Many secondary teachers, like you, are beginning to realize the power of running their English classes using writing workshop. Maybe you keep seeing references to it on Pinterest or in Facebook groups. Maybe a teacher friend is trying it and finding success. Or maybe an administrator is pushing teachers at your school to try it. Whatever your reason for being here, this article can help you get started! Writing workshop is a very simple and predictable system that splits your … [Read more...] about The Beginner’s Guide to Writing Workshop
Featured Post
Mentor Texts for Middle School by Genre+Summaries and Skills to Teach
Amanda Write Now · 29. Middle School Mentor Texts Every writing unit should start with mentor texts. Students need many examples of the type of writing we expect them to do. In this article, I've compiled my favorite middle school mentor texts. Each mentor text includes grade levels, a summary of the text and skills you could teach. Note: This article doesn't cover how to teach using mentor texts. Read how to use mentor texts here. Help make this article a more powerful resource for … [Read more...] about Mentor Texts for Middle School by Genre+Summaries and Skills to Teach
We Need to Stop Neglecting Fiction
Don't Have Time to Read? Fiction writing is neglected in English classes everywhere for many reasons. We don't have enough time. Or we are afraid students might produce pages and pages and pages and we feel too guilty about not reading all of those pages! Or maybe some of us don't do it because we feel it's just not academic enough... In the TED Talk I've included below, Ken Robinson talks about the hierarchy of subjects and how more "academic" subjects like math and English … [Read more...] about We Need to Stop Neglecting Fiction
My Students Don’t Write During Writing
Don't have time to read all of this?!?! Listen below:) So, some of your students aren't writing during writing? Maybe they are just sitting there staring off into space. Or maybe they are sneaking onto their phone, they'll probably tell you they were looking up a word on thesaurus.com. Or maybe they are whispering with a friend, about...who knows what? It is aggravating, isn't it!?! You work so hard and these rascals could care less! The thing we need to remember is that … [Read more...] about My Students Don’t Write During Writing
5 Ways to Use Google Classroom During Writing Workshop
In the last three years Google Classroom has definitely transformed my teaching practices. It is such a simple system to use. At first I used it in obvious ways, create a Google Doc, type directions in that Doc and post it as a class assignment. But as time went on I began to see it as a store-house of writing workshop tools and resources! My hope is that this article inspires you to try out new ways of using Google Classroom in order to enhance your writing workshop instruction... 1. Use … [Read more...] about 5 Ways to Use Google Classroom During Writing Workshop
10 Ways to Publish Student Writing: A Step-by-Step Guide
Publishing student writing is the cornerstone of a successful writing workshop program. At the beginning of each of my writing units I tell students they will write many different drafts within a writing genre and pick one to revise intensely and then to publish. In this article I'll present many options for publishing student writing, materials you'll need, the steps you need to take in order to implement these options and the best resources I've found to support you in sharing your … [Read more...] about 10 Ways to Publish Student Writing: A Step-by-Step Guide
10 Ways to Use PowToon in the English Classroom
PowToon is a fun and fairly easy video creation tool for teachers and students. The company already has an excellent blog post about how teachers can utilize this tool in their classrooms here. This blog post is about how students can use PowToon for ten writing and reading tasks! Here is an excellent tutorial video you can show your students to get them started with how to use PowToon... 1. Create an All About You Video Back to school is a great time for … [Read more...] about 10 Ways to Use PowToon in the English Classroom
Ten Places to Find Mentor Texts
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 inspired in their own writing. Mentor texts can also be called writing samples, or examples. One of the most challenging parts of being a writing teacher is finding mentor texts. So I've curated a list of my go to places for mentor texts online … [Read more...] about Ten Places to Find Mentor Texts