Gifted and Talented (G.A.T.E.) Students Do the MATH before they do the WRITING
I once taught a 5th grade G.A.T.E. class at a very affluent school for the final two months of the school year. It was my off-track vacation time and their teacher could not finish the year. I had never seen students like these [...]
Here are sentiments against teaching the five-paragraph essay. (Whew… these people were hot under their collar!)
• In High School, I was “taught” to write five-paragraph essays (and when I say “taught,” I mean “forced.”) The five-paragraph essay was the only form allowed in Sophomore English class.
• I hope it’s not taught anymore.
• -my daughter hated it. She would [...]
In the inner-city of Los Angeles there are many “year round schools.” On quite a few of my vacations I have taken over classrooms that were “without a teacher.” These are classrooms where others “did not” or “would not” stay. They are challenging. They contain many, many reluctant and remedial writers.
I have experienced these “extreme [...]
I’m going to give a rundown of pros and cons as well as a list of ideas of how to get the most out of your Daily Oral Language. (It’s also referred to as DOL, D.O.L., Daily Language Review, DLR, and D.L.R.)
Daily Oral Language was so hot for so long… but it has fallen on [...]
Two Kinds of Writing Assignments for Student Essays and Reports
1. The topic has not been assigned. Students choose the topic.
2. The topic has been assigned. Students must follow the directions and stay on topic.
Teachers must find the right balance between these two methods when giving assignments.
These ideas will help when you do assign the [...]
Teaching Sentences as Grammar VS. Teaching Sentences as Writing
Do you teach “grammar” when you teach children about sentences… or do you teach “writing” when you teach children about sentences? Let’s take a quiz. Read this sentence:
Do you still eat pizza every day?
Which of these four kinds of sentences is this?
• Declarative Sentence – Makes a statement.
• Interrogative Sentence [...]
Grammar, Vocabulary, Worksheets… NOT!
Grammar, phonics… whatever my students need is what I want to teach. I can get as excited about the sound of a single letter as I can about an entire essay.
Discovering the full beauty and interconnectedness of a particular subject is always fascinating to me.
This beauty exists in even the most minute [...]
Three Important Questions about Middle School Writing Instruction
1. Are your middle school students remedial writers or are they on grade level?
2. How do you bridge the gap between your remedial writers and your high achieving writers?
3. What are appropriate goals and objectives of middle school writing instruction?
The Six Traits of Effective Middle School Writing Instruction
Many students are ready [...]
State Writing Standards Simplified
State writing standards can be a little difficult to digest. Here is a combined list of elementary and middle school state writing standards that provide a very good overview of what is important in both elementary and middle school writing.
“Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” will provide a rock solid foundation [...]
Teachers are Searching for Answers on How to Teach Writing (The middle school teachers and parents are the ones with a tone of desperation!)
Through my weblogs, I get to see what searches brought people to this website. Here are some of my favorite searches that showed up on the weblogs. If you look at them, [...]