Teaching Writing
Everyone who writes for Choice Literacy loves teaching writing, because we all write ourselves. We know it is "hard fun," as Donald Murray famously said—exasperating and exhilarating at the same time. The writing workshops you will read about here and see in our videos are busy, noisy, vibrant places. And most days, we wouldn't want to be anywhere else than in the midst of 'em! Here is where you'll find our latest discoveries, insights, and occasional boneheaded mistakes in teaching writing.
Latest Content
The Pause That Refreshes: Write When the Conversation Gets Hot
When’s the best time for some spontaneous opinion writing? Suzy Kaback argues it’s when class conversations get hot.
So You Think You Can Combine Sentences? You Can!
Heather Rader concludes her series on sentence combining with a four-step process to help teachers explore the sentence combining craft on their own.
Writing Fiction: More Than Just a Walk in the Park
Is there room for fiction writing in middle schools in the age of the Common Core? Katie Baydo-Reed shares eight compelling reasons why fiction writing is still essential in her eighth-grade classroom.
Sentence Combining in Workshops
Heather Rader has strategies for using sentence combining in literacy workshops.
A Tool Worth Exploring: Sentence Combining
Heather Rader begins a new series on sentence combining, an alternative to traditional drill and kill grammar instruction.
Deeper Writing: The Story Behind the Selfie
Gretchen Taylor taps into a cultural phenomenon with her seventh-grade writers to help them deepen their writing and reflection.
“Article of the Week” Activity in Fourth Grade
Tony Keefer finds that the article-of-the-week activity (adapted from Kelly Gallagher's work) is a good way to integrate short shared texts into his fourth-grade literacy workshop.
Making the Most of Short Texts
Mary Lee Hahn melds short texts with the Common Core in this first article in a two-part series.
Collecting Ideas in the Writer’s Notebook
Ruth Ayres confers with third grader Jade about the importance of the “collecting” phase for writers.
no i don’t think you need to shave
Katie Baydo-Reed lays down the law for her eighth graders about capitalization and the use of periods, with excellent and hilarious results. This piece will make you laugh out loud at the gaps between the ways teachers and teenagers think.
Explanatory Grammar Moves: Getting Verbal with It
Jeff Anderson concludes his series on explanatory grammar moves by exploring participles, included in the Common Core eighth-grade standard covering the use of verbals.
15 Minutes on Friday: Writing on Demand with Students
Mary Lee Hahn finds 15 minutes of writing on Friday builds fluency and confidence in her fifth-grade students, and gives her a wealth of formative assessment data at the same time.
Liberty and Dystopia: February Literacy Contracts
Megan Ginther and Holly Mueller focus their February Literacy Contracts on dystopias.
Words Chart Minilesson
Ruth Ayres develops a word chart in this brief minilesson with second graders.
Common Core Research Shifts
Maria Caplin explains four changes she is making in her fifth-grade classroom with writing instruction because of the Common Core.
Streamlining Research Check-ins
Gretchen Taylor finds streamlining research check-ins in her middle school classroom is easy to do when she uses a simple online tool to eliminate a mountain of paper.
Whole Class Research Planning in 4th Grade
Andrea Smith’s fourth graders brainstorm next steps for their research project on owl habitats, which includes writing a research proposal.
Penguins Are Amazing!: Informational Writing Comes Alive in Kindergarten
Can kindergartners do informational writing? Keri Archer finds the answer is yes, as she applies Common Core standards to inquiry work in her classroom.
Rereading for Writing: Conferring with Jack
Katie DiCesare confers with first grader Jack, using rereading to help him rethink the title of his story and possibilities for revision.
Inside and Outside Views: Conferring with Rebecca
Ruth Ayres confers with first grader Rebecca about perspective and illustrations in her writing.
Journeys and Quests: January Literacy Contracts
Middle school teachers Megan Ginther and Holly Mueller focus on journeys and quests as the theme of their January Literacy Contracts in the latest installment of their year-long series.
Modeling Annotation in 8th Grade
This video from Katie Baydo-Reed’s eighth-grade classroom is the second part of a series on teaching annotation skills in middle school. A catch-up link to the first video in the series is provided.
Tell Me More
Gretchen Taylor finds the three little words “tell me more” provide breakthroughs in helping her middle school students respond to reading.
Explanatory Grammar Moves: Right-Branching Sentences
Jeff Anderson continues his Explanatory Grammar Series with a feature on the power of right-branching sentences.
Second-Grade Minilesson on Capital Letters
Ruth Ayres presents a minilesson on capital letters to a second-grade class.
Finding Topics in Writer’s Notebooks Minilesson
Sean Moore shares the importance of using a writer’s notebook to discover topics in this minilesson with his second-grade students from early in the year.
Exploring Winter with Short Texts
Middle school teachers Megan Ginther and Holly Mueller focus on winter in short texts as the theme of their December Literacy Contracts in the latest installment of their year-long series.
Writing a Strong Ending: 4th Grade Writing Conference
Tony Keefer confers with fourth grader Tommy to help him write a stronger ending.
Reporting and Crafting: Conferring with Ezra
Ruth Ayres confers with Ezra about revision — using a mentor text to help him move from reporting to crafting in his writing.
Powerful Conferences
Ruth Ayres explains how deciding the purpose of conferring in advance can lead to more powerful conferences.
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