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What teacher of writers superpower would you like to develop this year?

I’ve long believed teacher-written texts can serve as excellent mentor texts during a unit of study. While I’m a huge advocate of student-written mentor texts, sometimes student writing doesn’t have everything we need… Continue reading →

Are you new to writing workshop? Are you trying to get better at conferring? Are you having a tough time making conferring work for you? I've got seven tips to help you become a stronger conferrer.

I attended Kathleen Tolan’s “Once You Have Taught Workshops for Years, How Do You Go from Good to Great? Tap the Power of Peer Conferring and Supporting Student Independence and Goal-Setting.” Workshop at… Continue reading →

Find out what sprinkled cupcakes and figurative language instruction have to do each other!

It's hard to have a publishing celebration for people who live miles apart from you. Therefore, a virtual publishing party is the best I can do for Anna and Beth today. Please stop by to leave a congratulatory comment for them since their books have been published.

I was not able to attend the Writing Institute at TC this week, but I was able to live and learn vicariously through a steady stream of Tweets and blog posts - teachers are nothing if not generous with their learning...

At TC’s Summer Institute a few years ago, Mary Ehrenworth introduced our session to the Argument Protocol: a highly engaging and interactive way in which to gather evidence and formulate strong, well-reasoned claims, which could then lead to compelling persuasive writing....

Reflecting on my first experience using TCRWP's goals & technique cards for informational writing with a small group of writers.

There are a few weeks left in the school year. Here are some tips for working through the If... Then... books if you'd like to plan your own unit of study.

Have you ever wondered what some of the writing workshop lingo means? Here's another look at some commonly used workshop jargon.

Learn some tricks for reading the Units of Study, whether you're new to the units or have been using them for many years.

Grace Chough led a session, “Turning Writer’s Notebooks Into Workbenches, and Using Them to Work Deliberately Towards Big Goals,” at the June 2014 TCRWP Writing Institute.  She shared lots of smart thinking about… Continue reading →

Grace Chough led a session, “Turning Writer’s Notebooks Into Workbenches, and Using Them to Work Deliberately Towards Big Goals,” at the June 2014 TCRWP Writing Institute.  She shared lots of smart thinking about… Continue reading →

Inquiry-based centers introduce kids to mentor texts while helping them find their own mentor texts.

After your students decorate their writer’s notebooks and you review your expectations, the notebooks go home.  This is exciting!  Who doesn’t love writing in a new notebook?!!? I’ll tell ya, there are plenty of… Continue reading →

Flash-drafting helps get thoughts down on the page quickly so writers are open to large-scale revisions.

Whether it's an institute put on by your own district, or an expert is coming to town, or if you'll be traveling many miles to take part, I hope that you are as excited about attending your institutes as I am about teaching them.

As the school year comes to a close, many of the schools I work with are launching into a week or so of in-service, summer institutes, and other professional development. It’s “curriculum season”… Continue reading →

Amanda Hartman, author of One to One: The Art of Conferring with Young Writers, offers tips for teachers on how to strengthen their writing conferences.

It's always a joy to learn with Majorie Martinelli and Kristi Mraz. In this interview, they share some excellent advice on using charts to support independence in the classroom.

Nothing truly teaches you like rolling up your sleeves and doing something. I came away with five realizations as a result from scoring K - 8 narrative on-demand assessments by myself.

Hello Readers! Please allow me to introduce myself. I am thrilled to become a part of this fabulous team of teachers and writers. It is such an honor to be a part of this… Read More →

Anna Gratz Cockerille, a new member of the TWT team, introduces herself to the community and writes about new beginnings.

Kristen Robbins Warren honors her middle school students' independent writing lives by incorporating three literary rhythms (Monday Morning's Muse, Wednesday's Writing Window, and Friday Favorites) into the school week.