Moving Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay: Expand the Possibilities of the Genres You Teach

Are students constrained when they write five-paragraph essays? If we change our working definition of essay writing, then we can teach beyond the five-paragraph essays we often see in schools.

Five Grammar Lessons With Sneaky Double-Duty Goals

Check out these quick, easy grammar lessons that will clean up and power up your students' writing.

THROWBACK WEEK: Making Paragraph Decisions

Throwback week continues on Two Writing Teachers. Today, Anna shares one of Dana's classics.

Making Paragraph Decisions

We wondered if we could offer the students some revision possibilities. We wanted to help them see that there are countless ways to paragraph.

Paragraphs — Part II

I took your wise words and put them together in a chart. It's hanging in my office because I love how it is a reminder of the power of collaboration. It also restores my faith in our ability to teach conventions through writing workshop. I love (and I mean lovelovelove) that no one offered a…

Boxes & Bullets: Framing Personal Essays

News & Announcements Chart for Monday, 11/10/08 Originally uploaded by teachergal In order to keep my demonstrations fresh, I've come to believe that I have to craft a NEW piece of writing each and every year for units I've taught in the past. If I don't, then I find my teaching becomes stale. Plus, I…

Paragraphing in Notebooks

Today was the first day I checked my students' Idea Notebooks, using the rubric I adapted from Buckner's Book, since the school year began. The frequency with which the kids have been writing is amazing to me! One student even received a 4- on her notebook today and I gave her one of these to…

Body Paragraphs

My students will start drafting their personal essay body paragraphs tomorrow. In preparation for this event, I put together the basics of a good body paragraph. They are, as follows: EVERY GOOD BODY PARAGRAPH SHOULD INCLUDE: 1. Topic Sentence: The topic sentence is your hook, it should have a bit of attitude in it. There's…