writing · writing workshop

Demonstration Writing: Sometimes They Need To See “Writing Thinking”

Making my writing thinking visible to my students has given them another tool to “get unstuck”...

aimee buckner · authors · biography · colleen cruz · Day by Day · early childhood · katie wood ray · Lester L. Laminack · LIWP · lucy calkins · primary grades · reflections · shared writing · thankful · writing workshop

In Thanks: Books That Built a Writing Teacher

What are the books that have shaped you as a teacher of writing? Reflecting today, in thanks, for the authors and books that have influenced my life as a teacher.

Slice of Life Story Challenge · writing workshop

Tuesday Slice of Life Story Challenge on #TWTBlog

Welcome to the Slice of Life Story Challenge on this great Tuesday. We are so glad you are joining us today.

writing process · writing workshop

Living the Life of a Writer

At this point of the school year, your writing workshop is probably in full swing.  You are chugging along through your writing curriculum, and you are probably using checklists and rubrics to assess your young writers' developing skills.  Today's post is a reminder to step back and think not only about the discrete writing skills… Continue reading Living the Life of a Writer

academic choice · authentic assessment · celebration · collecting · lessons learned from students · writing workshop

Drilling Down into the Writing

Of the many ways I gain an understanding of my writers, my favorite and most valuable is gathering up all the writing and diving into reading ALL the students’ work.

minilesson · writing workshop

A Short & Sweet Minilesson Formula

There is a formula that I use, time and time again, to adapt my own minilessons. Yes, this formula helps me keep my minilessons to about ten minutes and makes planning more streamlined, but more importantly this formula helps me with one of my personal goals as a teacher: student engagement.

writing workshop

The View from Pennsylvania: A Trip to Highlights Foundation

  A little over a year ago, Stacey posted about an "Unworkshop" at a place called the Highlights Foundation. Her experience sounded blissful and it soon became something on my bucket list. I then began looking for workshop opportunities at this special little place in Pennsylvania. What I found was that they offered a variety… Continue reading The View from Pennsylvania: A Trip to Highlights Foundation

writing workshop

Where do your minilessons live?

How do we keep these minilessons alive for our kids? What do we do to make sure our kids have these anchor charts to reference as they begin drafting, revising, editing?

collaboration · community · LIWP · NWP · opinion writing · reading · writing workshop

A Tale of Teachers: Collaboration, Community, Connection

Once upon a time, there was a teacher who became a better teacher by connecting with other passionate educators...

mentor author · mentor texts · writing workshop

A Closer Look

Try typing out a mentor text to get a closer look.

conferences · conferring · writing · writing workshop

Writing Workshop Feels Better with Less

Our workshop was feeling forced, unnatural, and just rushed! We struggled to fit it all in and share time (the most valued time) was cut short with only 1 or 2 writers sharing each day. Something had to give. Writers weren't growing, I wasn't conferring, and it just didn't feel calm and productive. I reflected on our workshop, the work of the writers, and the choices I was making, but I couldn't figure out what was making me feel so unsettled.

writing workshop

Writers ARE Readers: A Review and a Giveaway

Writers ARE Readers explores the connection between reading and writing instruction.