You don’t have to throw away everything you’ve ever taught in order to make a big change in student writing. Sometimes we want to do what we’re already doing … just better. Not a whole new plan. Not a new curriculum. Not starting-from-scratch. We want something we can insert into our regular routines that will […]
After a six-month soft launch, Sam and I are officially launching Mini Moves for Writers, a YouTube channel where anyone can access free writing mini-lessons to make writing stronger, more full of voice, and more true to your writerly intentions. Here’s a wee trailer: We hope that we can be apart of your writing instruction […]
One of the things I’m loving most about Mini Moves for Writers is how flexible the video lessons are — able to slide into so many different kinds of writing units and activities. For example, take the Scene Drop Intro. Writers could use this in a review, an op-ed, a profile, a personal essay. And […]
As the season of AP Lang exams fast approaches, I find myself more and more urgently seeking ways to help tighten gaps in my students’ skill sets. Fine tuning writing skills is a part of it, but when it comes to one AP Lang task–the Open Argument essay–there are more pressing issues that are a […]
My students have been working on their first pieces of serious analytical writing this year, and as they drafted I noticed two main issues with their claims: Many were not clearly or obviously stated Some were overly-simple, cliched, or, to be honest, boring Ever have these problems? (Always? Are you like me and you always […]
Between this post and my last, a war began. And we shouldn’t be surprised. Like the rise of Nazi Germany after WWI, the conflict in Ukraine has been building for more than twenty years. Putin and his post-Soviet ancestors have been playing a game of Hungry Hippos with the Ukraine and former Soviet satellite states […]
Download our FREE 10-page Quick Start Guide We’ve made it even easier to use Mini Moves for Writers in your classroom with a free 10-page quick start guide — full of ideas for incorporating our video writing mini-lessons into your curriculum! We’re releasing two new writing lessons each week! Make sure to subscribe so that […]
We’d love to see you this spring for live webinars (recorded if you can’t make it!) Here’s what we’re offering so far in March and April! Just in time to fill your plan book for National Poetry Month, brief “poetry pauses” not only build students’ capacity for critical reading + stamina for writing, but they […]
I love a good digital choice board — a way for students to have a self-directed choice in their learning. You can make choice boards out of anything, but you can also curate your own choice board using Mini Moves for Writers videos. I’ve made you one choice board below: four different mini moves that […]
Every writer needs something a little bit different, which is one of the things that makes writing instruction so challenging! But whether the writers in your room need a bit of skill review (one of those things you assumed they “should know how to do by now”) or needs a bit of a challenge (so […]
moving writers 