Shifting Writing Instruction
The cyclical process of weaving a narrative is fundamentally changing. Writing an essay or research paper is always going to have value, but it will not be the end of the process. Teachers still have...
View ArticleElementary Writing Bookmarks
It has been a while since I have given an elementary writing workshop. Despite this fact, I get the most email requests from people who have attended my writing workshops in the past. My favorite has...
View ArticleS – White Girls Say…to Black Girls
The latest trending meme in pop culture is..wait for it…”S- – – White Girls Say…to Black Girls”. A series of video parodies, produced by differnet individuals, has gone viral, spreading like wildfire...
View ArticleSentence Frames for Textual Evidence (RI1 & RL1)
When I talk with elementary school teachers about introducing the concept of supporting ideas with reasons and references to the text, I often get puzzled looks. This is understandable. Common Core,...
View ArticleTeaching Common Core RI2: Central Ideas– Sum it Up!
As students move through the standards, they will need to master standard 2: Central Ideas. This standard is about writing! Under many of the past, more traditionally formatted standards this might...
View ArticleCrafting Topic Sentences: Anchor Chart & Sentence Starters
There are many different uses for this chart. I have created this chart with middle school students to help students develop the topic sentence for each of their body paragraphs within a larger essay....
View ArticleNo more THE END…Teaching Narrative Endings
This chart was created with sixth graders. Students had written personal narratives during the week. Most of the students had written full stories, but typically just ended the narrative with the last...
View ArticleGet Kids Thinking About Ways to Describe!
Students seem to understand that narratives warrant rich, vivid, sensory language. Likewise, students recognize the argumentative nature of opinion writing and associate that with strong details and...
View ArticleRecipe for a Literary Analysis Topic Sentence
This chart was created to help students form a topic sentence for analysis. This chart was created with literature in mine, but could be modified to work with informational text as well. The fourth...
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