christopher lehman · common core · lucy calkins · standards · writing

Pathways to the Common Core + a Giveaway

I’ve been working hard to prepare lectures for my graduate students that address the  Common Core State Standards, or CCSS, with regard to the teaching of writing.  While I have read through the writing standards many times, I wanted to delve deeper into the CCSS so I could help my students understand the implications of… Continue reading Pathways to the Common Core + a Giveaway

conferences · conferring · record keeping · Reflective Practice

Learning how to confer with student writers

One of the teachers I'm working alongside is really focused on honing her conferring skills. So we are hunkering down beside students and listening intently to their work. She leads the conference and I listen. We've been considering the two parts of a conference. In a nutshell, these parts are: Part One: Figure out what… Continue reading Learning how to confer with student writers

Slice of Life Story Challenge

The Weekly Slice of Life Story Challenge Is Back!

Sorry that we missed you last week.  If you're like me, you probably still sliced even though you didn't link up to a weekly call for slices.  However, if you took the week off, then I hope you'll join us again today since the weekly challenge is back! Please link the Slice of Life Story… Continue reading The Weekly Slice of Life Story Challenge Is Back!

books

The Book Stack

I have a new obsession...London. It started stirring slowly, but now I'm curious about London. This book sent my curiousity over the edge. Now I have nagging questions and bits of stories bouncing around my brain. I want to learn as much as possible. For the first time in my life, I have a strong… Continue reading The Book Stack

blogging

We’re taking a vacation.

We're not traveling to any kind of exotic location, though that would be nice.  However, we've decided to take a week off from blogging.  The reason?  The Fifth Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge kept both of us quite busy this year!  Hence, we both need a week to catch up on some of our… Continue reading We’re taking a vacation.

books · quote

Words that are Speaking to Me

THE JADE NOTEBOOK and Laura Resau are all kinds of inspiration for me right now. Check out Ruth Ayres Writes next week as I share more (and bring back the Discover. Play. Build. Challenge). Meanwhile, be sure to check out Laura Resau's blog, Ocean in a Saucer. You won't be disappointed. A beautiful mess. I often claim this… Continue reading Words that are Speaking to Me

aimee buckner · mentor texts · mentoring

Who are your mentors?

I've been preparing for the graduate course, "Children's Literature in Teaching Writing,"  I'm teaching in June every time my daughter goes down for a nap, heads to sleep, etc.  I read through a sleuth of journal articles last month in order to pick the right ones for the course.  One of the articles I read,… Continue reading Who are your mentors?

giveaway

Vote for Me Giveaway Recipient

Congratulations to Anita whose commenter number corresponds to the random number drawn for Ben Clanton’s new book Vote for Me.  Many thanks to Kids Can Press for sponsoring this giveaway. If you missed the original post about this book, then click here to read it now.

blogging

Notice something different?

Today is a big day around here.  It's the day we've finally retired the blog theme (Digg 3) we have been using since we started Two Writing Teachers in June 2007.  We decided it was time for a change.  As of today, we have a new blog theme (Triton Lite).  Our new theme looks quite… Continue reading Notice something different?

lucy calkins · minilesson · modeling · noticings · observations · poetry · Reflective Practice · units of study

First Attempt at Poetry

Yesterday Lori Hickman and I launched a poetry unit of study in her kindergarten classroom. Since we wanted to see what they already knew about writing poetry, we decided to have them write a poem. This made me a little nervous. What if they just stared at the paper or chaos ensued because they had… Continue reading First Attempt at Poetry

Slice of Life Story Challenge

The Weekly Slice of Life Story Challenge

Please link the Slice of Life Story you write today to this post by leaving a comment. Be sure to check out other bloggers' writing by clicking through the links in the comment section of this post. Come back later today (or even tomorrow) to read through the links of a few other Slicers who… Continue reading The Weekly Slice of Life Story Challenge

Slice of Life Story Challenge · writing

Prizes for the Fifth Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge

It's my pleasure to announce the winners of the prizes from the 5th Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge.  While I thought about using technology for the giveaway, I opted to do it the old fashioned way... pulling names out of a hat (well, in this case, an envelope).  Here's a look at my not-so-high-tech… Continue reading Prizes for the Fifth Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge