The end of the school year can be chaotic, so keeping students engaged and having fun is incredibly important. I have used the project detailed here every year I've taught and it never fails to keep students loving their school work and writing until the very end. Here are the steps to get this project rolling... 1. Activate Prior Knowledge Explain that it is fun to … [Read more...] about Encyclopedia Memoirs: The Best Way to End a School Year!
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5 Ways to Use Google Classroom During Writing Workshop
In the last two 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 … [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 … [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 … [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 … [Read more...] about Ten Places to Find Mentor Texts