How can we make writing pedagogy more free? How can we make conscious in students their thoughts and desires so that they can create their own writing life?
Assessment in the No-Grades Writing Workshop: What did you write? What did you learn?
Write about what we’ve done in writing class since midterm and what you learned. This is the first sentence of the “final exam” in our seventh grade writing workshop this quarter. This school year, as I discussed in last week’s post about assessment in the reading …
“English not only helps us understand the world, but ourselves.”
by Fidan Malikova As a 15 year-old freshmen in high school, I have had quite an experience with writing. I write for the newspapers at my school,which is called Cutlass. It is an amazing experience in which I get to work with such wonderful people, and …
Write into Your Life’s Arguments (a Personal Argument Essay)
Narrative, argument, informational. We may teach these genres as though writing can be contained in just one of these forms in part because that is how the Common Core State Standards segregate writing. I can’t imagine writing an informational piece without someone’s story to add …
Reading Art to Access Hope, Wonder, and Significance in Writing (NCTE)
Please join my round table discussion at NCTE this weekend: Reading Art to Access Hope, Wonder, and Significance in Writing Friday, 11/20, 2:30-3:45pm, Minneapolis Convention Center, 208CD Here is an overview, a sample lesson, and a few writing samples: Art can offer a grand and …
Sunday Stanzas & Stories. 10/18. Firsts
Inspiration: Write a list of firsts and how you felt about what happened (e.g., the first time you ate vegetables, your first job, your first overnight, your first house). Or, write about witnessing someone else’s first (e.g., your child’s first step). Of course, write about …
Protected: Aunt Adele
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Dear Mom: 7th Graders Write Midterm Letters
How can we communicate learning to students and parents? Self-assessment letters go home with midterm reports in a seventh grade writing class.
Creating Conversations for Learning in a Grade-Based World
Kelly Mogk talks about the ethics of writing in schools focused on grades and scores. She says, “When students submit a piece of work to me, my first thought is always the same: First, do no harm. I want to develop writers that can express themselves with ease, and more than that—I want them to see themselves as writers and find joy in the learning.”
Sunday Stanzas & Stories, 8.30
Dixie Keyes from Arkansas State writes, “One consistent creative writing idea that I ease into fluidly, even on a busy day is writing about ‘moments.’ This also challenges me to rethink the day with gratitude and to be more mindful of interactions with everyone. So, I …