Latest Content
Bet You Didn’t Know: Chicken Eggs and Research

Mandy Robek encourages young writers to collect information about a topic. She provides whole-class and individual structures for students to learn that their understanding can change, as well as to be able to access information when they are ready to draft. Don’t miss Mrs. Robek’s digital class book.

Color Coding: An Organizational Strategy

Leigh Anne Eck gives advice to her middle school writers for collecting research notes.

Plagued by Plagiarism

Plagiarism is an age-old issue, but with the emergence of AI tools, it’s plaguing our classrooms again. Vivian Chen offers three practical (and essential) approaches when working with writers.

Using Self-Portraits as an Assessment Tool for Early Writers

Becca Burk guides us in using self-portraits as an assessment tool for early writers. Becca shares a rubric, self-portrait samples, and practical next steps for her kindergarten writers.

The Art of Noticing: Have Your Students Played with Language Today?

Stella Villalba noticed her students were so busy writing quickly, they were not paying attention to crafting language. A student, Gabriela, turns to a book and asks for help to make her writing sound like the book. Stella uses this moment to slow down the class and create space to be inspired to write in beautiful ways.

Author Moves: More Than “Lots of Detail”

Julie Cox deconstructs craft moves—literally and figuratively—with her high school writers. If you are looking to move conversations about craft beyond “The author used a lot of good details,” then you’ll want to try Julie’s suggestions.

Practical Advice for Dealing with Messy Handwriting

Do struggles with handwriting matter? They do when a student can’t even decipher his own words. Katherine Sokolowski confers with fifth grader Sauvi to help him find solutions to the problem.

How Long Does This Have to Be?

Students often question how long a piece of writing needs to be. Gretchen Schroeder shares a strategy that changed the focus of writing projects from length to meaning.

Everyone Wants to Write?

Becca Burk reflects on creating a classroom where everyone wants to write. She offers timely advice for creating a community of writers.

Developing Independent Writers

Vivian Chen tackles the difficult topic of helping students become independent as writers. She offers tips for before, during, and after writing time to uplift student agency.

Encouraging Agency

Melanie Meehan shares three tips on helping students be independent and productive writers. She also includes a hefty list of craft moves from mentor texts to use while teaching writers.

Learning from Our Favorite Illustrators

Ruth Metcalfe tapped a plethora of resources to help her first-grade writers understand how to communicate meaning with illustrations.

Writing Graphic Novels

Melanie Meehan shares the immersion process of writing graphic novels with middle grade students. You won’t want to miss the incredible student writing that shows the power of offering choice to young writers.

Overcoming Challenges in Writing Workshop with Trauma-Informed Practices

Ruth Ayres shares three mindsets to help teachers prioritize connection over correction when teaching writers.

Young Author Celebrations

Jennifer Court shares the celebrations that propel students to engage in the Young Authors Program.

It’s Time to Admire: Sharing in the Beauty of Students’ Writing

Heather Fisher shares a process to help teachers learn to admire student writers and find the beauty in their work.

Opinion Writing in Primary Grades: Layers of Support

Ruth Metcalfe suggests several layer of supports to uplift young writers as they begin to write their opinions.

Taking a Stance: Supporting Opinions in Primary Writers 

Josie Stewart and Hannah Tills expand their view of opinion writing to taking a stance, and are reminded of the power of choice and honoring student passions and interests. At the same time, students are reminded that their voice is heard and their opinions matter. 

QuickTake: Choice in Making Plans for Writing

Ruth Ayres shares the importance of giving students choice when planning their writing projects.

Questioning My Choice for Silence

Stella Villalba questioned her choice for silent writing time when she began listening to students. In this thought-provoking article, Stella gives direction in how to meet the needs of all students—those who need time to talk and those who need a quiet writing space.

Writing from the Heart

Kate Mills and Tara Barnett pour their hearts into teaching writers, but when Tara loses her family dog, she is reminded that writing is the thing that helps us understand what’s most important.

Authentic Audience

Julie Cox offers three questions to determine authentic audiences for high school students to share work.

Three Ways Student Writers Taught Me How to Use Writing Partnerships

Patty McGee pays attention to how students work as writers to find the teaching points for how to learn to work as writing partners.

Teaching Students to Be Teachers

Tara Barnett and Kate Mills share a process for empowering students to be teachers in partnerships and small-group instruction.

Teaching Writers to Hear Feedback

Cathy Mere outlines ways writers can position themselves to hear (and use) feedback.

It’s the Final Countdown: Using Chunking and Timers to Scaffold Reluctant Writers

What do you do when students won’t write during class? Gretchen Schroeder offers a creative, practical, and effective solution.

Helping Writers Self-Correct

What to do with writers who catch errors in isolation but not in their own writing? Cathy Mere suggests three ways to help students self-correct their writing.

Rural Matters: Revealing Perceptions and Celebrating Roots

Gretchen Schroeder addresses the negative and positive perceptions of rural people with her high school students through readings, discussions, and analytical writing. Download a guide for Critical Rural Perspective Analysis to use with your students.

Good Work, Writer

Becca Burk asserts that every child can become a writer when given materials, opportunity, and authentic glimpses into what it means to be a writer. Most importantly, though, children need adults who believe they are writers.

Infusing Poetic Techniques in Our Writing

Tara Barnett and Kate Mills show how to infuse poetic techniques into writing other genres.

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