I have been hosting writing workshops at schools and libraries for several years, and I put an emphasis on the word WORK. As far as I'm concerned, the best way for kids to improve their writing skills is to actually work at it.
Some of the best feedback I get from teachers involves an exercise I do with writing prompts. If you'd like to try it in your classroom, here's what I do...
I'm prepared to face some strong disagreement on this one, but that's what the Teacher Forum is about, right? In an age where many people believe that we should eliminate any and all educational competition, I'm here to take a contrarian stance. In fact, here's my suggestion for propelling some of your better students into a new level of learning...
Sometimes I have to laugh. Recent articles have been published that claim - oh my! - boys and girls are different!! Wow! Who would have ever thought THAT?
Okay, sarcasm aside, isn't it time that people began to accept that this means boys and girls will also learn in different ways? Let's talk about that...
Sure, 100 teachers will have 100 ideas when it comes to lighting a fire under kids and encouraging them to write. But that's what this forum is all about...exchanging ideas. Here's a very popular exercise from my writing workshops...
This week we're talking about the best ways to inspire students to write. In her classic "The Art of Teaching Writing," Lucy McCormick Calkins stresses the importance of reaching into a child's own personal well of experiences...
