📌 “Getting students to add details is like pulling teeth!” Sound familiar? You’re not alone. Many teachers find themselves begging students to add more, but what they get is a random adjective here, an unnecessary adverb there, and not much else. Here’s the thing: if we want students to write with detail and clarity, we […]
Mini-Lessons
Micro Writing: Small Bursts, Big Results
📌 Why A common writing frustration—“Getting students to add details is like pulling teeth!” If you’ve ever heard this in your classroom, you know how difficult it can be to help students move beyond basic writing to more descriptive, refined work. ✍️ Why It’s Important Micro writing isn’t just about writing quickly, it’s about working […]
How to Use Mentor Texts in Writing
Simply put, mentor texts are texts that serve as mentors, or guides, for reading and writing instructions. In writing, these texts will serve as an example of a strategy, craft, or convention that students can study in order to emulate in their own writing. In reading, these texts can be reread multiple times to discuss […]
Writers’ Workshop: Show Don’t Tell
Every elementary Writers’ Workshop teacher has a go-to “Show, Don’t Tell” lesson in which students learn how to show or illustrate what is happening, instead of merely stating it. But do we ever have enough? Do the students ever master this highly important writing skill?? Exactly! So here is another lesson to add to your […]
Writers’ Workshop: Incorporating a Research Unit
How can I stay true to the Writers’ Workshop model while doing what I know to be best practice in research?
Writers’ Workshop: Organizing Ideas for Personal Narrative Drafts
We are getting Writers’ Workshop kicked off school-wide – K-12!
Modeling Generating Ideas with Heart Maps in Elementary
We are getting Writers’ Workshop kicked off school-wide – K-12!
Mini-Lesson Basics
Through my many visits to schools and classrooms, I have realized that there is a myriad of ways the term “mini-lesson” is being used. It’s almost like the “old-fashioned” (according to my kids) game of telephone. A definition began, was passed to another educator, changed slightly, passed to another, and so on. As we start […]