Y’all, it wasn’t even close. Doubling the number of views gained by our other most-popular posts is our #1 post from Hattie (@TeacherHattie): “Why This / Not That: A Thinking Routine to Move Kids from Identification to Analysis”. Enjoy! ____________________________________________________________________________________________ One of the biggest challenges in teaching rhetorical analysis is teaching kids to move beyond identification […]
I think my colleagues have learned not to bring up “the research paper” with me lest I start on a tear about how research is in every kind of writing, and researching is important but research papers aren’t, etc. I really feel strongly about it, though! All writers need to know how to gather and use research, […]
Halloween in July, anyone? Last October, Allison treated us to six ideas for spooky writing. Make a note in your planner now to pull these out next October — spread them throughout the month! Or, really, use them anytime. Because all the adolescents I know love to be scared! ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Lately my son’s favorite activity […]
Last summer, Moving Writers did an Ask Moving Writers series. A question we got again and again dealt with giving hundreds of students meaningful feedback while still teaching. And sleeping. In our 4th most popular post of 2017-2018, Tricia Ebarvia tackles this question! ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Hi, Elizabeth! First, thank you for asking this important question! We […]
We are almost halfway through our summer of writing, so it’s a perfect time to stop and check-in with one another, touch base, and start thinking forward to the fall when our experiences as writers this summer will begin to touch our teaching of writing. No matter where you are in your 100 Days or […]
In January, Moving Writers did a series on test preparation and writing instruction. How do we prepare our students for the realities of the tests they will need to take while also being faithful to what we know is good for kids and their writing? One of those posts struck a cord with teachers; Hattie […]
Just in time for National Poetry Month, we shared a little writing unit studying and creating InstaPoetry — the super-visual tiny poems that have become so popular on Instagram and other social media. While this is a fantastic way to celebrate National Poetry Month, this would also be a perfect beginning-of-year unit as you introduce your […]
Over time, I become increasingly convinced that the more choice students have, the more magic you’ll get. To give students myriad opportunities to craft the writing they care about, I instituted writing homework this year — 20 minutes per night of completely independent, free-choice writing. Our #7 post of the year looks at the structures […]
Today’s guest post by Jenifer Pastore (@jeniferpastore) inspires me. Putting together 100 Days of Summer Writing is kind of a lot of work. And Jenifer is doing it by herself. For her 3rd graders. Every time I see one of her slides, I want to stand up and cheer: all kids (and teachers) can do this! Jenifer […]
For some young writers, finding ideas is a struggle. But for many, the struggle lies in finding the words to articulate the idea that is forming in their head. In this 8th-most-popular post from the 2017-2018 school year, Allison gives us three strategies to help these writers move from ideas-in-their-heads to words-on-paper. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Can you […]
