đź“Ś “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 […]
Descriptive Writing
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: Working on Sentence Fluency
** Contact us if you would like Rogers Education Consulting to come to your campus with engaging, evidence-based, and practical professional development ** About ten years ago, I read Jeff Anderson’s Mechanically Inclined and it changed writing in my classroom forever! As someone who never felt competent in their own writing, teaching writing was a daily struggle. […]
Teaching Poetry and Reading Strategies: Harlem, by Langston Hughes
** Contact us if you would like Rogers Education Consulting to bring an engaging, hands-on poetry session to your campus ** I have three poems that I absolutely love introducing to students. Â One of those poems is Harlem by Langston Hughes. Â I love it because it is fun to read out loud and the students […]
Writers’ Workshop: Brainstorming Ideas for Expository Writing
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 […]