This year on Moving Writers, my “beat” returns to poetry as a foundational element of a writing classroom. Each month’s post will examine how we can learn about an aspect of writing from a specific poem or poems, then look at what it might sound like to extend those ideas to a writing lesson in […]
Category: poetry
Learning From Poems: Titles
This year on Moving Writers, my “beat” returns to poetry as a foundational element of a writing classroom. Each month’s post will examine how we can learn about an aspect of writing from a specific poem or poems, then look at what it might sound like to extend those ideas to a writing lesson in […]
A Little Write Music
What does Stephen Sondheim have to do with writing instruction? The answer: Everything.
A Poem a Day Keeps the Doctor Away
Writing poetry can reduce stress? Shouldn’t all children have access to this tool? In this months beat Abigail brings 3 familiar poetry templates into the content area classrooms.
Writing a Climate Victory Garden
Louise Maher-Johnson’s poem, “Notes from a Climate Victory Garden,” offers a series of calls to action, as seen in the poem’s opening: Rebalance: Greenhouse Gases (CO2,N2O, CH4, H2O vapor) with photosynthesis. Recognize: Plants cool by evaporation, ground cover, shade, and precipitation Replant: Lawns with Victory Gardens, as in world war past. Organized by lines beginning […]
Learning From Poems: Music
Teaching students to hear the music in words, we can help them create writing that is not just efficient, accurate, and clear, but also playful, dramatic, and arresting.
Learning From Poems: Imagery
This year on Moving Writers, my “beat” returns to poetry as a foundational element of a writing classroom. Each month’s post will examine how we can learn about an aspect of writing from a specific poem or poems, then look at what it might sound like to extend those ideas to a writing lesson in […]
The Presents of Mind: Time to Inflate the Water Wings
I often find myself telling students, particularly my seniors, that I am “throwing them into the deep end.” As the year begins, I may assign a task that’s beyond their skill or comfort to see how they perform. If things go awry, I try to figure out where the gaps are and fill them. As […]
Learning From Poems: Brevity
The brevity of poems allows us to slip them into lessons as we develop skills for writing in any genre.
Three Ways to Encourage Nature Writing
One of the most rewarding aspects of my Moving Writers beat is hearing from other educators about how they encourage students to identify when they feel they are a part of Nature and not merely apart from it. Despite receiving a constant barrage of information, or perhaps because of it, our information-glutted minds seem to […]
