Writing
Writing Poetry
From the desk of Carol C… The Common Core doesn’t directly list writing poetry as one of its standards. So why teach it if it’s not in there? “How do I tell thee? Let me count the ways.” First of all teaching students how to write poetry requires that they understand what poetry is and…
Read MoreConstruct…Discover, Try Again
From the Desk of Tina… The little girl reread her sentence and erased the words again. “That … doesn’t … sound right,” she mumbled. She flipped her long brown hair over her shoulder in frustration. Her eyes moved from her paper to the board, back to the paper. She placed the paper on her desk…
Read MoreTackling the Writing Conference
From the desk of Carol C… Tackling the writing conference is one of the most rewarding and unrewarding parts of the writing workshop. It’s rewarding because you can see the fruits of your labor. You can see the progress that the writer has made. You can pat yourself on the back and say “job well…
Read MoreWriting Mini-Lessons
From the desk of Carol C… When you implement Writer’s Workshop, you are going to include many mini-lessons across the year. Mini-lessons are just what the name implies…short lessons that focus on a writing strategy, an author’s craft, or a convention . To see how “mini” they are, look at the following schedule for a…
Read MoreLet Them Believe
From the desk of Kris… A picture is worth a thousand words…..well, okay, for a kindergartener maybe it’s not a thousand words…but it certainly can be worth many words. If you ask any kindergartener about his picture, he is sure to tell you a lengthy story! But does drawing a picture and telling a story…
Read MorePitfalls and Successes
From the desk of Carol C… When teachers yearn for the days of old when children could just write, write, write creative stories, I cringe. I remember the never ending stories children wrote. The tones were so overwhelming that I couldn’t face the task of helping the kids revise their work. Plus the few times…
Read MoreLiteracy Lessons from the List
From the desk of Christie… I am fortunate to have a little one that is bursting with eagerness to learn to read. Although like his mother, he is not so eager when it comes to cleaning. We have found that lists work beautifully for this chore. For a while I have welcomed his help in…
Read MoreThe Power of a Postcard
On our recent trip to the beach, I grabbed a few postcards in the checkout line so we could send them to some family that didn’t make the trip. Taking time to write postcards is a quick and easy way to ease your preschooler into writing and increase their “literary sense.” I set aside some…
Read MoreJerome
From the desk of Karen… “When I think back to our anchor classroom and others like it, it’s this same kind of spirit that permeates the very air. Children seem to breathe in, “I/We can do this” and breathe out, “Here’s how.” They see themselves and each other as kids with purpose; they see themselves…
Read MoreSuccess
From the desk of Hope… Today I modeled a lesson on author’s purpose with a group of five students ( in a small group, guided reading format). The typical lesson I see on author’s purpose is at the knowledge level. For example, at the end of reading a selection, the teacher asks the students why…
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