by Amanda | Dec 2, 2016 | Holiday Writing
Before your pants are covered in green glitter and your classroom floor is littered with candy cane wrappers, make sure to check out these holiday writing activities! Narrative Writing Activities Possible Key Terms for These Lessons: dialogue, characters, setting,...
by Amanda | Nov 18, 2016 | Mini Lessons
Many teachers think mini lessons are a way to teach writing or reading skills. THAT IS NOT TRUE! We should all be teaching behavior mini lessons too. Go directly to videos you can use with your writing class today by clicking on any of the links below… 1. What...
by Amanda | Nov 4, 2016 | Podcast, Writing Units
Most secondary teachers I know, wonderful teachers who are friends of mine by the way, teach information/expository writing using essay assignments. Here’s how it usually goes: Read & annotate articles Write an essay in response to the articles Teach how to...
by Amanda | Oct 13, 2016 | Writing Units
Planning a unit can be time consuming but it doesn’t have to be. Planning a unit can actually be quite simple, especially if you plan as you go, based on the needs of the students in front of you. Below you’ll find 5 tips to help you plan your next writing...
by Amanda | Sep 8, 2016 | Technology
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...
by Amanda | Aug 9, 2016 | Mini Lessons
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...
by Amanda | Jun 28, 2016 | Beginners, Podcast
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...
by Amanda | May 13, 2016 | Make Writing Fun, Management, Mini Lessons
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...
by Amanda | Apr 28, 2016 | Featured Post, 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...
by Amanda | Apr 14, 2016 | Make Writing Fun, Mini Lessons
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...
by Amanda | Mar 31, 2016 | Beginners, Mini Lessons, Podcast
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...
by Amanda | Mar 17, 2016 | Make Writing Fun, Podcast
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...
by Amanda | Mar 3, 2016 | Writing Units
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...
by Amanda | Feb 18, 2016 | Mini Lessons, Writing Independence
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...
by Amanda | Feb 4, 2016 | Mini Lessons
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...