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
Second-Grade Minilesson on Paragraphs
Ruth Ayres uses a student text to demonstrate the importance of paragraph breaks in this second-grade minilesson.
Celebrating “The Voice” of Writers
I love writing workshop and the traditional, predictable structure that accompanies it. However, I also love when I hear about teachers incorporating play into their workshop instruction. Recently, one fourth-grade...
Space to Draft
Powerful writing instruction allows time for students to practice. When we force a lockstep approach to writing instruction, we diminish time for students to practice writing. Sometimes in the quest...
Group Composing
I was nervous when I stood before my class with nothing more than my wireless keyboard and a Word document opened up on the Smartboard. We were about to compose...
Shared Writing in Kindergarten
Mandy Robek guides her kindergartners through a shared-writing activity.
Weekly Check-In Sheets
I think one of the most often asked questions when you share that you teach reading and writing workshop is “What do you do for grades?” This is a tough...
Giving Students a Notebook Tour
I don't remember ever having a writer's notebook in elementary school. Sometimes, I look at our students and my daughters with their writer’s notebooks and I wish I had a...
Using a Sketchbook as a Tool to Teach Grammar
A couple of years ago, I ran out to purchase a sketchbook after I heard how Kate Roberts and other staff developers from the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project...
How Long?
The question I’m most often asked about writing workshop is "How long?" How long does it take to revise, how long is writing workshop, how long is a minilesson? Here...
Guiding Principles for Conferring
As I confer with students in writing workshop, I have a few guiding beliefs that govern how I approach students, what I say, and what I teach. These six tenets...
Making Memories Stick: Tutoring Kirk
Memory tasks challenge some children. Teachers might assume that demonstration, copying, reciting, and repeating tasks are sufficient. Yet for some children our instruction does not stick. We try alternatives such...
Moving Away from Bed to Bed: Conferring with Ty
Ruth Ayres confers with fourth grader Ty about his personal narrative, and works to move him away from a "bed-to-bed" approach in his writing.
Raising the Quality of Word Work
Zane carefully wrote the word found on his paper with the blue marker. Then he traced over the word with the red marker, followed by the green marker, and finally...
Small-Group Writing: Steps for Success
“Are we going to write about our reading today?” Christopher, Avery, and Braden beg. I know it’s hard to believe, but they really do. These three readers love to write...
Going Public with Word Work
On our first day back after spring break, I asked my students to think about word work as a math problem. How are the two similar? Puzzled looks were all...
Science Observations in Kindergarten
Mandy Robek introduces a science observation activity to her kindergartners.
Letter Writing with High School Students
Author Brian Doyle celebrates letter writing in his essay "Letterature": “To write or read a personal letter is to connect with someone you love or respect; it is affection and...
10 Ways to Publish Student Work
Some time ago I was preparing to give a presentation to teachers about writing in a middle school classroom. In preparing my presentation, I thought about the writing process and...
Twitter in the Classroom
When I tell people—parents, students, and colleagues—that I have a class Twitter account set up for my students to use, I always see puzzled expressions. How can 10-year-olds possibly be...
Choosing the Right Tool for Your Message
As I become more and more proficient in the kitchen, I find that I need different tools to help me get the best results. It didn’t take me long to...
Organizing Craft Minilessons
Harvesting minilesson ideas from children's books is valuable for instruction during a writing conference or for whole-group minilessons. Over the years, I've developed a system for keeping track of writer's...
