This fall, I’m teaching two classes. One starts with fiction and narrative writing, and the other launches with informational and persuasive texts. I committed to teaching each with a mentor text approach to analyzing our reading and crafting our own choice text. Within the first weeks, our narrative work was on a roll, but our […]
Mentor Texts: Collections of great first lines from literature from Gawker , The American Book Review, A YA list from The Huffington Post, funny ones via ShortList, and can one list lists with out including a BuzzFeed list these days? Writing Techniques Writing Exposition Establishing Tone Reflecting Upon Writing Background My Grade 11 class and […]
“I just don’t have enough time to say what I want to say!” “If I had more time, I would be better.” “I had all of these ideas planned, but I could only write about one of them.” “I just don’t think I work well under timed conditions.” Eleventh-graders’ laments fill my IB English classroom […]
We spend a lot of time touting the benefits of mentor texts for students for obvious reasons! Mentor texts — professional pieces of writing that are current and relevant to this year’s students — can guide and inspire their writing in ways that we alone can’t. Additionally mentor texts: connect our writers to their passions […]
In June, I had an epiphany of sorts. I started really thinking about titles. Some background first. In the province I teach in, Manitoba, our Grade 12s write a provincial assessment. It’s the closest thing we have to high stakes testing, and although I do have some concerns about it, I actually quite like the […]
Committing to giving my students chances to move everyday has helped me rethink how my writers develop their ideas.
Today’s post comes from our Twitter friend Brett Vogelsinger. When he is not digging in the garden, Brett teaches ninth grade English at Holicong Middle School in Doylestown, PA. You can connect with him on Twitter @thevogelman. Mentor Text: The Roots of My Obsession: Thirty Gardeners Reveal Why They Garden Writing Techniques: Powerful syntax and diction […]
Aiming to bridge the social gap by creating authentic opportunities to read and write
This summer began with a hold-over goal from last summer: my daughter wanted to jump off the diving board. The previous summer had ended with her standing on the board, toes curled over the edge, but no jump. As soon as the pool opened this season, her mind was set. She would jump. And yet, […]
Teaching is often a balancing act. We’re constantly balancing, sometimes battling, the seemingly opposing forces of lesson planning vs. grading, eating the cake in the workroom vs. not eating the cake in the workroom, literature study vs. writing study. But why can’t we have our cake and eat it, too? And by cake, I mean writing. […]
moving writers 