This month Abigail shares 4 things you can do this next week to spark joy in your writing class. Hope you feel inspired and that the spark would be ignited.
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A New Spin on an Old Text: The Catcher in the R(I)
(See what I did there?) “If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I […]
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Using Two-Pagers to Fuel Analytical Writing
I’ll admit: I’m a sucker for beautiful notebook work. I will tell students that the quality of the thinking is really what matters — and I mean it. But I also swoon when I see gorgeous notebook pages. I associate gorgeous “two-page spreads” with Penny Kittle and the thinking she has been sharing with teachers […]
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Making All Things New: Rules for Writers
This year on Moving Writer’s, I am dusting off some old-but-wise books on my shelf about writing, creating a tiny review, then considering how one passage from the book can inform writing instruction today, even decades after the book was first published. This month, I’ll consider Winter Hours: Prose, Prose Poems, and Poems by Mary […]
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Field Notes #Writeout
This month @mrsablund gives you an awesome community writing event to give you a spark to your writing classroom and more than a handful of ideas to use tomorrow. Special thanks this month to @writeoutconnect #writeout @writingproject
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The Same…But Different
In his post yesterday, Jay mentioned how he is struggling to find the groove this year. And last week, Rebekah shared her eagerness to move out of survival mode toward outgrowing her best work. I hear that, Jay and Rebekah. On the one hand, my classes have finished our launch units, and students seem familiar […]
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A Beginner’s Guide to AP Research: Working Beside Them
Learning how to help my AP Researchers…by becoming one
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Using Mini Portfolios to Assess What Actually Matters in Writing
For the last two — almost three — years I’ve been in survival mode. Pandemic stress + endless COVID-school shifts + serious health issues in my family have left me treading water. And, to be honest, when you’re drowning, you’re not pondering innovative ways of getting to the shore; you are grasping for survival in […]
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The Self-Introduction in Writing
When students are asked to introduce themselves in writing, it can be difficult figuring out the best way to stage this encounter between self and stranger, writer and audience. For my seniors who are drafting college application essays, the first attempt is often characterized by tentatively offered assertions about their motives for applying, or the […]
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October Webinars with Moving Writers
Students + teachers alike benefit from predictable patterns of learning: routines and structures that allow all of us to be fully present in the classroom. But there are so many good things in reading workshop and writing workshop — is there a way to do them all and still have a predictable pattern of learning? How do […]
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Making All Things New: Imagery
This year on Moving Writers, I am dusting off some old-but-wise books on my shelf about writing, creating a tiny review, then considering how one passage from the book can inform writing instruction today, even decades after the book was first published. September’s Book: The Creative Process by Carol Burke and Molly Best Tinsley. Length: […]
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Who > What
A few weeks ago, Rebekah and Allison reached out to the Moving Writers crew to coordinate our schedules and topics for this school year. I wanted to respond, but I was feeling more than a little stuck. I had two ideas, but they both felt pretty lame. I was swimming in doubt, so I reached […]
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First Writing Moves of the School Year: PART 2 (Storytelling)
How do we get students to buy into writing? How do we begin to hear their stories. Oral storytelling is a way to engage your writers in a low stakes way and create a basis for a really strong writing community.
Recently …
Mentor Text Wednesday: Purple World
Mentor Text: Purple World by Richard Wagamese Techniques: Background – Sometimes, my path to a mentor text to share with you feels kind of random. We’re at the halfway point of the first semester, and I’ve been doing some planning for the second half. I was talking to one of my colleagues about this, and how […]
4 Ways to Spark Joy in Writing
This month Abigail shares 4 things you can do this next week to spark joy in your writing class. Hope you feel inspired and that the spark would be ignited.
The Benefits of Writing 3: Remembering Your Life
Speaking as a teacher of 30 years experience who has, for all of those 30 years, asked students to write about their lives, I can only say I have never had a student complain about writing about their lives after the fact.
A New Spin on an Old Text: The Catcher in the R(I)
(See what I did there?) “If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I […]
Mentor Text Wednesday: Softball team at the ferry terminal after Provincials
Mentor Text: Softball team at the ferry terminal after Provincials by Kirsten Pendreigh Techniques: Background – One of my favourite autumn traditions recently happened – I picked up a copy of The Best American Poetry 2022. And last year, I added The Best Canadian Poetry annual volume to this tradition. Perhaps it’s because we’re playing a […]
Using Two-Pagers to Fuel Analytical Writing
I’ll admit: I’m a sucker for beautiful notebook work. I will tell students that the quality of the thinking is really what matters — and I mean it. But I also swoon when I see gorgeous notebook pages. I associate gorgeous “two-page spreads” with Penny Kittle and the thinking she has been sharing with teachers […]
Making All Things New: Rules for Writers
This year on Moving Writer’s, I am dusting off some old-but-wise books on my shelf about writing, creating a tiny review, then considering how one passage from the book can inform writing instruction today, even decades after the book was first published. This month, I’ll consider Winter Hours: Prose, Prose Poems, and Poems by Mary […]
Mentor Text Wednesday: 1986
Mentor Text: 1986 from Music is History by Questlove Techniques: Background – I love books about music. Memoirs, biographies and books that analyze music, any kind of music, even if I don’t really listen to it, just fascinate me. Last spring, I read Questlove’s amazing Music is History. It’s a multifaceted book – part memoir, part […]
Field Notes #Writeout
This month @mrsablund gives you an awesome community writing event to give you a spark to your writing classroom and more than a handful of ideas to use tomorrow. Special thanks this month to @writeoutconnect #writeout @writingproject
What do YOU want in writing PD?
We haven’t asked in a while, so we’re asking! What would you like to learn about in writing pd? What are those nagging pebbles in your teacher shoes that you just can’t figure out? What would help you grow in your practice so you can move writers in your classroom? We’re all ears! Please share […]
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