Alignment matters. Defining the standards we expect students to meet, making them accessible to the kids we serve, and assessing and supporting progress toward them–this matters. Much. I’m not merely referring to state standards, either. I’m referring to the standards that our best practitioners–the experts in our field–have defined for us, based on decades of research. I’m referring to our personal standards and the ones that our school communities hold dear. I’m referring to the…
I’ve spent this entire week traveling all over Alberta, Canada. I’ve worked with primary and intermediate level teachers, and I’ve worked with middle and high school teachers. I’ve worked with English and Science and Social Studies teachers. I’ve worked with French teachers. I’ve worked with Math teachers. And I’ve also worked with ELL teachers. They support the Hutterites who live in their communities. Those children were born and raised in Canada. German is their first…
I designed this document yesterday for intermediate level teachers who are leading their students through a narrative writing unit. It includes the best of what we all know about adding great detail to this particular type of writing, and it was inspired by another document that always fabulous Amy Ludwig Vanderwater designed specifically for teachers. This is a kid-friendly version, and it includes guidance, slices of mentor text, and prompts to support young writers. Once…
What makes this powerful? And this? And this? For that matter, what makes most persuasive writing powerful? Story does. No one is saying that narrative writing has jumped the shark. Not even this guy. More importantly, I don’t think we have the right to take narrative writing away from kids. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for expository writing and engaging kids in the development of argumentative pieces. I agree with David Coleman: we don’t…