The Last WNW of the Month

Please click here to submit your WN Entry today. Or, if you don’t have a blog, then just post your entry as a comment under this post. THANKS!
Click here to read Ruth’s Entry.
Click here to read Stacey’s Entry.

ruth’s wn entry: loving autumn.

(photo taken on Monday, October 29, 2007 from my back yard) 
There’s something about this time of year that resonates inside of me.  I think it’s the slowing down of it all.  The preparing for what’s to come.   The changes outside that make me think about the changes within.
Today I noticed the tumbling leaves, the harvested fields, [...]

Stacey’s WN Entry: They don’t grow back in twosies-twosies

I started doing it when I was 24.
I vowed to stop doing it about 100 times.
I’m 30 now and I’m still doing it…
I pull out any gray hair that sprouts from my scalp. I mean, for pete’s sake, I’m only 30. Why should I have to deal with these things!??!
Some people think that two new [...]

More thinking about “writing about reading”

Thank you to everyone who made me do some thinking about “writing about reading” today.
Using the TCRWP’s old binder of lessons for this unit of study, I think I re-crafted a unit of study that I like. Click here to take a look at it. Please let me know [...]

Going Beyond a Reading Response Journal

Today was the first day that I had my students write about their reading in our read aloud. I asked them, “Is it possible for a child to change the society in which they live?” I got an array of responses, many of which impressed me.
Even though I was pleased with their responses, [...]

TM Makes Poor Writers? IDK.

I’ve heard a lot of talk lately about texting (or instant messaging or emailing — although that one’s on the way out as far as high school & college kids are concerned) being the root of the problem when it comes to trashy conventions showing up in students’ writing.
However, this jury is still out on that [...]

Reacting to the World

One of my students e-mailed me a few hours ago asking me if I read a piece of her writing that she gave to me (to read) on Thursday. I read it and was moved for two reasons. #1. She reacted to the world (i.e., the news and a conversation she had [...]

Credentials

I checked the mail today and was happy to see something other than bills inside. I received my NCTE National Convention Credentials today. Although the program wasn’t included in the envelope, there was a link to it, which I’m planning on visiting to make my final selections for Saturday and [...]

Putting it out there

I just sent ten of my former students, who’ve expressed an interest in doing independent writing projects going-forward, an iomoi invitation to consider joining me to work on a manuscript for a sequel to DEAL WITH IT! Powerful Words from Smart, Young Women. This is what the e-mail said (minus the girls’ names):
Dear [...]

A List Poem for Poetry Friday

As I’ve stated many times, I’m not a great poet. It’s an area I’m trying to improve upon. However, how hard is a list poem, right? Well, here goes my shot at a list poem about the way I talk and the way most Rhode Islanders pronounce words. (I’ve noticed that [...]

Getting Organized

My colleague Kate keeps everything in binders. I originally didn’t understand why since I have an elaborate filing system on my computer. I just find what I need and print it.
And then I moved to Rhode Island.
Where I drive a car.
And pay for gas.
And like the trees that surround me.
That’s when [...]

Mathematical Rubric Writing

Today my kids and I co-authored a rubric for the math project they’re working on. While I wanted 4, 3, 2, and 1 for the scoring, three-quarters of them stated they wanted it to be on the check+, check, and check- system. Hence, we went with that.
My kids told me they’d never written [...]

Writers’ Window: Another place for young writers to get published!

Check out Writers’ Window, which is a website that publishes student work as long as the child follows the submission guidelines.
BTW: One of my students began reading New Moon Magazine for Girls and Their Dreams yesterday. First of all, I can’t tear it away from her. (I practically had to force her to [...]

Writer’s Notebook Wednesday: It’s baaaaaack!

Please submit your posts using Mr. Linky or by leaving your post in the comments section so others can read your writing and get inspired by it.
Thanks!
Ruth’s Entry: Click here.
Stacey’s Entry: Click here.

ruth’s wn entry: Wow Moments

Made this list today during a second grade workhsop –

I’ll fill this notebook by the weekend.  Here’s the cover to commerate this milestone — I started it less than 2 months ago.  Lots of writing has been happening!

Stacey’s WN Entry: Not quite a poem and not quite a list

Here’s my submission for Writer’s Notebook Wednesdays.

P.S. This is that notebook I was going to do all of the recopying into.

Writer’s Prompts

I received a supplement with my students’ Time for Kids Magazines today. It was called “Writer’s Prompts: 36 Great Writing Ideas! Great writing starts with a great idea.”
I’ve chosen to upload and share the best three of the thirty-six prompts that I found in this supplement. That being said, I’m wondering how [...]

Empowering the Voices of Ten Girls from East Harlem

I’ve had a few inquiries (personally and online) about how I went about publishing DEAL WITH IT! Powerful Words from Smart, Young Women with my former students. Well, I wrote a proposal on DonorsChoose.org, which got funded by a very generous author (whose name I cannot reveal). That being said, if you’re [...]

How do Notebooks Fit into the Writing Process

A Time for Meaning – Notebooks in the Writing Process, originally uploaded by teachergal.

This graphic is from Katherine Bomer’s Key Note Address at the 2006 TCRWP Summer Institute on the Teaching of Writing. It’s all about how writer’s notebooks fit into the writing process. Since we’re big on notebooks here at “Two Writing [...]

I’m finally using it today!

I’m finally using that notebook. You know, the one with all of the recopied entries, today in my WW Demo. (Here’s an image of the entry.)

However, since 2005 I’ve added a few things to my firsts and lasts chart. Unfortunately, seeing my grandmother for the last time, in the hospital, could [...]

have you noticed the wow lately?

I’m lucky because, you see, I have this constant, little reminder to notice stuff.  I live with a toddler who notices the world and points out the wow.  Constantly. 
Walking out the door in the morning:  “Venus.  Wow.  Stars.  Wow.”
Past the Sedum:  “Spider.  Wow.”
Every 3 minutes this evening:  “Mumpkin Happy.  Wow.”  (We carved him yesterday.  Wow.)
During dinner:  “Water.  [...]

Stand up for something… don’t just deal with it!

My father and I were talking on the phone the other night… He suggested that I spearhead an effort, with my former students, that would lead to a sequel to DEAL WITH IT! Powerful Words from Smart, Young Women. Talk about telecommuting!!! I kind of groaned thinking that he wasn’t serious. [...]

uplifting words.

I started reading Penny Kittle’s book, The Greatest Catch, yesterday.  It is fantastic – I could hardly put it down!  In her introduction, she shares these words, which I think are most uplifting on a Monday morning:

“Lots of times you can go home after working all day with nothing to show for it, but you’re still [...]

Poetry Friday: Hard Launch

I did a soft launch of Poetry Friday in my classroom starting in the last week of September. However, I’m ready to do a hard launch of Poetry Friday this Friday. This is the chart I created:

News and Announcements Chart for Oct. 26th, 2007, originally uploaded by teachergal.

This is the first time I’m [...]

Look what I found

When I came back for a visit the other day, Christina had a bunch of things I had inadvertently left behind in the classroom waiting for me. One of those items was this poster:

I think I made this poster in 2004 or 2005 and never used it. Seeing as it was raining I [...]