Mentor Text Seven Matches – Gord Downie Writing Techniques: Ambidextrous Lines Developing Symbolism Background: I had another piece in mind for Mentor Text Wednesday this week. However, we were listening to Gord Downie’s Secret Path album as we studied the story of Chanie Wenjack, a twelve year old First Nations boy who died trying […]
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F.A.R.T.ing Around With Research
I came home from #ncte17 full of ideas, but one common theme from the weekend was…..farts. In my first session about engaging boy readers and writers, Jon Sciezka gleefully told us that he loved fart jokes and writing about silly things. Then, I stood in line to a get a book for my 8 year […]
Memoir Study Remix: The Broken Piece
One of the best things about the Moving Writers community is the open sharing that happens here, as well as the sharing and discussion that occurs in our Twitter PLN. People ask questions, have them answered, find inspiration and share ideas and resources on a regular basis. It’s quite remarkable, and shows the importance of […]
Helping Students Think Before They Write
Have you ever considered how many aphorisms there are for good writing? Show, don’t tell. Write what you know. To write well, read. First drafts are crap. Adverbs are the devil. And so on. But there’s one tidy little truth that haunts me over and over and reminds me that my job is not […]
Mentor Text Wednesday: Creepy Pair of Underwear!
Today’s post comes from Amy Estersohn, a middle school English teacher in New York and a 2016 recipient of the NCTE/ALAN Gallo Grant. She writes comic book reviews for noflyingnotights.com and blogs on books and teaching at teachingtransition.wordpress.com Mentor text: Creepy Pair of Underwear! by Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown Writing Techniques: Elaboration Story Structure Effective […]
Researching the Future
This piece explores ways to let your below-grade-level learners imagine and envision a pathway to their career aspirations all through the use of research writing.
3 Techniques for Students Who Know What They Want to Say But Not How to Say it
Can you picture the student who has just said this in a writing conference? He smoothes the pages of his notebook to reveal countless scribbles and doodles that he has spent the past few days getting down. He has generated multiple ideas for his next writing project. He has done his homework. But he sits […]
Mentor Text Wednesday: Revisiting ‘Superman and Me’
Mentor Text Superman and Me by Sherman Alexie Writing Techniques: Reflective Writing A Deliberate Shift Making Connections Background: A funny thing about teaching is how we revisit things. Sometimes, it’s because we teach the same texts or units of studies, the same courses. We revisit things because we need to refresh or remix them. This […]
Teaching Argument with a Side of Mental Health
Our school has committed to working on addressing mental health issues with our students this year. Our students are carrying heavy burdens and we–the adults in their lives–need to figure out ways to help them cope with them. So, when this popped up in my Twitter feed last night, I naturally thought of my […]
Recommended Reading: Intention
One of the greatest things about being active online as a teacher is that you get to interact with, and learn from, a lot of different people. I would never go as far to tell anyone that they absolutely have to be on Twitter to be a good teacher, but I can comfortably say that […]
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