What does Stephen Sondheim have to do with writing instruction? The answer: Everything.
Author: mrfitzfinkle
Reading As Writers: Big Picture and Closeup
Great student writers, the ones whose work I can’t wait to read, notice what writers do and begin to see how it all works together.
Big Picture/Closeup: a model for reading and writing
Closeup elements are how the story is told. Big Picture elements are the story itself.
The Choices Writers Make (If Allowed)
“…in many writing classrooms, students are learning to write by not being allowed to do any of the things “real” writers do: make choices.”
The Power of Writing Collaborative Fiction
The experience of writing a novel together didn’t inhibit individual creativity – it made them all want to go home and write more on their own.
The World’s Most Boring Topics
I tell them that just as a good standup comedian can read out of the phone book and make it funny, a good writer can take a dull topic and make it interesting.
Providing Experience to Write About: the Quicksand River Un-assignment
We often give them common prompts, or common texts sets with common prompts. We give them common pieces of literature to write about. So why not a common experience?
Some Doodles About Writing
It’s good for us as writing teachers to try our hand at some form of writing on a regular basis. It can teach you a lot. I think we English teachers sometimes have an urge to make our student writers perfect writers… RIGHT NOW. We sometimes feel that too many errors mean they can’t write. […]
Writing is Not Monolithic
…these students had a very, very limited idea of what writing was.
Tools Over Rules: Writing as Choice-Making, not Compliance
In fact, students often think of writing as an act of compliance – follow the teacher’s instruction, receive a passing grade.
moving writers 