Writing prompts should be used as a TOOL to help students learn to write better. Writing prompts help students learn how to: • Write to a prompt • Follow directions • Stay on topic However, students also need to learn how to: • Think for themselves AND • Get their work done independently Over-relying on writing prompts for students “who [...]
Often student writing is not held to the same high standard that student work is in many of the other subjects. Here are a few reasons why: 1. Writing is an art. There is not an “easy answer key” for the writing teacher. 2. The way writing is taught can often [...]
What is the goal of your writing instruction? • Is your instruction geared to helping your students become the next great American novelist? • Is your primary goal to make sure that your students never leave a dangling participle or slit an infinitive? • Do you hope to develop a passion for writing? • Is your goal to help [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
What is a paragraph and how do you teach children to write a paragraph? “A paragraph is a group of sentences about one main idea or topic. A paragraph usually contains between 5-8 sentences about that one main idea or topic. All of your sentences in the paragraph must be about that one main idea [...]
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 [...]
Using and Benefiting From Prewriting: Elementary and Middle School Students The benefits of mastering prewriting skills for elementary and middle school students are really quite profound. By learning effective prewriting techniques students can develop the skill of being able to see the big picture before they start an assignment or project of any kind. When [...]
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 [...]