One key idea threads through my series this year about poetry as part of the writing process for other genres: poetry sharpens our diction. Frequent practice in reading and writing poetry tunes our eyes and ears to what works and does not work in our choice of words, the same way practicing guitar helps train […]
Mentor Text: ‘Canada Dry Ginger Ale and Lemonade’ by Elaine Szewczyk (PDF / Online) Techniques: Writing Memoir Writing Review Merging Forms Background – If you’re visiting Moving Writers, that likely means that like many of us, you’re online, perhaps looking for new ideas for your classroom. Welcome to Teacher Internet, where there are more ideas […]
For those who’ve been following the ongoing adventures (exploits? misadventures?) of my focus student, Troy, and me this year, be aware that I’m taking a blog off from that beat. Troy and I are kind of in a holding pattern right now, and we’re also in between writing assignments as a whole class, so as […]
Mentor Text: No Man’s Land – an album from Frank Turner Tales From No Man’s Land – a podcast series from Frank Turner Techniques: Presenting Research Non-fiction Narrative Podcasting Background – Looking through my Mentor Text Wednesday posts, or scanning my Twitter feed will no doubt reveal the fact that I’m a music fan. A […]
In one of her posts not so long ago, Hattie outlined a case for teaching a modern satire piece–a riff on the infamous A Modest Proposal. In her piece, she argues that there are three reasons the piece was worth examining in class alongside the original. I’d like to revisit two of those today as […]
Mentor Text: Ode to my Kitchen by Jacqueline Woodson Techniques: Tone Memoir Merging Narratives Delivering a Message Background- The internet is kind of a perilous thing for teachers isn’t it? I find myself alternating between excitement at how many resources it flings at me, and being overwhelmed by that very same thing. It can feel […]
Today’s guest post comes to us from one of our 100 Days of Summer Writing participants, Erin Palazzo. Erin is a high school English teacher in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. She loves helping teens fall in love with reading and develop confidence in writing through mentor texts and readers & writers workshops. Her students would also add that […]
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