Let’s talk small group writing instruction, an oft-underutilized tool in the secondary writing classroom but a mainstay of primary grade writing workshops. I still remember the special feeling of being called by my first grade teacher to the U-shaped table at the back of the room, and then dutifully returning to my desk to practice […]
All morning I watch the clock. With two children underfoot and a sink of dirty dishes, I watch it tick closer to 2:00. I play magician with my son and rehearse some ideas for our meeting. In a moment of quiet, I jot down a few thoughts I want to share. I double check […]
As teachers we plan for the writers in front of us every day, but what about the students who aren’t in front of us? The students who are sick at home, at an away game, or visiting the doctor? In my early years of teaching, absent students created a lot of stress for me. “What […]
In this series, I am breaking down essential writing teacher habits and routines to help simplify your teaching life and create more space so you can do what you do best: actually teach! Today we’ll explore how to find “just-right” mentor texts, a topic requested by several readers. Please let me know what other topics […]
I started this morning as I begin nearly every weekday morning when my writing alarm goes off: throw on my oversized sweater, tiptoe down the stairs (being oh-so-careful to avoid the stairs’ creaks and cracks so my babies don’t wake up, rending my writing time null and void), hit the coffee maker’s switch, light the […]
Note: Today’s post marks the beginning of a new beat for winter–reducing decision fatigue in the writing classroom. So many of us pour our energy into lesson and unit prep, grading papers, reorganizing the classroom, setting up conferences and other writing teacherly tasks that we have very little energy to do the most important work […]
I’m interrupting my regular series this week to share a few writing ideas to round out the last week of the 2018-2019 school year. Many of us will struggle this week to hold the attention of our vacation-bound students, and while maintaining our regular schedule can be the perfect antidote to candy-crazed kids, spicing up […]
Today’s guest writer is Jennifer Brinkmeyer, who teaches Reading Strategies and U.S. Lit Honors in Iowa City, IA. Jennifer loves teaching students how to commit rebellious acts of literacy. She is constantly seeking ways to bring her writing life into the classroom to help students validate their own writing lives. Today, Jennifer shares about teaching […]
After the last installment of my four-part series on reading like a writer, I received a question from Lisa in Waunakee, WI about helping students better understand what they are doing in their own writing: “How to help students explain WHY/HOW an aspect of the piece (like a description, an added scene, a certain line, […]
This whole scaffolding series has been building up to this last post. Everything we do to teach kids how to read like writers is in preparation for the last leap: trying the craft in your own work. In literature heavy classrooms, teachers may skip this step: The peak of literary analysis instruction is teaching students […]
