A meeting place for a world of reflective writers.
Many of today’s students crave choice, freedom, and the excitement of exploring something new. This year, as you prepare to roll out your writing units, you may also want to reconsider the level of constraints within each unit. How and when might you invite students to choose the product that best fits their personal preference and intended audience?
Slowing down the brainstorming part of the writing process and recognizing the emotionality of feedback has big rewards for two published authors, in addition to our young classroom writers.
Athletes warm up before practice, musicians warm up before a rehearsal–so why wouldn’t writers warm up before writing?
As I get ready for the March SOLSC, I’m thinking about ways to support writers when ideas, energy and inspiration waver.
Sometimes the most effective way to help writers leap ahead, is to slow things down and take a step back.
For writers to grow, they must develop writer identities. How do we help them do that?
We spend a week or so sharing stories, and building excitement for writing stories. We hand out notebooks with fanfare, and writers happily personalize them. They brainstorm ideas for stories … Continue Reading Making the Most of Pre-Assessments
My sixth graders have been busy drafting their feature articles this week, and I had a series of mini lessons planned to begin each writing workshop day. My students, however, had other ideas.
With the Classroom Slice of Life Story Challenge just around the corner, perhaps some of you are thinking more than ever about starting a class blog just for writing. Over … Continue Reading Keeping a writing blog: taking our writing workshop online
There’s a reason for second and third editions of really great books–a writer’s work is never done, and is certainly never, ever perfect.
This is my vision of you on Saturday mornings: A mug of something warm — coffee, tea, or chai — in your hands Snuggled in a comfy chair Allowing peace … Continue Reading Saturday Mornings
When I was first learning about Writing Workshop, it was difficult for me to wrap my head around the process each student would be going through. I spent a lot … Continue Reading First Draft Writing
This trimester I have the pleasure of working in a ninth grade language arts class. The first unit of study has been a deep look into narrative writing. The challenge … Continue Reading choice in process.
I’ve been thinking about this post for a few weeks now. I’ve heard teachers ask students to “fix” their writing when asking them to revise. For some reason, this word … Continue Reading Correcting vs. Revising
TWO WRITING TEACHERS 