Will you be teaching your students to write about history soon? Read this first!

Feel free to add on or share some ideas of how caregivers can support children's writerly lives.

On Tuesday evening I attended a lecture by Lydia Davis, an award winning writer whose published work includes short stories, essays, novels, and translations of a number of classics including Madame Bovary. Davis’s… Continue reading →

More and more, I've been recognizing the need to give students some freedom in their writing lives. Can independent writing time be the answer?

    Writing gives everyone a voice. What will you put your voice to today? Be an advocate. Stand tall. Stand Proud. Share your Voice.         Presentations If you are attending… Continue reading →

Kate brought us in closer to consider the importance of the tools’ accessibility and their effect on learning. Not only do these tools need to be accessible to the students, but students need to understand how and when to use them for learning.

Take a sneak peek at our NCTE presentation. We hope to see you there!

Last week, I attended the Connecticut Reading Association’s convention, and I was lucky enough to hear and see some of my literacy heroes. Jennifer Serravallo presented about writing instruction, and her presentation made… Continue reading →

This week I am again reminded of how life in the classroom intersects with the world outside the classroom. When children come to school having experienced tumultuous or frightening events at home, school is… Continue reading →

This is our first-ever full-team statement to our community.

Maribeth Boelt’s new book A Bike Like Sergio’s will appeal to readers and writers of all ages. It’s a heartfelt story with a message to which readers will relate; the right decision is… Continue reading →

Welcome to Slice of Life Tuesday! We are so glad you're here today!

We believe "Assessment Strengthens Writers" and this past week, we explored many different ideas related to assessing writers. In case you missed it, here are the links to all of the posts in this blog series. We hope you join us tonight for our Twitter chat and continue the conversation.

A fire tore through the home of one of our co-authors last night. It is my hope you will be able to help her and her family out as they cope with this tragic event.

Annie began reading, the first few words showing strong attempted spelling, "I went to the forest and followed a path...." As she continued, her stamina for attempted spelling waned. Her enthusiasm and eagerness to share did not change! She kept reading her story with fluency and excitement. When Annie finished, she turned to the class, and the writers greeted her with silent applause and Annie beamed.

Writing portfolios are a powerful assessment tool.

Assessment has played a big role in my shifts as a writing teacher. Colleagues have helped me get there. Come see my journey of the people in my life who have not only impacted the writers in my classroom but have impacted myself as a teacher. Assessment strengthens all of us when done right!

I'll be honest. I actually love on-demand writing assessments.

We teachers keep all kinds of records and notes- attendance records, records of the books our students read, records about math concepts mastered, and spelling words missed. Yet, many of us struggle to… Continue reading →

Join me as I imagine how a parent/teacher conversation about writing assessments might go...

Welcome to Slice of Life Tuesday! We are so glad you're here today!

Assessment serves several purposes, and when used intentionally, can drive instruction in meaningful ways for our learners.

  Over the next seven days, my friends and I here at Two Writing Teachers will share important concepts around assessment in writing workshops. We have all given a lot of thought to our best… Continue reading →

How might you use writing to tap into your personal passions? Are you writing a piece that makes you "ache with caring"? And in a chock-full, busy-every-minute life, how can educators find time for writing that is deeply meaningful, with the lens of replicating this experience for students?

One way to become a community of writers is to leave thoughtful feedback.