the three ideas that I'm sharing in this post.
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Six Essential Acts of Kindness
Kindness is an essential part of teaching life. According to Fred Rogers, “There are three ways to ultimate success: The first way is to be kind. The second way is to be kind. The third way is to be kind.”
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Focus Lessons: A Review and Giveaway!
Reading Ralph Fletcher's newest book, Focus Lessons, revealed memories of my childhood much the way photos can be revealed in a pan of solution. Slowly, vividly, and magically.
