Choice Lit Topic: 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.
Results
How to Write a Sentence
It was years ago that I sat with a stack of writing folders in front of me and delighted in reading the sweet stories that my first graders had chosen...
An Editing Strategy for Run-On Sentences
Yesterday, we pulled up next to Teddy to confer about the memoir he was writing. Teddy struggles with expressing himself in writing. He typically uses simple sentence structure and has...
Writing Workshop Bingo
On a warm afternoon, with windows open and a refreshing breeze circulating through the room, Jared raised his hand in the middle of our minilesson on how to craft a...
One Text, Many Lessons
During our prep for state testing, Alex wrote lead after lead in her on-demand narrative pieces that mimicked the structure and phrasing of Owl Moon. She knew the lead to...
The Importance of Context Minilesson
Christy Rush-Levine shares a vivid anecdote with her middle school students to highlight the importance of context in literary analysis.
Goals to Habits in First Grade
When I sat down to confer with Grace, I was surprised when the focus of the conversation quickly changed to my own reading, specifically a reading goal that I had...
Independence in Writing Workshop
Writing workshop is a tricky thing. When all is going well, there is a sense of calm purpose in the air: the minilesson does not stretch into a maxilesson, and...
Quick-Write with a Video Prompt
Katherine Sokolowski refreshes the quick-write routine in her fifth-grade classroom by using a video as a prompt.
More Productive Writing Workshops
By early winter, many writing workshops have become humming hives of productivity and progress. But some haven't hit their groove. What to look for and what to do about those...
Teaching Revision in Middle School
The pre-assessment prompt for our first unit of writing reads, “Please keep in mind that you’ll have 45 minutes to complete this, so you will need to plan, draft, revise,...
Focused Revision: Introductions
As I sit at my computer, trying to start writing this article, each blink of the cursor on the blank white page is a recurring taunt of “Start! Start! Start!”...
Better Writing Response Groups
Peer feedback is something we value for ourselves, and so we’re always looking for ways to improve the quality of feedback our students give and get. In middle school, we...
Writing Empathy
I write stories about my daughters. Not made-up stories. Real stories about their childhood and our family. I write about Maddie’s first loose tooth and the way Katie always smells...
Making Co-Teaching Work
For four years, we had the fortunate circumstance of being placed together as co-teachers in a fourth-grade classroom. For four years, we got the opportunity to know each other only...
What Writers Need
A couple of summers ago I decided to be a writer full-time for two weeks. I woke up each day and headed to campus, filled with excitement, some anxiety, and...
Writing Effective Conclusions
This year I actually had a student ask me, “Do I have to write a conclusion? Can’t I just stop?” Besides making me laugh, this question stopped me cold for...
Using Mentor Texts Across the Writing Process
During our prep for state testing, Alex wrote lead after lead in her on-demand narrative pieces that mimicked the structure and phrasing of Owl Moon. She knew the lead to...
Assessment Refresh
“I don’t know how to do this,” Jenny whined. “Will you help me?” Jenny was an eighth grader who had dealt with major health issues throughout middle school. She had...
Moves for Struggling Writers
When I taught fifth and sixth grade, I remember one student who was a very reluctant writer. He had mastered a variety of ways to avoid putting words down on...
Tools for Striving Writers
As our district’s writing coordinator, I love working with children who are struggling to write. Yes, I love to work with the gushing writers, but there’s something really rewarding about...
Assessment During On-Demand Writing
It's early in the school year. We've started the activities we've planned to build a community of kids who care about each other and value learning. It's time for the...
