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
Using Self-Portraits as an Assessment Tool for Early Writers
“Becca, you have the data you need for your first writing small groups before the school year even starts.” I scrunched my brow while I processed what my friend Katie...
The Art of Noticing: Have Your Students Played with Language Today?
for anyone trying to discern what to do with their life: PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU PAY ATTENTION TO. that’s pretty much all the info u need. —Amy Krouse Rosenthal,...
Author Moves: More Than “Lots of Detail”
I always love getting recommendations from students—books, poems, essays, whatever they have been enjoying. I always knew it was going to be a good day when students met me at...
Writing Will Help
“It was a hard recess,” the recess duty teacher said to me. Although it wasn't what I wanted to hear, it also wasn’t a surprise. There is a point in...
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...
How Long Does This Have to Be?
I once had a student named Wyatt who, whenever he was asked to write something in my class, never failed to ask, "How long does this have to be?" And...
Everyone Wants to Write?
One week, I was home with my family fighting COVID. I missed five straight days of school, and my kindergartners had four different people in charge of them in five...
Developing Independent Writers
When I first started teaching (and for more years than I'd like to admit), this is what it sounded like when it was time for independent writing time to begin:...
Encouraging Agency
One of the refrains I think people in my district will remember me for is that you never want to teach a child that the only way they can write...
Learning from Our Favorite Illustrators
Last year our first-grade team was brainstorming ideas for a short unit of study for writing workshop. Usually if we find ourselves with a week or two between units, we...
Writing Graphic Novels
After an opinion essay unit followed by a text-heavy information writing unit, fourth-grade students were ready for a change of pace and a change of genres for many reasons. We...
Overcoming Challenges in Writing Workshop with Trauma-Informed Practices
I was in a first-grade classroom during a writing workshop. There was a student, Gerald. The teacher told me, “He only copies text. I’ve never seen anything like it. He...
Young Author Celebrations
As an instructional coach for an elementary school, I've learned that some of my favorite events to plan are the young author celebrations. Each year I can’t wait to create...
It’s Time to Admire: Sharing in the Beauty of Students’ Writing
I admire anyone that has the guts to write anything. E. B. White “What is this young writer doing?" I asked encouragingly to the team of teachers gathered around for...
Opinion Writing in Primary Grades: Layers of Support
The Struggle Is Real I’m going to be completely honest. I used to find myself groaning every year when it was time to plan our opinion writing unit. Although my...
Taking a Stance: Supporting Opinions in Primary Writers
When young writers are given an opportunity to share their opinions, the world becomes a better place. The opinions of young writers span from the perils of tripping over misplaced...
Supporting Students in Forming Opinions
This PD2Go focuses on supporting students as they develop their opinions by pairing an article by Leigh Anne Eck with a minilesson video of Christy Rush-Levine.
QuickTake: Choice in Making Plans for Writing
Ruth Ayres shares the importance of giving students choice when planning their writing projects.
Questioning My Belief in the Need for Silence
Here’s a belief I used to practice… “Writers need quiet spaces to write, so we need to be quiet during writing workshop.” Yes, this is a statement that I have...
Writing from the Heart
On Thursday, we said goodbye to our sweet, adventurous golden retriever, Friday. She grew up with my kids, and it was a tough farewell. They say 13 is a good...
Authentic Audience
When we sat down to revise our sophomore speech unit, my grade-level partner Jordan and I were unsure where to start. We knew the unit would continue to encompass the...
