I was thrilled to be asked to model brainstorming for expository writing to fourth graders using the Writers’ Workshop framework. The students had already been taught expository writing and were able to tell me that “expository” meant they had to explain something. Many of the students equated it to research. The Texas Education Agency has defined the […]
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Engaging Learners with Interdisciplinary Teaching
As educators, we are constantly hearing how important it is to make our curriculum relevant to students, and that the students need to have ownership and find value in their learning. It seems to me that the obvious solution is to actively teach more social studies. While social studies is written in every elementary curriculum, […]
Classroom Chatter is a Good Thing
Recently I was teaching Writers’ Workshop to fourth and fifth graders and when I asked them what went well, I was baffled by a student who said “we were quiet!” I smiled and let him know that sometimes it’s good to talk. Inside I was a little crushed. How could we have a strong Writers’ […]
Screencasting in the Classroom
With so much buzz around flipped classrooms, meeting individualized needs, and including parents as partners, why not screencast? Screencasting, recording the action that takes place on the computer screen with sound, is an easy way to accomplish all those goals. Teachers can quickly create screencasts that can be viewed at home (with or without internet […]
Escaping Reality for the Weekend
We all need a break now and then, so when Melissa asked me to join her and her husband on a trip to Rockport, TX for Labor Day weekend I jumped! My family and I packed up Saturday morning and hit the road. I left without my computer, textbooks, and calendar! CRAZY – I KNOW! […]
Encouraging Readers
As a mom of three boys, a teacher to many students, and an educator of educators, I am constantly battling questions about students’ reading levels. Teachers also frequently ask questions like how many times students should read the same book, and if it matters what students are reading (magazines, graphic novels, etc.). Truthfully, I haven’t seen any research that proves a […]
Personal Narratives in Middle School
** Contact us if you would like Rogers Education Consulting to bring an engaging, hands-on, and evidence-based Writers’ Workshop session to your campus ** Last week I was so excited to work with middle school students in a Writers’ Workshop. I love that when I first tell the students that I am teaching a writing […]
Growing Readers in Middle School
This month I was hired to do the best job imaginable, model a Readers’ Workshop. At the end of March I took a whole cart of great fiction (mostly off the Lone Star Reading List) into 6 different sixth grade classrooms, with the one goal of hooking kids on a book. I prepared a mini-lesson […]