Category Archives: writing

On Ending the Year with Poetry

I try to leave enough time at the end of the year for a poetry unit.  I read a few “mentor” texts, and then I walk students through writing assignments that let them practice the poetry skills I’m highlighting.  For … Continue reading

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Encouraging Schools to Embrace Writing to Learn

Sponsored by the National Writing Project and written by journalist and teacher Carl Nagin, Because Writing Matters: Improving Student Writing in Our Schools examines the teaching of writing in the U.S. and give examples of effective programs and practices. This … Continue reading

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On the Importance of Scaffolding Lessons

  From Chapter 9 – Ten Core Beliefs about the Teaching of Writing This chapter, officially called “The Wizard of Oz Would Have Been a Lousy Writing Teacher,” is where I found grounded wisdom about what works in the adolescent … Continue reading

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On Modeling Revision

Chapter 8 : Polishing the Paper And here’s where Kelly Gallagher, in Write Like This: Teaching Real-World Writing Through Modeling and Mentoring , moves into the heart of writing.   Because “real” writers revise … a lot ! He writes on page 203, … Continue reading

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Express / Reflect / Inform / Explain – Writing Activities from “Write Like This”

Chapters 2-3: Writing Territories in Depth Chapters 2 through 7 in Kelly Gallagher’s book Write Like This: Teaching Real-World Writing Through Modeling and Mentoring are organized by the writing territories he outlined in the first chapter. Each chapter begins with an anecdote … Continue reading

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On Convincing Students that Learning to Write Matters

Chapter 1: Moving Writing to the Front Burner Kelly Gallagher starts his book Write Like This: Teaching Real-World Writing Through Modeling and Mentoring with the paradox that the ability to write well is more essential now than it has ever been.  The … Continue reading

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