Ruth Ayres explains the importance of “inside” and “outside” views in writing using a student mentor text in this lesson with second graders.

Ruth Ayres explains the importance of “inside” and “outside” views in writing using a student mentor text in this lesson with second graders.
Ruth Ayres is the editor in chief of the Choice Literacy site and director of The Lead Learners in northern Indiana. She spends her days helping school leaders build skills and confidence as change agents, and encouraging instructional influencers to reflect and refine the art of coaching. Ruth’s background includes work as a middle and high school language arts and science teacher and as a K-12 instructional coach, and writing books, articles, and lots of blog posts. She has written Enticing Hard-to-Reach Writers (Stenhouse, 2017) and many other books. Ruth and her husband, Andy, have four children. When not writing professionally, Ruth collects stories of adoption, faith, and whimsy. You can follow her at Ruth Ayres Writes or on LinkedIn.
Ruth Ayres explains how deciding the purpose of conferring in advance can lead to more powerful conferences.
Franki Sibberson tackles the connections between text complexity and perspective in this Common Core booklist.
Debbie Miller goes against the grain, advocating for “the luscious feeling of endless time” as we slow down to confer with children.
Ruth Ayres confers with first grader Rebecca about perspective and illustrations in her writing.
Ruth Ayres confers with second grader Max about the drama of losing his dog, and the value of using two-page spreads to tell a story.
Ruth Ayres confers with kindergartner Dalton early in the year, focusing on his illustrations to build storytelling skills.