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
Football Field Writing
Several years ago, I stumbled across high school teacher Jim Burke’s blog and a post titled Teaching at the 18-Yard Line. Jim describes an exercise in visualization about the future...
Teaching Syllable Breaks in Kindergarten
In kindergarten, table groups are a natural and informal way to help groups of students learn new skills through eavesdropping. In this short video from Mandy Robek's kindergarten class, Mandy...
Using Shared Writing to Build Argument Skills
Belinda was feeling rather discouraged. She had just finished reading drafts of her students’ argumentative writing. After several minilessons and conferences, most of her fourth graders were still not supporting...
Rehearsing Informational Writing: Conferring with Jocelyn
Stella Villalba confers with first grader Jocelyn about the information text she is writing about bunnies. Jocelyn is an English language learner, and this conference demonstrates the value of oral...
Our Favorite Online Reading and Writing Tools Round-Up (Part 2)
Our tech-savvy contributors remind us that learning with technology should be embedded with sound instructional practice and have new ideas for how that can be done. If you missed Part...
Subheading Literacy: Nothing “Sub” About It
Subheadings do a lot of work in informational text; they are crucial comprehension touchstones. Similar to chapter headings, white space, and illustrations in narrative text, subheadings alert us to pause,...
Listen In: Writing Reviews
In this video, Kincaid shares a complex system of recording beloved fantasy books and characters. Even though it wasn’t planned, Heather and Kincaid end up discussing reviews as a potential way to inform and explain the fantasy reading.
Cooking Up Interest in Words with Fifth Graders
All my life I've looked at words as though I were seeing them for the first time. Ernest Hemingway I became fascinated with words from my grandmother, and my mother...
The Lunch Lady and Gender in Reading
Franki Sibberson's students read a blog post together, and then talk about books for boys and girls. You can click here to read the original blog post from Jarrett J....
Slice of Life: Challenging Student Writers
In November of 2011 I began my blog. It was something I had thought about for quite some time, but I was nervous to take the leap. Yet once I...
Symbiosis: Choice and Structure in Writing Workshops
In symbiosis, two organisms interact, often benefiting both. In the movie Finding Nemo, we watch the clownfish and sea anemone live together in harmony. The clownfish eats harmful invertebrates for...
Between the Brain and Page: Working with Gifted Student Writers
Students who are identified as highly capable, gifted, and/or talented make special contributions to our classrooms. They also bring challenges, some of which are unexpected given their natural cognitive aptitude....
10 Principles for Planning Reading Minilessons
For a while, minilessons didn’t seem to fit into my bigger goals of the reading workshop. I realized a few years ago that I was often going through the motions...
Every Picture Tells a Story
My house is decorated with a hodgepodge of artifacts, memorabilia, and photos that transport friends and family to different times and places. Gazing at photos and reliving these experiences is...
Research IS the Project (Primary Research Series)
Have you had good chocolate and then tried really excellent chocolate? Were you ever able to go back to the just-good chocolate? Yeah, me neither. That’s what happened when I...
Teacher-as-Writing-Model Minilesson in Fourth Grade
Beth Lawson shares her writing process, as well as the emotions and struggles writers face, with her fourth-grade students.
Putting the Search Back in Research
When I saw an entire subsection in the Common Core Writing Standards devoted to “Research to Build and Present Knowledge,” I rubbed my hands together and said, “It’s time.” My...
Science Challenge
Franki Sibberson's fourth-grade students share results from the weekly science challenge.
Getting More from Wonderopolis
Franki Sibberson uses Wonderopolis with her 4th grade students, helping them learn to research and dig more deeply at the site.
Supporting the Transition to Middle School: An Elementary Teacher’s Perspective
As the month of May rolls around and our state testing is completed, my focus shifts to our district’s required database for my fifth graders as they transition to three...
What Information Is Good Information? Smooth and Effective Transitions to Middle School
With each passing year, I accumulate larger piles of data about my incoming middle schoolers: spelling inventory scores, Developmental Reading Assessment scores, state test scores, and district diagnostic scores. Yet...
