Poetry, she thought, with a sigh,is little more than proseedited forbrevityand line breaks. Right now, I’m doing a poetry unit with my fourth graders. Most of them dread poetry writing. While it’s no surprise, this news saddens me. As someone who prefers to express herself through poetry, I hold the belief that people are much… Continue reading Poetry Month: That’s the (Line) Breaks
Tag: education
It’s Time for Play and Fun!: Storytelling in Writing Workshop
It’s March. If your schools are anything like mine, you are slogging through the remnants of a long winter, all while gearing up for a season of standardized testing. Kids of all ages still need play and fun. I don’t know about you, but my kids always seem to do a bit better when some of each is incorporated into my lessons. I’ll share some ways to bring joy into writing workshop.
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Nurturing Your Writing Soul: Rethinking Self-care
Everywhere I look, the world wants me to engage in self-care. Instagram posts, TV commercials, Twitter threads, email newsletters…all of them chock-full of reminders that even as the world falls to pieces around us, It's important to fill our buckets, put on our own air masks first, give ourselves grace. But how about creative self-care? What can we do to make our writing selves feel stronger, happier, more resilient?
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Writing as Social-Emotional Development: Maximizing Writing Time
Let’s turn our attention to the classroom, to the kids in our care. Like many of us, they need a space to release burdens, to feel the same connection and validation that has kept us afloat. This, my friends, is where we begin. THIS is where we claim our power as writers, as teachers of writing. No matter the age of our students, no matter their readiness level, no matter the constrictions of a mandated writing system, there are ways to create and protect a nurturing, supportive community of young writers.
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MLK Day: A Reflection
Today, in the United States, we commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Today, kids in the U.S. might eat breakfast in pajamas. Their parents might shop a sale. Many will see (and welcome!) a day off of school or work. Some will use today as a day of service. It’s easy to let a day like today slide by without taking stock, without offering it the full measure of what a day like today deserves. So let us consider today.
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Getting Craft-y: Using Art to Teach Writing
"If kids see writing as just another avenue of self expression, if they realize that craft and skill are necessary for all areas of self-expression, then perhaps they might use these understandings as a foundation for their writing."
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Steering the Craft: Review + Giveaway
Need a writing resource that has something for all ages, yourself included? Look no further than Ursula K. Le Guin's Steering the Craft: A 21st-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story
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Who coaches the coach?
Who coaches the coach? This question was posed at the Choice Literacy Coaching the Common Core workshop. It's one that is sticking with Deb and me. Instructional coaches (and I think this is a little true for teacher leaders too) live in a land between. We aren't administrators and we aren't teachers. We live between… Continue reading Who coaches the coach?
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Catching Up on Education News
What's the news? If you're wondering what's being discussed in education right now, take a look at Eduwonks' Post about the buzz in educational news.
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Stacey’s M.M.: Young Adulthood
I chose a two-part SIH Spark for today's Memoir Monday Post. It is: Why did you decide to go to college? Why did you go to the college you chose? Going to college was never an option. My parents expected me to go straight to college upon graduation from high school. We began doing college… Continue reading Stacey’s M.M.: Young Adulthood
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Fixing-Up Spelling in a Writer’s Notebook
I created another video about one more spelling strategy a colleague told me about to help some of my struggling spellers with the words they frequently misspell in their writing. (I'm only going to employ this strategy in my kids' Idea Notebooks after I've secured their permission to write in their notebooks since I always… Continue reading Fixing-Up Spelling in a Writer’s Notebook
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Spelling Help
Need to assist a student who has trouble spelling while writing? Watch this video for a practical tool/tip entitled "My Fast Word Fixer."
