How to Create Student E-Porfolios
Student E-Portfolios are an easy and engaging way to demonstrate growth and learning. But, what exactly are they and how do you make them happen in your classroom? E-Portfolios are websites that contain pages which show student learning throughout the course of a...
31 Mini Lessons for the First Month of School
676SharesShare Tweet Pin It What do you write in your plan book the first month of school, how about the first week? If you took a peek at my plan book you’d find mini lesson titles, mentor text lists, scheduled assessments, deadlines, unit plan...
Realizations About Teaching Writing
Don’t have time to read? Listen to this article instead! I’ve been teaching writing workshop for four years now with no formal training. Last week I attended the Summer Writing Institute in NYC organized and facilitated by the leading think tank in writing...
How to Support Your Writing Haters
Welcome back! This is part three of a series revealing the truth about writing with mini lessons! In each blog post I provide a mini lesson you can use with your class to discuss topics all students think about but rarely get the chance to talk about in their...
Ten Places to Find Mentor Texts
1.5kSharesShare Tweet Pin It What is a mentor text anyway? A mentor text is any text used to model the type of writing your students are learning. Mentor texts are the backbone of writing workshop because students need to see what the pros do, to get...
The Truth About Writing Part Two
Welcome back for part two of this three part series revealing the truth about writing with mini lessons! In each blog post I provide a mini lesson you can use with your class to discuss topics all students think about but rarely get the chance to talk about in their...
The Truth About Writing Part One
This is a three-part mini lesson series that will help you reach for the truth about writing with your students. Each post will include a mini lesson, not for the faint of heart. These mini lessons are for writing teachers who want to discuss difficult topics that...
8 Ways Teachers Kill a Love of Writing in Their Classrooms
Are you a writing teacher who wants to instill a love of writing in your students but aren’t sure how? Yes, teaching standards is important and students need to be college and career ready, but that doesn’t mean we have to suck the fun out of writing, does...
Opinion, Persuasive or Argumentative Writing?
Many teachers think argumentative and persuasive writing are the same. Some would go as far as to say that persuasive writing has just turned into argumentative because of Common Core (not true). And where does opinion writing fall into all of this? First of all, if...
Mini Lessons Step By Step Part Three
Welcome to Mini Lessons Step By Step Part Three! Part One: Coming to the Meeting Area and Hooking Students In Part Two: Teaching a Targeted Skill & Modeling with Mentor Texts Part Three: Guided & Independent Practice Here’s a quick overview of everything...
Mini Lessons Step By Step Part Two
Welcome to Mini Lessons Step By Step Part Two… Part One: Coming to the Meeting Area & Hooking Students In Part Two: Teaching a Targeted Skill & Modeling with Mentor Texts Part Three: Guided & Independent Practice Let’s get started with Mini...
Mini Lesson Step By Step Part One
So what is a mini lesson anyway? To put it plainly, a mini lesson is a brief lesson modeling a targeted writing skill. In this series I’ll break it down into small, easy to chew bits. Join me for this three part series analyzing the components of an...
Writing Chart Fails and Fixes
Charts for workshop can be incredible tools and well…a giant pain. Come on admit it, how many times have you scribbled down student ideas only to stare sideways at the mess before you. And half the class shouts you forgot the “n” in when. Your...