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
Getting Started with Sentence Observations
If you watched the recent video clip posted on Choice Literacy of a sentence observation in my classroom, you may have noted the sophisticated language and discussion strategies of the...
Listen In: Maya is a Chapter Writer
William Strunk and E.B. White produced a no-nonsense writing book in the 1950s titled The Elements of Style. I have the third edition that sits by my desk. In the...
You’ve Got to Be Joking
Kai's class was "obnoxious" (in his words). I'm accustomed to working with high-energy kids in need of redirection, but some days even I had to admit they knocked the wind...
Essay Writing: Thesis Statements and Supporting Details Minilesson
Beth Lawson works with her 4th graders to develop essays with strong thesis statements and supporting details, using a folder organization system to highlight different thesis statements for each child....
From “I Don’t Get It” to “Never Mind — That’s Amazing!”: Scaffolding Schema for Comprehending Poetry
In the beginning poetry was reserved for April. It is National Poetry Month after all, so why not teach about it then? As it became difficult to fit all things...
Essay Writing: Teacher Modeling
Beth Lawson works with her fourth graders to develop essays with strong thesis statements and supporting details, using a folder organization system to highlight different thesis statements for each child....
Preschool Centers
Centers can be an effective teaching and learning strategy in preschools. In this video, Melissa Kolb shares her rationale for using centers in her Head Start classroom with video examples...
Sticky Little Invention (The Post-It Essay)
I love a graffiti board assignment -- a chance for students to display their learning in creative ways and receive brief "graffiti" responses from their peers. Teachers in my college...
Conferring About Thesis Statements
In this conference with a 4th grader, Beth Lawson talks about supporting details for thesis statements. This is part of the video series from Beth's room on essay writing.
Write Today
Too many irons in the fire. This is a phrase I've heard most of my life. I started hearing it as a child, and today, decades later, my mom's voice stays...
Stuck on a Thesis: Conferring
In this conference with a 4th grader, Beth Lawson works with a student who has chosen a challenging essay topic and is struggling to develop his thesis.
The Sponge Summary Lesson Part 5
This is a companion video series to Heather Rader's article "A Sponge is a Summary." In this sequence of videos, Heather teaches a 4th grade class, using the analogy of...
Listen In: Writing in Math
"You've gotta see this" were Linda Karamatic's first words when I arrived in her second-grade classroom. On this particular day we marveled at how Maya had decided to make her...
The Sponge Summary Lesson Part 6
This is a companion video series to Heather Rader's article "A Sponge is a Summary." In this sequence of videos, Heather teaches a 4th grade class, using the analogy of...
Listen In: Knowing When You’re Done
The plan was for Hailey to decide the content of this writing conference. By the spring, she'd engaged in so many conferences that she knew how to have grand conversations...
Listen In: XBox Game Writing
Cody begins the conference with, "I have a piece that I just finished," and he's off and reading. Can this be the same student I conferred with who had no...
Frogs as Learning Ambassadors Part 1: Literary Nonfiction in 4th Grade
There is a story behind the following video clips captured in my classroom. The research and writing lessons filmed that day were built upon experiences that launched the school year...
Frogs as Learning Ambassadors Part 2: Literary Nonfiction in 4th Grade
When you visit our classroom, you see many aquariums filled with unusual frog and toad specimens arranged throughout our learning community. Other animals live with us, but the frogs are...
What Can You Learn from Slice of Life Writing?
Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. —Jim Ryun Writing on a regular basis is a tough habit to develop. There are many things vying...
Scaring Up Better Narratives Part 3
Aimee Buckner leads a lesson on brainstorming topics in writer's notebooks using the mentor text Some Things Are Scary. In this final installment of a three-part series, Aimee continues to...
The Sponge Summary Lesson Part 1
This is a companion video series to Heather Rader's article "A Sponge is a Summary." In this sequence of videos, Heather teaches a 4th grade class, using the analogy of...
