"You are an expert at your own life. Nobody else is." --Jen Bryant
Starting the year with Slice of Life writing.
As I mentioned in my post last week, my students’ first day of school writing surveys revealed a strong aversion to writing and a sense of “I have nothing to really write about.” So, we have spent most of our writing workshop time collecting writing ideas and storytelling; my sixth graders have learned, much to… Continue reading Starting the year with Slice of Life writing.
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Will you join us for dinner?
RSVP by 10/31 if you plan to join us for the Slicer Dinner at NCTE.
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Inquiry-Based Centers in Grades 3-8
Inquiry-based centers introduce kids to mentor texts while helping them find their own mentor texts.
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Wild Things! Review and a Giveaway
I enjoyed this book as a fan of children's literature, but it is also a valuable resource to teachers of literacy.
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Sharing the Work: Assigning Teacher Leaders for Unit Planning
There is an adage: if the teacher is working too hard, the students aren't working hard enough. There are many cases where this is true: in a writing conference when the teacher is doing all of the talking, during the revision process when a student is following a teacher's notated directions, in a lesson where the… Continue reading Sharing the Work: Assigning Teacher Leaders for Unit Planning
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Top Five Lessons to Teach to Writing Partners of All Ages Right Now
Writing partners can be an important source of inspiration and support for your kids. It's the rare kid who truly wants to work alone all the time. Writing requires an audience, someone to give a response, someone to read your work. There's no need to wait to get writing partners going. There are no "prerequisites" to… Continue reading Top Five Lessons to Teach to Writing Partners of All Ages Right Now
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Critique Group Check-In
How is your critique group going? See what others are saying!
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Share a slice of your life.
Last call for Slice of Life t-shirts. Remember, all of the proceeds from the sale of the shirts will benefit the Pajama Program.
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Sometimes we don’t write in writing workshop
On our first full day of sixth grade, I hand each of my students a reading and writing survey and ask them to tell me a little bit about themselves as readers and writers. Their answers, as they slowly filter in over the course of the week, allow me valuable insights. I learn about how… Continue reading Sometimes we don’t write in writing workshop
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The Story of the Giant Sequoia
Tony Johnston and Wendell Minor's new book, Sequoia, will be published later this month. Recently, both of them were gracious with their time and granted me interviews. Hear what they have to say about writing and illustrating. Get a sneak peek at this exquisite text you can use to infuse your students' informational writing with poetry.
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The Perfect Word
Have you ever been in the midst of your writing and you have to stop in order to find the perfect word?
