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
Poetry Minute: Forms and How to Teach Them
In the same way that artists learn the rules of form and color before they experiment with ways to break the rules, students often feel more comfortable writing poetry when...
Transitions Are Like Underwear
“I don’t need you to confirm or deny this, but I’m pretty sure you are all wearing underwear right now.” The fifth-grade students looked up from their journals quickly. “We...
The Truth About Building a Writing Community in Middle School
I teach four sections of English Language Arts to seventh and eighth graders. Early in the school year, I set out to create a community of writers. I wanted my...
Shared Reading to Explore Writer’s Craft in First Grade
Katie DiCesare's first graders reread a favorite text in pairs to work on noticing the details of writer's craft.
Make a Note
By mid-January, any child in my classroom will tell you that I am forgetful. I make a point, in fact, of forgetting things they tell me, all of the time. ...
Introducing Annotation in Eighth Grade
Katie Baydo-Reed introduces the concept of annotating text to her eighth-grade students.
Sketching Trees in Winter
Squatting down behind a stone fence, the trees at the top of the hill, as familiar as my face, look oddly new, uneasy, like the whitening air between us. Quiet...
Weaving Word Study into Writing Workshop in 5th Grade
As I think about building word study and starting to make the connections to the Common Core, I have purposefully decided to weave word study instruction throughout my reading and...
Highlighting Language in a Writing Conference
Karen Terlecky confers with fifth grader Nora about her evocative language during writing workshop.
Linking Movement, Minds, and Literacy in Kindergarten
Rituals and routines shape our habits. Students construct inner control of their thinking through repeated actions, guided by an inner dialogue. Self-regulatory talk can be intentionally taught, then integrated into...
Student-Selected Vocabulary in Middle School
“Look! I found eavesdropping in this book.” Aden had placed his book in front of my eyes, completely obscuring my view of my own choice book as he loudly whispered...
From “Show Me the Lessons” to Sustainable Planning (Part 4 of the Opinion/Argument Writing Series)
Years ago when teachers were first encouraged to use mentor texts to model for writers and weren’t sure how, I had a lot of requests for help. I heard from...
Movement with First Graders
Katie DiCesare leads her first-grade students through movements and a song, and explains in the debrief why movement activities are valuable for young learners.
Peer Conferring: The Release Phase
Last summer I read the book Mindset by Carol Dweck. If you ran into me at the pool up the road, at a professional development class, or even at the...
Looking for the Open Door
He was in his favorite classroom spot with his favorite expression. Scrunched up face, hands gripping hair, huddled on the little green carpet spot underneath the overhang of my desk....
Using Comics in Literacy Workshops
Franki Sibberson works with her 3rd and 4th graders to use comics in the literacy workshop. Students study a variety of comics and list common attributes in small- and whole-group settings.
Touchy Topics for Opinion/Argumentative Writing
Many teachers have asked me for lists of arguable topics that appeal to kids. While I have some personal favorites, I offer this scaffolding to plan so they develop something...
Helping Richard Revise
Karen Terlecky coaxes Richard to cut extraneous material from his writing by highlighting the strengths of his narrative first in this video from her fifth-grade classroom.
Lists, Facts, and Reports: Conferring with Anna
Franki Sibberson confers with fourth grader Anna to help her connect report writing with her love of animal lists.
Building Peer Conferring Skills in the Primary Grades
In my past experience with sixth-grade students, peer conferring was a way of life in our writing class. Students were able to take the lead and really push the thinking...
Lifting the Quality of Peer Response
Helping children learn to listen to each other well and give feedback takes a great deal of time. For many years, I just assumed that kids intuitively knew how to...
