So you want to excite students about your upcoming writing unit? Before I wrote this post I asked some 7th and 8th grade students this question… What could teachers do to get you excited for a writing assignment? Here’s what they said: Blow a kazoo. Buy a confetti cannon. Play a prank. Now, these tactics […]
Writing Units
10 Ways to Make Grading Writing Easier
Don’t have time to read this article? Listen here! Grading hundreds of papers is the bane of an English teacher’s existence. Don’t get me wrong. I love being able to get a thorough look into the minds of my students and their writing abilities. Reading their writing can actually be quite pleasurable. It’s slapping a […]
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 […]
How I Teach Reading & Writing Workshop in 54 Minutes
Writing and reading workshop are powerful methods to teach English. But, how can secondary teachers, who have less than an hour with their students, do it all?!?! I think I have found the solution!
Launching Writing Workshop: The First 14 Days
This article outlines exactly what I did to launch both reading and writing workshop in my classroom. If you are an English teacher wanting to teach using the writing and reading workshop model, then this post is exactly what you’ve been looking for! You’ll find my exact lesson outline for 14 total school days. Students will get to know each other, you’ll build a writing community and begin teaching workshop routines in a matter of 14 days.
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.
Why You’re Probably Teaching Information Writing WRONG
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 cite parts of the article in the essay Teach how to write a thesis/claim, introduction, supporting […]
5 Simple Ways to Improve Your Writing Units
1. Start with a Reading Workshop UnitIt is incredibly powerful to teach a 2-3 week reading unit before a writing unit because it allows for the study of mentor texts. Students need to read the genre they are writing in. Therefore, I encourage you to ditch the whole class novel read alouds and instead use short stories, articles or picture books […]
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 you are a 1st-5th grade teacher, Common Core […]
Tips for Planning Writing Units
Planning a writing unit can feel overwhelming. Many teachers feel stressed out by curricula put in front of them by their schools and districts with little to no training. It is difficult to sift through all the words to get to the good stuff. So let’s simplify things a bit shall we! Below you’ll find lots […]