Welcome to 2021, dear readers! We hope that this new start finds you managing the stresses of this unique school year and getting vaccinated very soon! At Moving Writers, we are continuing to brainstorm ways that we can support you + put tools in your hands that will make you feel more effective in your […]
Author: Rebekah O'Dell
What Comes After Mentor Texts? Student-Created Mentor Text Rubrics
I’ve been on a journey this fall to think about ways to move students toward increasing writing independence. We know mentor texts benefit writers of all ages. We know that isolating the moves writers make helps newer, less-experienced writers demystify the writing process and take their own work to new heights. But we also want […]
What Comes After Mentor Texts?Building Mentor-Text-Infused Reading Rhythms
I’ve been obsessively watching The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix, the true-ish story of Beth Harmon, American chess champion. Like everyone binging the Netflix show, I now fancy myself a minor chess expert. To work her way to higher and higher levels of chess mastery, Harmon studies past champions’ games. And then she plays past champions’ […]
What Comes After Mentor Texts? Defining Each Writer’s Signature Style
My 8th graders are just starting to embark upon their high school application journey. In terms of writing, this means short answer application questions and longer essays in admissions tests. You know the kind. The kind that lure students into giving vague, voiceless answers to questions like, “What inspires you about school?” and “Give three […]
12 Writing Experiences for Processing the Election
If our feelings as we approach the election are complicated and anxiety-ridden, then certainly our thoughts and feelings will be equally so in the days and weeks that follow this particular election. If this is true for us, it’s certainly true for our students. The team has been working this week (at Hattie’s inspiration!) to […]
What Comes After Mentor Text? Class Writing Moves Glossaries
I want my students to become confident using mentor texts to guide and inspire their writing — it’s one of the most transferable skills I can give them for school and life beyond school. But, as I shared last month, I’ve been thinking a lot recently about a kind of independence that comes after that. […]
Big News! Moving Writers Hosts Some Webinars!
In our work with teachers around the country over the past few months, a few themes have emerged: 1) This is the hardest teaching you’ve ever done in your whole life. 2) This is the hardest learning students have ever done in their whole lives. 3) Students seem particularly uninspired. Sitting behind a screen all […]
What Comes AFTER Mentor Texts?
My best writing advice for teacher-writers (and my best advice for how to stay in the classroom for the long term) is to write about those problems, issues, and shortcomings that niggle you in the back of your head. Angela Stockman calls them the “pebbles in your teacher shoes.” Instead of a series of beautified […]
Welcome to our New Contributing Writers!
We are so thrilled to introduce you to seven new contributing writers who will bring our blog perspectives and experiences that are not yet represented here! This year, they will be teaching us about using writing workshop to teach English Language Learners, writing for social justice, writing across the curriculum in elementary school, and so […]
Sneak a Peek at Issue 02 of Inside the Blended Workshop
Friends, Moving Writers, the blog, will be back in business after Labor Day. We can’t wait to bring the gang back as well as introduce you to some amazing new friends. In the meantime, we wanted to give you a sneak peek at what is happening in the Inside the Blended Workshop Community! The September […]
