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My January Top Ten List: Writing Lessons and Resources

My January Top Ten List: Writing Lessons and Resources

prompts, lessons, and resources for writing classrooms Design a Travel Brochure Learn All Year Long Kids and teens should read and write even when they are out of school. Why is this so important? Download the flyer (PDF) ReadWriteThink has a variety of resources for out-of-school use. More Home › Parent & Afterschool Resources › Activities & Projects Activity Activity Description Why This Is Helpful Activity Description If children and teens have the opportunity to visit someplace new or if they are interested in particular locations, invite them to create a travel brochure to share information about the place with others. back to top Why This Is Helpful The activity requires children and teens to think about details from a place they have visited or a place they might want to visit. This activity was modified from the ReadWriteThink lesson plan "Travel Brochures: Highlighting the Setting of a Story."

You Are Your Words - AHD Write Source - Writing Topics The best way to get into writing is simply to write . . . and write . . . and write . . . freely. This practice helps you develop a feel for writing. To get started, you’ll need a topic to write about. Below, you will find lists of ideas to serve as starting points for personal or journal writing. Click here for more information on Write One or Write Source 1 A special birthday I’d like to see . . . Friendly places My favorite foods I know a lot about . . . Click here for more information on Write Away or Write Source 2 Games I play with friends How to make new friends A joke that makes everybody laugh Something funny that happened to me What I know about dinosaurs An important person I know about Good things about my neighborhood My favorite foods After-school games Sometimes I wish . . . Click here for more information on Write on Track or Write Source 3 Staying at a friend’s house A special secret place When I was upside down What if we suddenly had to move? I’m principal for the day.

Elementary Writing Samples, Middle School Writing Examples, Sample Essays | Teaching Writing Fast and Effectively! Here is the best collection of sample essays I have come across. A kind teacher up in Oregon who is using “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” sent me the links. She is thrilled that the number of students scoring high has doubled since using “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay.” Included are writing samples for grade 3, grade 4, grade 5, grade 6, grade 7, grade 8, and high school. One nice thing about this collection of sample essays is most every grade contains four different types of writing: 1. Another great thing about this collection of elementary writing samples and middle school writing examples is that there are five different scoring levels for each type of writing: 1. How to Download Them in an Organized Way You will want to use an organized system for saving the files. 1. Directions: Open up a new browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari etc.) and copy and paste the link into the address bar. “Habit #2: Start with the end in mind.” • Go through the essays.

Types & Examples of Conclusions Send me an email message. kimskorner4teachertalk.com This site last updated 14 November 2007. External links last verified 2 September 2007. All material at this site copyright © 1997-2007, Kimberly Steele, unless otherwise noted or credited. You may print and reproduce materials from KIM'S KORNER FOR TEACHER TALK for personal and educational purposes only. Feel free to link to KIM'S KORNER FOR TEACHER TALK as long as you explain that the link is to this site, just as I have done for links to other sites.

Writer's Workshop Resources and Ideas The majority of time of Writing Workshop is devoted to independent writing. During this time, students are prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing their pieces. Depending on the age and abilities of your students, independent writing can be as short as 15 minutes or as long as 45-60 minutes. It helps to build stamina with your class, beginning with a short amount of time and building that time until they can work for up 30 minutes or more. According to Katie Wood Ray (The Writing Workshop, 2001), students can also do other activities during their writing time, such as writing in their schema notebooks journal writing writing exercises to experiment with language and style conducting peer-conferences reading to support writing During independent writing time, the teacher confers with students about their writing. Teachers should keep conferences short. Websites on Conferring:

Strategies for Writing a Conclusion Introduction From the parking lot, I could see the towers of the castle of the Magic Kingdom standing stately against the blue sky. To the right, the tall peak of The Matterhorn rose even higher. From the left, I could hear the jungle sounds of Adventureland. As I entered the gate, Main Street stretched before me with its quaint shops evoking an old-fashioned small town so charming it could never have existed. Collaborative-Research-Project - Teaching Genre Get your Wikispaces Classroom now: the easiest way to manage your class. guest Join | Help | Sign In Collaborative-Research-Project Home guest| Join | Help | Sign In Turn off "Getting Started" Loading... How to Dissect a Writing Prompt Using Google Maps is a life-saver. However, we’ve all had the experience of misreading or miswriting our destination. If we don’t have the correct or precise destination in mind, we can wind up hopelessly lost. The same attention to detail is necessary when reading a writing prompt and planning your writing destination. Following is a step-by-step procedure for dissecting a writing prompt. Let’s use the following as our writing prompt example: Creating a town culture and identity is important to the success of any town. How to Dissect the Writing Prompt Underline any words which identify the audience or the role of the writer. Good writing is a dialogue between author and audience. Look for words that help define your role as the writer. Circle any words which identify the topic, context, or purpose of the writing task. As you read the writing prompt, search for words or phrases that clearly state the topic of the writing. If a reading resource is stated, you should bracket that resource.

Narrative Writing Made Easy! I put a new packet on Teachers Pay Teachers that is in pdf format. It is more colorful. I saved it at a higher resolution, so it should be a lot clearer. Narrative Writing. The Packet includes: Anchor Chart Graphic Organizer - 4 square Multiple Writing forms for publishing Easier Version for scafolding Cards for mounting on the wall An activity for good vs bad details Teachers Pay Teachers “The Answer to Better Writing? Better Questions!” There is a story often told about the writer Gertrude Stein. As she lay on her deathbed, a brave friend leaned over and whispered to her, "Gertrude, what is the answer?" With all her strength, Stein lifted her head from the pillow and replied, "What is the question?" Then she died. I suspect Ms. ACTIVITY 1: AVOID YES/NO QUESTIONSGrades: K–3Purpose:To help students think more deeply about their work. Asking students open-ended questions is one of the best ways to foster more talk about writing in your classroom. ACTIVITY 2: ENCOURAGE KIDS TO VALUE WORKGrades: K–3Purpose:To help students monitor their behavior. If you're starting to feel less like a teacher and more like a hall monitor during writing time, you might want to consider changing how you respond to students who are having trouble staying on task. ACTIVITY 3: EVALUATE MANY PIECESGrades: K–3Purpose:To help students see patterns in their work. One of my most common ruts is focusing only on single pieces of writing.

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