Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet a fabulous group of seventh grade writers. Joe Cena teaches at Depew Middle School, and he invited me in to work with his students around word choice. These kids are embarking on a performance task which began with wordless picture books, is evolving into short story writing, and will eventually result in the publication of final products that challenge their use of FlickR and Moviemaker. This is the group’s first classroom exposure to…
After defining an essay topic through brainstorming, writers can be challenged to define three or four ways in which the defined topic is important or meaningful. For example, if I am choosing to characterize my husband, I might decide to elaborate on how wise he is, how funny he is, and how devoted he is to his family. At this point in the process, I have a thesis statement as well as supporting details. This…
Lucy Calkins offered a fantastic presentation in Rochester today. It warms the heart to be in the company of those who truly love writing, those who invest themselves in the process of teaching it well, and those who are willing and able to share what they’ve discovered with those who are hungry for that knowledge. What I appreciated most was her willingness to dig deep into the strategies that she shared with us, moving well…
I have a deep appreciation for the sort of struggle that sometimes ensues when teachers are asked to construct essential questions. In fact, I still remember my first experience with this. I was fresh out of college and grappling with the uncertainty that arrived upon discovering that the really cool Hamlet “unit” I strung together for my student teaching experience wasn’t going to see me through the next thirty or forty years of practice. My…
Classroom teachers all over Western New York are heading home this afternoon to catch their collective breath for the first time in many days. I’ve been out of the classroom for several years now, but September still feels like the true beginning of the new year to me. I’m still filled with the same sense of excited anticipation, and I’m still looking forward to trying new things and seeing what can be learned in the…
This was fun: When they came in this morning, we used Lookybook to study how writers use word choice with intention. I know that Theresa recommended it sometime back, and when Mike Fisher recommended it on Twitter yesterday, I decided to poke around in their archives and see what I could find. This interpretation of Jabberwocky had my morning group chatting up a storm. The word “infer” was tossed around without any heavy-handed direction from me whatsoever…..and…
An interesting conversation ensued at this morning’s studio session, and although there have been many memorable moments over the last two short days, it’s this discussion that is lingering with me tonight. “What makes someone a good writer?” I asked (leading with the “what”, naturally). “Great ideas!” “Knowing who your audience is!” “Writing fluently, and with good spelling and grammar!” All good responses, of course. All of them informed by some of the work that…
This morning, we kicked off the first week of the WNY Young Writers’ Summer Studio, a new writing camp for middle school students, which I’m holding on the grounds of Daemen College in Amherst. I’ve been eager to write with kids again, and today’s session was a whole lot of fun. It was also unique in that I found myself in the position of being observed for the first time in many years. Teachers have been…
Tomorrow we’ll be kicking off the first session of the WNY Young Writers’ Summer Studio, and I can’t wait! Last week, I had the opportunity to meet with the teachers who will be joining our community, and the idea of engaging adults and kids around common goals as writers and learners is really exciting. I think that we are all very comfortable in our roles as teachers at the front of the room. This collaborative model will…
Last night, we hosted a long-overdue barbeque, and when my friend Monika called to ask if she could bring a guest along, of course I said she was more than welcome to. I’m so glad that I did! While the girls played basketball and my husband played chef, I got to hang out with this woman, who just happens to be a coordinator of the National Writing Project. Most recently, she helped to plan and organize their…