Posts in Writing Workshop
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.

Read More
Writing Workshop, The Writing Process, Best PracticesGuest Userwriter's workshop, workshop, writing workshopComment
Writing is Recursive, Not Linear: Free Task Cards to Reflect Writing as a Process
Writing is Recursive, Not Linear: Free Task Cards to Reflect Writing as a Process

Writing goes all ways: forwards, backwards, sideways, over there, and over here.  In fact, the only piece of the writing process that occurs at a set point in time is publishing.

Read More
Best Practices, Editing & Revision, FREEBIES, The Writing Process, Writing Assignments, Writing Mini-lessons, Writing WorkshopMeredith Dobbswriting workshop, writing skills, writer's notebook, writing process, revising and editing, revision, editing, edit, revise, targeted writing skills, writing lesson, commentary, textual evidence, evidence, organization, transitions, transitional devices, grammar, grammar and writing, task cards, taskComment
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. 

Read More
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
Generating Writing Ideas with Lists and Conversations
Generating Writing Ideas with Lists and Conversations

Every writer begins a new writing piece differently. Some dive in and just start writing, others need to talk with someone first, others start with an enticing title and still others need to do some pre-writing.

No matter which method students preferred, they benefit from experiencing a variety of strategies for generating ideas. There are more ways to generate ideas for writing than bubbles and graphic organizers. This article discusses two methods for idea generation that often get overlooked: listing and conversations.

Read More
Best Practices, The Writing Process, Writing WorkshopAmanda Wernerbrainstorming, writing ideas, getting ideasComment
2 PreWriting Activities Your Students MUST DO Before Writing the Argument Essay
2 PreWriting Activities Your Students MUST DO Before Writing the Argument Essay

I love allowing students to choose their own issue for this argument essay, but that can be difficult for students who do not immediately know their topic or issue. I have found two techniques that really get students thinking about the issues that may resonate with them prior to their research and drafting stages of writing.

1. The Chart Paper Brainstorm and Gallery Walk

2. The Cube of Perspective

Read More
The Writing Process, Writing Assignments, Writing Workshop, Modes of Writing, Best PracticesGuest UserPrewriting, Argument Writing, The Argument Essay, Prewriting Strategies Comment
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.

Read More
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. 

Read More
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... 

Read More
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
The Ultimate Writing Workshop Routines Guide
The Ultimate Writing Workshop Routines Guide

Every teacher on the planet knows that the first weeks of school are all about routines, routines, routines and more routines. There are the super obvious routines to discuss like what to do when you have to go to the bathroom or get water, what to do when you want to speak, how to turn work in and the list goes on and on and on. There are so many routines in our classrooms that some very important ones go overlooked. 

Read More
Best Practices, Writing WorkshopAmanda WernerComment
14 Strategies to Support Struggling Writers: Build Confidence & Increase Success
14 Strategies to Support Struggling Writers: Build Confidence & Increase Success

Teaching and assessing writing can be challenging, and even more so when you're trying to identify effective ways to scaffold writing instruction for struggling students. Set teenagers up for success by incorporating these teacher-tested, student-approved strategies.

Read More
Assessing Writing, Philosophies on Writing, Best Practices, Differentiating Writing, Writing Workshop, Writing AssignmentsMelissa KruseThe Reading & Writing Havenwriting, scaffolding writing, best practices, teaching writing, struggling writers, how to teach writing Comment
Writing About Theme with an Engaging Musical Twist: An End-of-Course Assignment
Writing About Theme with an Engaging Musical Twist: An End-of-Course Assignment

Secondary ELA teachers can engage students in meaningful, purposeful writing activities at the end of the school year without burying themselves in grading and their students in hours of work -- it's true. Read on to be inspired.

Read More
FREEBIES, Best Practices, Writing Assignments, Writing WorkshopMelissa Kruseend of year writing assignments, end of year, writing assignments, writing workshop, engaging writers, music-based prompts 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.  

Read More
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