Picture Books in Upper Elementary School

The Fall of 2006 brought me the savviest class I ever taught.  Nearly all 32 of them scoffed at me on Wednesday, September 6th when I pulled out Nothing Ever Happens on 90th Street. “A picture book?” one student said disdainfully. “Yes, a picture book,” I replied.  “We’re going to read lots of picture books [...]

The Power of Place

The more I write and collect stories, the more I realize the power of place.  Thinking about a place can jog all kinds of memories — even ones you forgot you had.  This past year I have turned to place as a starting point when writing and collecting ideas.  I’ve been impressed by the memories [...]

Last Chance to Contribute to the SOLSC This Year!

Intentions.

A few years ago I began thinking of New Year’s Resolutions in terms of intentions.  As opposed to resolving to do things, I intend to do things in 2010.  This seems to make New Year’s Resolutions more do-able.  (Isn’t it funny how language makes an impact on how we view things?)  Will you join me [...]

Applying for RTT Funding

As we were reading The New York Times this morning, my husband, who knew about the post, “Teacher Compensation & Standardized Test Scores,” I wrote last week mentioned an article on page A12 of today’s Times to me.  It’s about Race to the Top and  just how long it takes for states to complete the [...]

Articles You Might Enjoy

Many people across the world are celebrating Christmas today.  I may not be one of them, but I wanted to just post some links to education articles today.  Therefore, I’ve scoured the ‘net (Thanks to NCTE Inbox and ASCD SmartBrief, which helped me with this endeavor!) to find some interesting pieces you might wish to [...]

Mentor Texts That Keep Students’ Interest

Every now and then I’d pick a dud-of-a-book to read aloud.  However, more often than not, my students loved the books I read aloud and subsequently used as touchstone texts.  Was it that they were all interested in the topics of every book?  Not necessarily. Was it that they admired the illustrators for their artistic [...]

Holding On to Good Ideas . . .

My apologies for a short (and late) post.  My six-year-old came down with a nasty stomach virus on Saturday.  She was back to normal by Sunday afternoon, but then it attacked the remaining four of us on Monday.  The good news is it hit us all at once and we are back to normal in time for [...]

Teacher Compensation & Standardized Test Scores

Last week I began reading Steven L. Layne’s Igniting a Passion for Reading: Successful Strategies for Building Lifetime Readers (2009). By the time I finished page five, I had a highlighter and a pad of post-its in hand to record my thinking. Layne wrote: It would seem that there is every reason to believe that [...]

Share a Slice of Your December Life with Us!

A “To Be” List

Last week as I was trying to keep everything straight, I made a “To Do” list.  I was reminded of an article my mom shared with me about a year ago about a woman who started concentrating on “To Be” lists instead of “To Do” lists.  The gist of the article was about living in [...]

One Little Word 2009

For the past several years, Stacey and I have chosen One Little Word to live by for the year.  (This idea came from Ali Edwards.)  My 2009 OLW is delight.  (In previous years I’ve chosen; grace, genuine, & give.)  I’ve been spending some time reflecting on what I’ve learned about delight and how it applies to [...]

Woo-Hoo!

Thank you, readers, for your support of Two Writing Teachers.  The EduBlog Awards were announced last night and . . . Two Writing Teachers was selected for the Best Teacher Blog 2009! Ironically I don’t have the words to express our gratitude for your support and encouragement.  Thank you. Thank you.  Thank you.

Using One Book for Many Purposes

When I started teaching I owned a handful of picture and chapter books.  I came armed with this handful and my love for Judy Blume.  I knew I liked to write, but really had no idea how to help a child become a stronger writer.  Over time, with a lot of guidance and professional development, [...]

Anchor Charts

Anchor charts have been on my mind lately.  I believe they can be a powerful tool in Workshop, yet I think I haven’t quite tapped into their power.  Therefore,  I’ve been considering these questions: How should anchor charts be created? What makes anchor charts most useful to students? Do anchor charts lift the level of [...]

SOLSC and the Holidays

Like many Americans, I spent this past weekend at a holiday party.  I prepared blue and white cupcakes before traveling 250 miles for the Chanukah party I attended in New England.  As you can imagine, there are many stories that dotted the path of my journey. In an effort to hold fast to some of [...]

“Hi!”

For the past six years I have been talking with a student in our school corporation.  The conversation has been completely one-sided because he has cerebral palsy and isn’t able to communicate with words.  However, as the years have rolled by, he has learned who I am and will respond to me. He uses a motorized wheel [...]

The Eddies

We’re honored to have been nominated in the “Best Teacher Blog” Category of The Edublog Awards 2009.  We are humbled to be part of this group, which is a short-list of the many incredible teacher blogs that are out there. If you’re inclined to vote for us, then you can click here.  However, the purpose [...]

It’s Finally Published!

I submitted the essay I wrote , alongside my fourth graders who were writing research-based, “This I Believe” Essays, to ThisIBelieve.org almost six months ago.  About three months after it wasn’t published, I began to give up hope that it ever would be.  Yesterday, out of the blue, I received an e-mail from ThisIBelieve.org stating [...]

Planned & Unplanned Mentor Text Conferences

I have been a bit of a mentor text aficionada for the past three and a half years.  It all started when I asked an incoming class of fifth graders this question at the end of fourth grade: “What have you learned about writing from reading?”  Every-single-kid’s-response can be boiled down to one word: “Nothing.”  [...]

Pressing On.

Sometimes I find my resilience cracking when it comes to standing up for meaningful, authentic instruction.  I get tired of being judged and questioned and badgered.  Thankfully I’m surrounded by people who encourage me even during the rough patches.  Not just in this online community, but also in the real world.  One (of the many) [...]

Slice of Life Story Challenge – Join Us!

Peace in Workshop

The act of paying attention brings us peace. — Julia Cameron Yesterday I was thinking about how life is messy and how often it is human nature to try and cover-up the mess instead of face it head-on.  As the day went on, I began thinking about Writing Workshop in these terms.   Anytime we teach in [...]

Writing Teaching Points

I’ve been intentional about writing a teaching point for each of my lessons in Reading and Writing Workshop.  Last night I typed them all to share with my students.  Starting Monday, they will be responsible for recording the teaching point each day along with any needed notes. The teacing points are based on student need, as [...]

Author Studies Help Children Write Better

Last month I was consulting in a school with some primary grade teachers. They expressed concerns about infusing mentor texts into their classrooms. I provided them with some language for developing theories about what an author is doing in a text, as well as links to booklists I’ve created and a book that serves as [...]