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Category Archives: Writer’s resource
Hiding the truth in plain sight
“I don’t get it. It just about a bunch of animals, but the pigs are mean.” I still cringe when I hear students make comments like this. My own children were introduced to George Orwell’s Animal Farm, when they were … Continue reading
Posted in Fiction in education, Story structure, Writer's resource
Tagged Allegory, Animal Farm, Education, George Orwell, Student, Writers Resources
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Keep it brief
We were sitting in the conference room listen to the project director for a new educational e-learning venture aimed at the failing intercity public schools. “Now when you are putting together proposals write a short introduction – one hundred words … Continue reading
Classic fan fiction
During 1960’s there was an outbreak of science fiction written by amateurs who used already developed and idolized characters – those from Star Trek were favorites – from there came the term fan fiction. However, with the advent of the … Continue reading
Talk to me
They stare at the blank paper, for the entire hour, as if somehow by staring they could force whatever vague ideas are floating around in their gray matter on to the paper. I walk by and ask “What is the … Continue reading
Posted in Teaching writing skills, Writer's resource
Tagged Essay, Graphic organizer, Information, Question, Student
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The real deal
“I rented a canoe on Saturday – it was quite an oar deal!” The students’ task was to describe the source of humor in a series of five puns. Then they developed their own set of puns. Despite the cheesiness … Continue reading
The unexpected discovery
Often when students are asked to write a personal narrative about their experiences we don’t expect a story, just a description of a lesson learned. I feel like throwing up my hands in frustration when a student says “I never … Continue reading
Posted in Teaching writing skills, Writer's resource
Tagged Arts, discoveries, journal, Narrative, Paris, Student
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A tale of two writers
Recently, I observed eighth graders working on a writing assignment. The prompt, “Write about a decision you made” was an uninspired one that usually failed to provoke much of a worthwhile response from struggling students. (Honestly, how many major decisions … Continue reading
Posted in Teaching writing skills, Writer's resource
Tagged learning disabilities, Writing, writing prompts
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Compositional Divide
Teachers have often heard how basic skills, such as memorization of content is required before higher level skills such as creating a new product can occur. Students are supposed to master how to recognize letters and sounds before combining phonemes … Continue reading
Posted in Teaching writing skills, Writer's resource
Tagged Literacy, Thought, Word, Writing, writing strategies
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Defining the portfolio
Do you regret the time lost with state mandated assessments? What if the products being assessed were actually part of the learning experience. That is one of the ideas behind the move to assess students through their portfolios. However, before … Continue reading
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