Deb is hosting Day in a Sentence this week. She's offering a couple of themes to work off of in case you need inspiration when you boil-down your day. Here's my submission: The beginning of the school year is about striking the right balance in three ways: making kids feel safe, setting high expectations, and… Continue reading Day in a Sentence: Beginnings
Category: writing
It’s time for the SOLSC!
Please link your Slice of Life Story to this post. Be sure to also read through other participants' Slices once you've posted yours. 🙂
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Happy September!
Welcome to the first M.M. of September. Leave a link to your memory/post by using Mr. Linky. Note: I'm no longer posting charges on the weekend since I don't think anyone who participates in M.M. needs them anymore. Everyone's been coming up with their memories in their own special way. 🙂
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Sharing a Notebook Lesson
Aimee Buckner's Book, Notebook Know-How, is an excellent resource for providing kids with strategies for generating notebook writing. Since many folks who took our poll asserted that they wanted more info on units of study, I figured I'd post a minilesson of mine that is based off of Buckner's Best and Worst Life Events Strategy.… Continue reading Sharing a Notebook Lesson
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Combo: 2 questionnaires meshed into one
Literacy Interview Originally uploaded by teachergal My colleague recently gave me a copy of a Reading Profile she uses with her students. Loved it! However, it left me realizing that the Writing Interview I've given my students in the past would be overkill since that would be two interviews they'd have to fill-out for me.… Continue reading Combo: 2 questionnaires meshed into one
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PHOTO FRIDAYS: systems and tools that look pretty
old file tote with new folders Originally uploaded by teachergal I have four days left until I head back to school. Granted, I'll be in my classroom later today putting the finishing touches on the space. However, it seems hard to believe that summer is nearly over. I've been trying to fix-up my systems this… Continue reading PHOTO FRIDAYS: systems and tools that look pretty
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Recap of T.B.P.S.
Some of the quotes/highlights from our posts, which you can locate at any time by typing "Big Picture Series" into the SEARCH BOX on the top right corner of this blog. “So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they’re busy doing things they think are important. This is… Continue reading Recap of T.B.P.S.
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The Big Picture: Happy Mail!!!
This is the final post of The Big Picture Series. (Ruth stated hers was the last, but after I received some mail from her today, I decided we needed to have just one more post in this Series.) I returned home from running errands about 30 minutes ago and found a thick, manila envelope in… Continue reading The Big Picture: Happy Mail!!!
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Poetry Friday: Writer’s Notebook
Here's a poem from Ralph Fletcher's book, A Writing Kind of Day. Writer's Notebooks My brother Tom says he's a hundredaire with two hundred fifty dollars in his bank account. Dad's a thousandaire. I gave baby Julia two pennies so now she's a pennyaire. When I look at Julia her little bald head reminds me… Continue reading Poetry Friday: Writer’s Notebook
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Online Poetry Class (Stanford University)
A few months ago Kirsten Andersen who is a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University visited my classroom. She sat with my students and conferred with them about their poetry. She spent an extraordinary amount of time with my students truly listening to what they had to say about their writing. Even though she was only… Continue reading Online Poetry Class (Stanford University)
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STRONG EMOTIONS MINILESSON
I was asked, by Ro, about my Strong Emotions/Skittles Lesson. I normally don't post minilessons I write in this forum for several reasons (one of which is that it doesn't align with the mission statement Ruth and I composed for this blog). However, this one is a bit out-of-the-box. Hence, I am posting the minilesson… Continue reading STRONG EMOTIONS MINILESSON
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Units of Study: A Classroom Teacher’s Perspective
Mary Anne left a comment earlier this evening, in which she asked some questions about the units of study: "Can you talk a little about your experience with Lucy Calkins' Units of Study? I am using it for the first time and, although I have lots of experience teaching writing, I would love to hear… Continue reading Units of Study: A Classroom Teacher’s Perspective
