Expository Writing: Teaching Kids to Inform & Explain So you are teaching expository writing and here's the outcome for your students: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. It sounds a … [Read more...] about Expository Writing: Teaching Kids to Inform & Explain
Preventing Fear of Failure
Preventing fear of failure in our students is such an important part of our job. I'm sure that many of you have had "failures" in your life that taught you some important lessons. I know I certainly do. As adults, we can usually look back and understand that the pain that may have come with … [Read more...] about Preventing Fear of Failure
Dealing with Student Apathy
I know you feel it. Kids are just not as easy to engage these days. In fact, dealing with student apathy is one of our biggest challenges. We can blame it on a lot of things, but that just won't get us anywhere other than worked up and discouraged. Instead, what can we do about it? 1. Build … [Read more...] about Dealing with Student Apathy
Lesson Planning in Room 213: Speaking, Listening & Brainstorming with Candy
Today was an action-packed class, with lots of engagement from my students. We were learning about brainstorming with candy and about the speaking and listening process. It was a perfect way to spend a full moon Friday the 13th together! The class had two distinct sections today, starting … [Read more...] about Lesson Planning in Room 213: Speaking, Listening & Brainstorming with Candy
Lesson Planning in Room 213: IMPROVING WORD CHOICE
Hello, there! If you've been following along, all week I've been sharing the things that I've been doing with my students. It's only our second week, so the students are learning about my expectations for reading and writing workshop - and about the importance of improving word choice. Yesterday, … [Read more...] about Lesson Planning in Room 213: IMPROVING WORD CHOICE
Teaching the importance of word choice
This is my first full week with my students so we started with some warm up activities and ones that get us started and organized. Today, I'm ready to start teaching them the importance of word choice. My students are seniors, so much of what I'll cover over the next few classes is not new. … [Read more...] about Teaching the importance of word choice
Starting reading and writing workshop
Welcome back to the second part of my series where I'm giving readers a closer look at lesson planning in Room 213. Yesterday, I shared a spoken word poem by Matthew Foley to get my students thinking about being truly "present" in class - as well as to see what they knew about word choice and using … [Read more...] about Starting reading and writing workshop
Lessons for the first week of school
I've heard from my readers that they'd like to know what a day actually looks like in my classroom, so I'm planning some posts that do just that with some lessons for the first week in school. But first, a little background: My seniors' first major assessment will be a narrative essay, so … [Read more...] about Lessons for the first week of school
Reading Workshop in Middle and High School
Where do I start with reading workshop with middle and high school students? I get this question a lot, and it's not surprising. If you have never run a reading workshop in your middle or high school classroom, starting one can be very overwhelming. Recently I shared a bunch of blog posts on … [Read more...] about Reading Workshop in Middle and High School
Setting Up a Classroom: What you REALLY need
Are you feeling stress about setting up a classroom? I'm so sorry if you are. I feel the need to write about this after reading many comments from new teachers (and some vets) who are feeling absolutely stressed and inadequate right now because they are on social media, seeing pictures and … [Read more...] about Setting Up a Classroom: What you REALLY need
Classroom Management Strategies: The last minutes of class
Classroom management can be a struggle, especially if you have a talkative or energetic class. One of the best pieces of advice I ever got from a teaching mentor was to teach bell to bell. If I want a well-managed class of active learners, I need to grab my students' attention at the beginning of … [Read more...] about Classroom Management Strategies: The last minutes of class
Real Life Assignments: Writing Reviews
Real Life Assignments: Writing Reviews This semester, I've been adding more real life writing assignments to my writing workshop. I'm loving them because the kids are engaged, and because I can easily answer the inevitable question: when will we ever use this? The first new assignment … [Read more...] about Real Life Assignments: Writing Reviews