A meeting place for a world of reflective writers.
The end of the school year is here and all I can think about is curling up on a picnic blanket under the trees while my kids play around me … Continue Reading Writing About Reading: Gorgeous Notebook Pages and Summer Stacks
Here we are, many of us ready to wrap up the school year…
We CAN re-align our moral compass with student instruction. We CAN commit ourselves to being sincerely, wholeheartedly, a community of learners.
This summer, I’ll be gearing up for what, I’m hoping, will be a year of excitement and discovery. I also hope that somewhere, you, too can find a kernel of hope, joy, or idealism to carry with you into the summer.
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. … Continue Reading Poetry Month: That’s the (Line) Breaks
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.
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?
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.
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.
“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.”
As we move forward this season, near concluding a challenging 2021, I aim to respect the messy writing process for myself. We will share with our students over and over that getting your ideas out doesn’t have to look one way; that they can move forward and backward and around again. They can toss out ideas and start anew. And while I do that, I’ll hold Jasmine and Olugbemisola’s thoughts close: as educators, let’s not stifle by virtue of supposed tos. There’s no wrong way. The final product need not look the way we initially imagined.
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
If you’re trying to reach reluctant writers with “nothing to write,” pushing students to use craft and voice in writing, or just hoping to make the writing process creative and fun, storytelling may be your answer. Taking the leap is easier than you think!
When writers feel empowered to write for their own personal catharsis, it matters. When writers know they will have the opportunity to strengthen their writing alongside peers, it matters. When writers have greater degrees of choice around topic and genre, it matters. And when, at times, there’s a wider audience for writing, beyond classroom walls or the teacher’s eyes alone, there is often deeper motivation.
When writing workshop rituals become woven into the daily grooves of the writing community, cohesive safe zones develop. The consistency of rituals in a classroom helps students transition within the workshop environment smoothly… Well-established rituals create the space for students to concern themselves less with movement and more with the work of a writing.
Ever since I read this post by Katie Kraushaar, I’ve been thinking about personal narrative and wondering why it is that students, particularly in middle elementary grades and beyond, are sometimes less … Continue Reading Shaking Up Personal Narrative
How can we help writers develop solid ideas before delving too far into the work of persuasive writing?
Melanie asked the students, “What makes you feel like a writer?” Read the voices from the classroom. YOUR writing matters to YOUR students.
Contests and publication opportunities for young writers have potential to motivate and inspire.
Many of us are fast approaching the sixth week of school. Many of us consider that the first of countless milestones in our school year. Six weeks in, routines are … Continue Reading The Six Week Check-in
Small group instruction is a powerful way to reach and teach more students in your classroom!
You can learn a lot about students when you give them a chance to tell you want they know!
TWO WRITING TEACHERS 