Posts tagged writer's workshop
Writing Workshop Resource Roundup
Writing Workshop Resource Roundup

We know as English teachers that writing workshop is a foundational approach to writing instruction in the modern classroom. But if you’re like me, I am always searching for new tips, tools, and resources for implementing writer’s workshop— to make it more manageable for me as a teacher as well as more approachable for my students.

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Assessing Writing, Best Practices, The Writing Process, Writing Workshop, Writing Mini-lessonsMeredith Dobbswriting workshop, workshop, writer's workshopComment
Engaging Holiday Writing Activities for Middle and High School
Engaging Holiday Writing Activities for Middle and High School

Read about three meaningful ways to keep students engaged in your secondary ELA classroom this holiday season. These writing activities will add value to your classroom culture while engaging students and keeping them focused. They're perfect for fast finishers and station activities.

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FREEBIES, Writing Assignments, Writing WorkshopMelissa Krusefast finisher, writing activities, holiday writing assignments, holiday, quick write, stations, writer's workshopComment
Writer's Workshop in the Secondary Classroom: An Exclusive Interview with Secondary Sara
Writer's Workshop in the Secondary Classroom: An Exclusive Interview with Secondary Sara

Not only is Secondary Sara an experienced middle school ELA teacher at a private school in Ohio, she is also a high school tutor (she started her own successful tutoring business), a coach of a creative writing team, and a teacher author and blogger. Here, she shares her top tips for motivating middle school writers.

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Writing Workshop, The Writing Process, Best PracticesGuest Userwriter's workshop, workshop, writing workshopComment
Daily Writing Prompts to Inspire New Ideas
Daily Writing Prompts to Inspire New Ideas

TeachWriting.org has announced a new writing workshop endeavor for the 2017-2018 school year. This year, the collaborators at TeachWriting are creating DAILY WRITING PROMPTS via their Facebook Page for English teachers in grades 6-12. 

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Best Practices, Mentor Texts, The Writing Process, Writing Assignments, Writing Workshop, Writing Mini-lessons, FREEBIESMeredith Dobbsdaily writing prompts, writing prompt, writing prompts, bell ringers, bell-ringers, bell ringer, bell-ringer, quick write, free write, essay, essay writing, the writing process, writing topic, writing assignments, writer's workshop, Writing lessons, writing skills, writing workshop, descriptive writing, description, figurative language, argumentative writing, persuasive essay, persuasion, persuasive, creative writing, mentor text, mentor, mentor sentence, vocabulary, grammar, grammar and writingComment
TEN Writing Assignments to Build a Writing Community in the Classroom
TEN Writing Assignments to Build a Writing Community in the Classroom

Creative writing is the art of constructing original ideas by synthesizing literary elements and techniques to communicate an overarching theme about life.  Oftentimes in our English classes, we spend more time on the deconstruction process, analyzing works of art by taking them apart.

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Best Practices, Writing Assignments, Writing Mini-lessons, Writing WorkshopMeredith Dobbswriting lessons, writer's notebook, writing process, writing culture, writing assignments, writing assessment, writing topic, writing projects, Writing Instruction, writer's workshop, writing workshop, Writing lessons, Writing instruction, writing philosophy, writing partners, writing prompts for middle school, writing project, writing topics, prompts, creative writingComment
The Best First Writing Lesson of the Year: Email Etiquette 101
The Best First Writing Lesson of the Year: Email Etiquette 101

When planning for the beginning of the year, teachers need to choose writing assignments that allow for collection of pre-assessment data while also engaging students and building a positive writing community. 

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Best Practices, Assessing Writing, Technology & Writing, Writing Assignments, Writing Mini-lessons, Writing WorkshopMelissa Krusewriter's workshop, lesson, back-to-school, email, real-world writing, best practices, career writing, mini-lessons, pre-assessmentComment
The Worst Essay of Your LIFE: A Unique Approach to Assessing Writing at the Beginning of the School Year
The Worst Essay of Your LIFE: A Unique Approach to Assessing Writing at the Beginning of the School Year

The beginning of the school year is an important time to assess the writing skill levels of new students in our English classes.  One way to do this is to assign a diagnostic essay in order to "diagnose" each student's writing level... 

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Assessing Writing, Best Practices, FREEBIES, The Writing Process, Writing Assignments, Writing WorkshopMeredith Dobbswriting topic, writing projects, writing workshop, writing, writer's workshop, writing process, writing assignments, writing topics, writer's notebook, writing assessment, essay writing, essay, diagnostic, diagnostic essay, English, english, Middle School English, High School English, high school, high-interest, targeted writing skills, common core, middle school, Middle School Language Arts, language and composition, language arts, Language Arts, engaging writers, writing skills, assessing writing, assessment Comments
Three High-Interest Writing Assignments to Motivate Struggling Writers
Three High-Interest Writing Assignments to Motivate Struggling Writers

Motivating struggling writers can be quite a challenge.  With struggling writers, it is important to create high-interest assignments that students will want to work on, assignments that they will want to put forth the effort on in order to succeed.  If struggling students are bored with a writing topic, they won’t be as invested in it and won’t want to put the time and effort in to make it the best it can be.

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Writing Assignments, Best PracticesMeredith Dobbsstruggling writers, struggling students, differentiation, high-interest, writing, writing assignments, writing inspiration, writer's notebook, writing poems, writing process, writer's workshop, Writing Instruction, writing workshop, writing assessment, fun writing, writing topics, motivating students, motivation, English, english, engaging writers, Middle School English, High School English, high school, middle school, language arts, Language Arts, language and composition, Middle School Language Arts, summer school, struggle, screenplay, screenplay writing, project, writing projects, writing project, movie, film, film writing, tone, bias, media, writing topic, topic, list, topic listComment
The Most Important Essay for High School Seniors: The Personal Philosophy Statement
The Most Important Essay for High School Seniors: The Personal Philosophy Statement

Teaching high school seniors makes for an interesting group of students because they've mostly already passed their standardized tests and know their next steps in life-- college, work, military, etc.  Because of this, teaching seniors can also make for a difficult second semester in trying to keep students motivated. 

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Best Practices, Writing AssignmentsMeredith Dobbsessay, essay writing, the writing process, assessing writing, writing assessment, writing process, personal philosophy, personal philosophy statement, reflection, reflective writing, metacognition, meta, common core, secondary, seniors, high school seniors, end of year writing assignments, writing assignments, Writing Instruction, writer's workshop, writing workshop, writing philosophy, writing, writer's notebook, writing inspiration, teaching writing, end of year, reflective, high school Comments
Poetry for Writing Workshop in Grades 6-12:  10+ Devices & Poems to Model Them all!
Poetry for Writing Workshop in Grades 6-12:  10+ Devices & Poems to Model Them all!

"To be a poet is a condition, not a profession." -- Robert Frost

You may find yourself in agreement with Frost's famous quote when it comes to teaching poetry in the secondary classroom.  However, love it or hate it, poetry can play a helpful role in teaching students how to write!  Famous poems can serve as mentor texts for students and showcase key literary and rhetorical devices in action.  

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Best Practices, Mentor Texts, Writing Mini-lessons, Writing WorkshopMeredith Dobbspoetry, national poetry month, poem, explication, literary devices, poetic devices, stylistic devices, rhetorical devices, simile, metaphor, personification, anaphora, parallel structure, parallelism, rhetorical question, antithesis, alliteration, consonance, assonance, epistrophe, literary analysis, mentor text, mentor poem, mentor sentence, mentor, writing workshop, writing process, secondary, English, Language Arts, language and composition, language arts, middle school, high school, teachers pay teachers, teacher, teaching writing, Writing Instruction, writer's notebook, writer's workshop, writing, the writing process, essay writing, essay, best practices, best practice, writing assessment, assessing writing Comment
A Philosophy for Assessing Writing: Aim for Improvement, not Perfection
A Philosophy for Assessing Writing: Aim for Improvement, not Perfection

Over the past 10+ years of teaching high school, my philosophy for writing instruction has changed greatly.  It has been a decade of experimentation and adaptation; a decade dedicated to finding what works and trying out new methodologies...

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Best Practices, Assessing Writing, Philosophies on Writing, FREEBIESMeredith Dobbsessay writing, essay, philosophy, pedagogy, common core, writing workshop, writing process, writer's workshop, writer's notebook, levels of writing, assessing writing, writing assessment, grading writing, peer revision, peer editing, teacher comments, teachers pay teachers, TpT, high school, middle school, comments, language and composition, composition, english, language arts, reflection, best practice, best practices, teacher, revise, revision, revising and editing, the writing process Comments