The book, First Year Letters, covers Mrs. Hartwell’s first year teaching at a new school. Through her student’s letters, we see their class grow through the year, complete with mistakes, mishaps, learning and growth. The end of the year is a perfect time to look back and reflect. For most of us, mistakes and …
Minilesson Monday: First Year Letters Reflection Read More »
Anne Lamott calls the first draft of a story or essay the throw up draft because the point is to get all of your thinking and your ideas on paper. Once the first draft is done, the work of revision begins. But how? At the beginning, of course! Revision starts by defining the focus, the …
It’s not pots we are forming, it’s ourselves.” –M.C. Richards I love this quote from M.C. Richards. He is talking about the art of pottery, but it could as easily apply to writing as well. I know that it applies to my own writing. With fiction, as I write about how a character might …
I love my critique group. We have been sharing our writing, and for that matter, our lives, for over fifteen years. When we first started meeting, we were all new to writing for publication. Now, fifteen years and many, many stories later, we have all been published. I honestly don’t think I could have done …
Research is creating new knowledge. –Neil Armstrong I haven’t written a blog post for a while. It’s not because I haven’t had anything to say. I always have something to say—just ask my family! The reason I’ve been away is that I’ve been lucky enough to immerse myself in the research for and writing of …
“Writing that is over-planned and over-rehearsed is juiceless. Later drafts are about pumping it up. How much better to have a wild and somewhat unruly first draft, something so full of detail, it’s a question of what we want to leave in, not a question of what still needs to be added.” –Julia Cameron …
The environmentalist John Muir was born on April 21, 1838. If you are looking for a way to celebrate this great man’s birthday in your classroom, may I humbly suggest using my picture book, John Muir Wrestles a Waterfall. The book tells the story of John Muir’s midnight climb up a rocky ledge beside Yosemite …
“The shortest distance between two people is a story.” –Patti Digh. Before first period, Sandra told me about her funny cheerleading accident. After second period, T.J. described a movie he saw over the weekend. Trevor did too. Kyle always has a story to tell me. Sometimes it’s about his new kitten, sometimes about his little …
As an author, I find that mentor texts are one of the most powerful, and versatile, tools in my toolbox. As a teacher, I used mentor texts to teach both reading strategies and writing skills. So here is one way I helped students understand inferencing by using my book, First Day Jitters. Strategy: Students …