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 […]
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.
Mentor Text: ‘The Fence I Never Climbed, or, There Is a Parking Lot where Once I Broke My Arm’ by Neil Hilborn Techniques: Memoir Anaphora Titling Background – This school year, the third one under what I’ve taken to calling pandemic influenced learning, was tough. As it closed, I found myself sighing in relief. In a […]
In this summer’s beat Abigail takes you through two strategies that you can discover in Liz Prather’s new book “The Confidence to Write”… two strategies to start the school year off right and a great starting place for teacher growth this summer.
Mentor Text: Pants: A Note by Brian Doyle Techniques: Playing with conventions Expressing a single idea Using footnotes Background – This spring, I found myself really reflecting on the fact that I use a lot of heavy pieces in the classroom. I think we all do – they do the heavy lifting for us. They’re rich […]
Mentor Text: ‘1944’ excerpted from Gone to the Woods by Gary Paulsen Techniques: Memoir Narrator’s Voice Background – Though I have read numerous reflections and reports on Gary Paulsen’s books, particularly the Hatchet series, I had yet to read any of his work until this spring. My love of memoir and habitual checking of the recent […]
Sodium Polyacrylate In science, my 4th graders are learning about the Law of Conservation of Matter after about a week of reviewing ideas around solids, liquids, and gases. Instead of doing the classic cornstarch and water lab, I decided to try something new this time around. If you go online, you can find packets of […]
One of my biggest challenges as a teacher is getting students to feel connected to history. To them, especially at the middle school age, history might as well be the Milky Way– kids are told that it’s real and that they are a part of it, but the scope of history often has such galactical […]
Mentor Text: ‘Super Mario Kart‘ from The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green Techniques: Introduction Narrative Metaphor Review Background – How often do we set something aside, but never quite make it back to it? I tweeted, way back when I first read it, which was, admittedly, a while after it seemed like everyone else had, that […]
A few posts ago, I wrote about what Beth Rimer calls “Breather Units.” A Breather Unit is a 2-3 week mini-unit in which a teacher engages in something lighter–or perhaps does a bit of review–after a deep and intense unit of study. Inspired by a Graphic Novel Writing unit Rebekah posted to the Moving Writers […]
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