Mentor Texts: Snowy Lambeau – a poem by Gord Downie Writing Techniques: Writing Poetry Reflecting on Craft Background: The preamble is a bit of a tale this week. If you’re a Canadian reader, then you understand what Gord Downie and The Tragically Hip mean. If not, Downie is the singer of The Hip, a band […]
Vulnerability–in life, in writing, in yoga class, you name it–is really tough for me, so you can imagine how moved I am when another teacher in this amazing community is willing to share a challenge in the classroom, a well-intentioned project gone slightly askew, or a new endeavor in its wobbly-legged infancy. Reading about those moments […]
Revision doesn’t have to be scary. If we keep it simple, and let students lead the discussion about it, they’ll come to see revision as helpful and continuous.
Today’s guest post is from Christina Gil, a veteran high school English teacher who recently left the classroom to follow a dream and move her family to an ecovillage in rural Missouri. Christina believes that teaching creative writing helps students excel on standardized tests, that deeply analyzing and unpacking a poem is a fabulous way […]
There is a lot of debate about the use of whole class novel instruction. I don’t really want to get into that, because like on most things, I see both sides, and just wind up hanging out on the fence. Well, sort of. I actually believe in limited use of the whole class novel. Here’s […]
How neuroscience informs my philosophy of teaching writing.
We teachers spend a lot of time at the beginning of the year setting our expectations. And setting them very high. Not just for our new students, but for ourselves. Every year, I think, “This is is. This is the year I get it right. This is the year my students learn all the things. […]
Lessons to help students explore their unique and original voices in writing.
Mentor Texts: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs Snaps by Rebecca Kraatz (Clifford, Gordon, Leonard) Writing Techniques: Creative Writing Graphic Storytelling Writing Memoir Background: As a kid, summer was often unlimited time to read. I still use as much of my summer in that fashion. Aside from being an awesome way to […]
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moving writers 