One of the most common questions I get asked when I speak with teachers is “Okay, but how do you teach grammar?” And this mini-course is my answer to that! Yes, I use mentor texts to teach grammar just like I use mentor texts to teach any other writing skill. But in this course, I […]
I asked teachers in the Moving Writers Community to share their wish lists with me — the kind of professional development that they are dreaming of. And then I used those ideas to create a calendar of PD opportunities this school year. Others will probably pop up — in fact, I know for certain we’ll […]
Hey there, I’m introducing a brand new professional development series this spring that I think you’ll love! This three-session series helps you learn a process that will quickly and effectively plan writing units that are rooted in mentor texts. I’m MOST excited about session three — a one-on-one, by-appointment session where we plan a unit […]
Long after I had moved to a workshop-style classroom, I couldn’t shake a very typical writing-class problem: kids didn’t write. Well, they did, but they still didn’t write until the very last minute, procrastinating and frozen until the assignment was due. Sure, I’d dutifully teach mini-lessons, but then, instead of writing, students would stare, doodle, […]
We are ALL too busy and have too much to teach for any classroom routine to only serve one function. Independent reading is a tentpole in many of our classrooms, working to build reading passion and stamina simultaneously. But what if that same independent reading time could do even more? What if it could teach […]
The Moving Writers Community is designed to be a place for reading and writing teachers to dig deeper and more authentically with one another than the Moving Writers blog can do. It’s a place where I share the real life of my daily classroom (including occasional confessions about how absolutely horribly my Macbeth unit went […]
We have been so overwhelmed and thrilled with the response to Camp Rewrite this summer that we are EXTENDING early bird pricing until Monday, May 15! Due to such a large (and wonderful) response, we are closing all registration on June 1. I want you to be there for nine weeks of conversations, professional development, […]
You don’t have to throw away everything you’ve ever taught in order to make a big change in student writing. Sometimes we want to do what we’re already doing … just better. Not a whole new plan. Not a new curriculum. Not starting-from-scratch. We want something we can insert into our regular routines that will […]
I’m rarely brave enough to try a terrifying new teaching idea on my own. Ask Allison. Or, these days, Sam. For years, I’ve been trying to psych myself up to teach a writing study on graphic novels or graphic essays, but because I am so woefully inept in the artistic realm, I never did it. […]
We get different versions of this question, a lot: “I love mentor texts. I totally see why they are beneficial. But my students are struggling to notice craft in them.” or “My students have gotten pretty good at noticing surface-level craft moves, but after they’ve noticed one or two things — they’re done. How do […]
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