What does revision look like beyond your writing workshop? Have you thought you about this? I don’t think that I ever did when I still had a classroom of my very own, but I’ve been wondering about it often, lately. Who expects writers to revise other than their writing teachers? And what does that experience entail? How do other teachers expect writers to approach revision, and how do their practices influence the way writers treat…
Primary teachers know that drawing is writing and that even our littlest writers have wonderful and very important stories to tell and opinions to share. It’s important to mention that the anchor chart below, which I’ve shared before, is one that is typically constructed one lesson at a time, over the course of days or even weeks. How fast you move depends on the needs of your writers and the time available for instruction. This…
During conversations with teachers last week, one mentioned how overwhelming it is to move writers through the revision process and how, all too often, what comes from the effort is more a reflection of the teacher’s thinking and work rather than the writer’s. “If I don’t do the work for them, their revisions are never deep enough. Their final drafts are still pretty weak,” she said. Truer words are rarely spoken, and this is why…