Slice of Life Story Challenge

It’s Tuesday! Welcome to Slice of Life on #TWTBlog!

So grateful for the #TWTBlog community today! We hope you'll join us in writing and sharing a slice of life.

voice

Write Like Me: Finding Our Voice

What can we discover about voice when we make our own writing--and our students' works--the focus of study like we do any other mentor text?

conferring

Enlist Students as Partners in Conferring

Conferring is a powerful tool to meet the needs of individual writers, but it often feels like students are passive participants in these conversations. Engaging students as partners in this work helps kids see themselves as authors and grow their writing abilities.

writers

When The “Help Desk” Fails: Rethinking Support for Writers

The Setup: Help Desk, Open for Business It started out like any other writing workshop time. Kids were settling into their work spots, some grabbing keyboards, others tapping away on their iPad screens. There was a certain level of productive noise as students figured out what projects they wanted to work on and how, and… Continue reading When The “Help Desk” Fails: Rethinking Support for Writers

agency · immersion · personal essay

Pre-Unit Immersion: Involving Students in Noticing, Noting, and Naming

Immersion is helpful for strong writers who need less explicit instruction in order to try out new writing concepts as well as for writers who strive to complete their written work. Sometimes seeing a completed piece is exactly what they need in order to kick their executive functioning into gear. 

Slice of Life Story Challenge

It’s Tuesday! Welcome to Slice of Life on #TWTBlog!

Happy Tuesday! We hope you'll join us in writing and sharing a slice of life today.

writing workshop

How Long Should Writing Workshop Be? Match the Minutes to Kids’ Stamina

At the start of the year, most teachers start small with writing workshop. After a brief minilesson, you can set a timer for 5-10 minutes (or any amount of time you’re confident will be a success) and announce to your class, “Let’s make our goal today ____ minutes!” Then, make sure the timer goes off… Continue reading How Long Should Writing Workshop Be? Match the Minutes to Kids’ Stamina

agency · assessment · goals · Google Forms · self-assessment · small group · writing workshop

Student Agency, Self-Assessment, and Small Group Instruction

Nudging students toward self-assessment and goal-setting leads to students' increased understanding of what they are working on and why they're working on it. That intentionality is a critical aspect of learning!

ideas for the future · small group · topics

Conquering the Blank Page with Borrowed Lines

Borrowed lines from nonthreatening text is one way we can demystify writing for students and help them see the page, not as an empty vast space, but as an opportunity to produce beautiful writing. 

character development · content-area writing · fiction · giveaway · mentor texts · narrative · personal narrative · poetry

Tapping Into the Power of Some New Mentor Texts

Mentor texts are important co-teachers in the writing workshop! Here's an in-depth look at the mentor texts I talked about in a recent podcast. After you finish reading, be sure to leave a comment after on this post for a chance to win all ten of the featured books!

Slice of Life Story Challenge

It’s Tuesday! Welcome to Slice of Life on #TWTBlog!

It's Tuesday--the best day of the week, because Tuesdays are for slicing! Join us as we write, share, and give.

Stronger Together: Involving Other Professionals in Your Workshop Blog Series

ICYMI: Revisiting the Stronger Together Blog Series 

Throughout the past week, the co-author team at Two Writing Teachers Blog has featured the countless professionals in our school communities who support and strengthen the work of classroom teachers. In case you missed a post, here's a recap of all of the talented professionals showcased in this series.