blogging · writing workshop

Writing for the Internet

The internet has changed the way we read and write. Here is a lead-in lesson to consider those changes with your students.

summer vacation · tcrwp · vacation · writing workshop

Summer Institutes Here We Come!

Whether it's an institute put on by your own district, or an expert is coming to town, or if you'll be traveling many miles to take part, I hope that you are as excited about attending your institutes as I am about teaching them.

balanced literacy · classroom · independent writing · lesson plans · lucy calkins · minilesson · organization · professional development · tcrwp · units of study · writing workshop

How To Read A Unit of Study

As the school year comes to a close, many of the schools I work with are launching into a week or so of in-service, summer institutes, and other professional development. It's "curriculum season" in many places around the country. For many writing teachers, that means diving into the Units of Study for Opinion, Information, and Narrative Writing by Lucy… Continue reading How To Read A Unit of Study

writing workshop

TWT post: Google docs + writing workshop = happy writing teacher (and happy writing students)

When I was asked to pilot Google docs in the last month of our school year, I was enthusiastic... but also a bit blasé. It seemed like a wonderful “new thing”, and although I am all for trying out new things in my classroom, I also knew that I had developed and fine tuned a… Continue reading TWT post: Google docs + writing workshop = happy writing teacher (and happy writing students)

writers · writing workshop

Office Work

I love the idea of spending the first several days of school learning how to be a writer. By studying other writers’ processes, we can begin to demystify the act of writing.

writing workshop

Book Review: Linda Rief – Read Write Teach

"I must be what I teach: writer, reader,speaker, listener." - Linda Rief Teaching our kids to read and write with commitment and passion is an ever evolving labor of love.  There are so many expert educators to read, so many moving pieces to choreograph, so many new ideas to sift through, figure out and put… Continue reading Book Review: Linda Rief – Read Write Teach

writing workshop

More Talk

What is the role of talk in your writing workshop? Do you talk about your ideas before writing?

writing workshop

Time to Write, Share & Give

Share your Slice of Life Story today.

common core · goals · plan · publishing · units of study · writing workshop

Get Out Your Calendars! It’s June Planning Time!

If we do nothing else, we do this one thing…Read this post to find out what it is!

writing workshop

Have You Used Prezi?

I had heard of Prezi. I thought about Prezi. I used Powerpoint anyway. I am preparing a presentation for July and had it practically done in Powerpoint. I was happy with the muted colors and pretty watermark flower that adorned each slide. The slides were full of words and photos…a lot of words though. I… Continue reading Have You Used Prezi?

writing workshop

Curating a year of writing: assembling writing portfolios and time for reflection

With two weeks left in our school year, it is at last time to begin putting together our writing portfolios, setting aside some time to time travel through our year of writing workshop, and reflect upon both the progress we've made as writers as well as the goals we'd like to set for the new school… Continue reading Curating a year of writing: assembling writing portfolios and time for reflection

management · summer vacation · writing workshop

How Are You Going to Read All That?

It's almost summer! Time for sunshine, flip-flops, barbecue grills, and reading student writing.