Everyone has a story to tell. What is yours?
Do you dread reading some of the writing pieces your students have written because each and every sentence starts the same way? Do you find yourself reading something like this: “Then Sam and Jane walked slowly over to the door. Then Sam reached out for the doorknob. Then as Sam twisted the knob, the door started creaking. Then Sam and… Read More
Spring is here, even if the weather here in the Pacific NW doesn’t show it. Since this is the time of year I usually started our weather study, it always seemed like a great excuse to write some rainbow poems to brighten up the classroom! I started with a class brainstorm on an anchor chart. Students shared different ideas for… Read More
Do you want to build a snowman? No, this isn’t a post about the movie Frozen. Instead, I’m back to share a little more about how-to writing in my classroom. I live in Washington, a state that sees all four seasons. However, it seems like we spend a greater portion of our year in spring and fall weather (aka the rainy… Read More
Several weeks ago I shared with you about an entertaining poem I write with my students (click here to read). Now I’m back to share a second form of writing I have done with my second and third grade students: Fortunately, Unfortunately stories. we are a participant in the amazon services llc associates program, an affiliate advertising program designed to… Read More
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I just need to take a break from expository, narrative, and opinion writing and introduce poetry to my students to capitalize on their creativity. While poetry is a great way for students to express that creativity, sometimes students need a gentle nudge to get started. That’s why I love using different poetry forms… Read More
Back when the Common Core was first being implemented in our state, I was diving into opinion writing without a road map telling me where to go. I turned to Pinterest and found this anchor chart. The original source was Live, Love, Laugh, Learn First Grade, which no longer seems to be an active blog: My next stop was Teachers Pay… Read More
