Congratulations to everyone who participated in the Third Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge. Ruth and I were delighted to have new people join our growing writing community for the challenge last month. Click here to view the recipients of the drawings. We hope you'll continue writing anecdotes about little slices of your life by… Continue reading Weekly SOLSC Begins Again!
Category: writing
The Zone
I've been thinking about Nancie Atwell's book, The Reading Zone, lately. Last week I gave a lesson about this idea in a ninth grade class. This weekend I've realized how this concept is important for writers too. We must intentionally focus in order to write well, even when we don't feel like it. I'd like to… Continue reading The Zone
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Save the NWP!
On February 1, the Obama administration released its 2011 budget proposal. In this proposed budget, funding for the NWP is consolidated with five other literacy programs under a new states-based competitive grants program that provides money for improving literacy. The NWP national network would not be eligible to compete for its own funding. In… Continue reading Save the NWP!
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Op-Ed
The New York Times published an Op-Ed, "Playing to Learn," today by Susan Engel, who is a senior lecturer in psychology and the director of the Williams College Teaching Program. It's about education reform, specifically curriculum reform. Engel spent one full paragraph on the type of writing that she things should exist in elementary school… Continue reading Op-Ed
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Writing More in 2010
We're not big on New Year's Resolutions around here at TWT. We're big on living by the power of words. If your goal, hope, or desire this year is to push yourself as a writer, then we hope you'll consider joining our weekly Slice of Life Story Challenge. (For more information on what the Slice… Continue reading Writing More in 2010
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A Different Kind of Pen Pal
I was so honored to chair "Integrating Blogs, Podcasting, and Digital Videos into Fourth and Fifth Grade Language Arts Classes" at NCTE this year. I learned a tremendous amount about the right way to integrate technology into classrooms from these California educators (i.e., Carl Withaus, Gail Desler, Aparna Sinha, Manuel Senna, and Lesley McKillop). What… Continue reading A Different Kind of Pen Pal
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Creating Comics from a Real Life Experience
We were fortunate to cross paths into Kevin Hodgson when we were walking through the Convention Center at NCTE this afternoon. He was leading a Tech on-the-Go Presentation about creating digital comics with students. When Kevin asked for a volunteer to make a comic, we stepped up to the plate, creating a comic about our… Continue reading Creating Comics from a Real Life Experience
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Writing About Thanks
There's just a little over a week to go before Thanksgiving. Do you know what you're most thankful for? Want to ruminate about the things you're most thankful for through writing? If so, take a cue from Molly Irwin's Blog, where she writes about the idea of recording the things for which you're… Continue reading Writing About Thanks
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Integrating Blogs, Podcasting, and Digital Videos
NCTE's Annual Convention in Philadelphia in next week. I'm delighted to be chairing a session for some educators from California entitled "Integrating Blogs, Podcasting, and Digital Videos into 4th and 5th Grade Language Arts Classes." Here's the description of the session from the Convention Program: The presenters will discuss (1) how blogs were integrated into… Continue reading Integrating Blogs, Podcasting, and Digital Videos
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Publishing Books with Students
This past Monday I heard Kwame Alexander, who is a poet (He trained with Nikki Giovanni at Virgina Tech!), author, and founder of Book-in-a-Day, speak at the KSRA Conference in Hershey, PA. My handwritten notes from his talk about engaging students with poetry are at the bottom of this post. Alexander founded Book-in-a-Day, Inc., or… Continue reading Publishing Books with Students
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WordFest 2009
I presented at the Capital Area Writing Project's WordFest tonight. Just thought I'd share my presentation in this forum as well. SESSION NAME: Well-Chosen Words About Slices of Real Life BRIEF DESCRIPTION: Help your students find the beauty in their everyday lives by opening up your notebook and sharing your own writing with them. In… Continue reading WordFest 2009
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Today’s SOLSC Coincides with The National Day on Writing
Our weekly Slice of Life Story Challenge coincides with The National Day on Writing today. Celebrate this special day by doing one, or more, of the following things as a writer: 1) Craft a new piece of writing and link it below. 2) Peruse the National Gallery of Writing. 3) Take part in a live… Continue reading Today’s SOLSC Coincides with The National Day on Writing
