Last summer, Matthew Johnson, Angela Stockman, and I dreamed of a different kind of professional development. Something fun. Something authentic. Something that didn’t include the worship of educelebs. Something that felt like summer camp. We loved our time at Camp Rewrite last summer, and so it’s back for a second year! And YOU can get […]
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Author Study: A Way for Students to Reflect at the End of the Year
Source The end of the school year is here and I could not be more excited. I am not sure how you have been feeling this year, but this has not been my banner year. In fact, Taylor Swift’s Anti-hero – “It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me”- has definitely felt like the era […]
Build Your Bookshelf: Young Adults Literature and Their Maps
Kelly E. Tumy is a consultant in Texas, former president of TCTELA, one of five editors of the journal English in Texas. She was a 20-year high school English teacher, 8-year district coordinator, and a 6-year county-wide curriculum director. You can find out more about Kelly here or connect with her on Instagram @kellyreads_tx What draws your attention […]
GRIT: Balancing a Student’s Capacity to Grow & Pass a State-Mandated Test
Source If you teach a tested subject like me, February seems to be the month that everyone starts becoming “invested” in what you are doing in the classroom and how it is preparing our students to pass their TEST. This time of year students are taking “field tests” and “benchmark tests” in addition to […]
Better Questions . . . Better Classrooms
Questioning strategies are a passion of mine. I’ve been doing some research into what academics call dialogic talk and what teachers call questioning for the better part of 25 years. Thinking about your classroom, I want you to consider the layered and nuanced dimensions purposeful questioning can take in your classroom. First-Write Them Down Do […]
Poetry Throw-Down
by Kelly E. Tumy It’s my birthday today, so I thought I’d post one of the most favorite lessons I taught-ever! It really started out not as a lesson, so let me explain. I do love poetry; it took me a while to develop a good way to teach it to any grade level, though. […]
Last Day to Register for Camp Rewrite with 15% early bird rate!
Today is the LAST DAY to register with the 15% early bird discount for this summer’s 9-week, self-paced professional development adventure! Use this link to get your discounted registration! If you need to pay with a purchase order or need to purchase a site license for your entire organization, email me at movingwriters@gmail.com!
9 Weeks of Summer PD is at Your Fingertips!
Last summer, Matthew Johnson, Angela Stockman, and I dreamed of a different kind of professional development. Something fun. Something authentic. Something that didn’t include the worship of educelebs. Something that felt like summer camp. We loved our time at Camp Rewrite last summer, and so it’s back for a second year! And YOU can get […]
The Value of Water: A Real-World Research Project
If you’ve read any of my articles before or know me as a teacher, you know I try to provide authentic, real-world experiences in my classroom whenever I can. I love when I have the opportunity to make some cross-curricular connections between ELA and other content areas, especially if the topic is applicable to life […]
A Peek into this Summer’s Camp Rewrite
Nearly eight years ago, I heard Rebekah O’Dell speak at a conference here in Los Angeles, and I was immediately struck by something. She didn’t sound like most keynote speakers. Instead of staging some sort of expertise, she was sharing her enthusiasm. As she talked about the possibilities that could be found with bursts of […]
Mentor Text Wednesday: Three Dragons in Three Styles
Mentor Text: Three Dragons in Three Styles from Wonderbook by Jeff Vandermeer Techniques: Background – I’ve had Jeff Vandermeer’s Wonderbook on my shelf for a minute, but I recently pulled it off, and while my students read independently, that’s what I’m reading. And taking lots of inspiration from. Wonderbook is a wonderful exploration of the intricacies […]
Mentor Text Wednesday: Grandma’s Favorite Color
Mentor Text: “Grandma’s Favourite Colour” from Louder Than Hunger by John Schu Techniques: Writing about a loved one Background – This is one of the “long weeks” in my school year. There are parent conferences this week, report cards due on Monday morning, and we’re between dance competitions and concerts at home. I don’t have time […]
A New Tilt on Art Can Spark Earth Day Conversations
Planning for Earth Day conversations can give educators pause. In the attempt to create a sense of urgency for climate action, we might decide to subject our students to a parade of dire statistics. This onslaught of information can have the opposite effect: instead of moving students from inaction to action, we can inadvertently move […]
A Guide to Narrative Writing Genres
Do students in your school write a personal essay of some kind every single year? They do in the three schools I’ve taught in. In fact, narrative writing — especially nonfiction, personal narratives — are perhaps the most ubiquitous piece of writing taught in every school I’ve ever visited. How can we differentiate that — […]