Getting Students to Write- Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers improve student writing.

If our goal is to grow independent writers , then we need to guide them in effectively cycling through the writing process in order to create clear, detailed and organized pieces of writing. Effective use of planning, or pre-writing, is an integral step in student writing, and in order for a writer's planning to be worthwhile, it needs to be the right fit for them. In this episode, you will hear m...

Students and teachers are struggling with learning and teaching writing skills, and it is time for a change. But what do we consider writing? What is focused on and valued in our schools during writing time? This episode discusses the meaning of writing and how writing is often showing up in our classrooms. Melissa shares her views on what writing means to her and how to be sure we are hitting all...

Teaching writing is difficult, and there are so many aspects to consider. My word of the year is Relationships, and since this idea was one that my special guest spoke about on the last episode, I thought I would talk about it more today! If you and your students are struggling with writing time, the relationship between you and your students may be just the thing to transform! About Melissa: Meli...

What another fabulous episode all about teaching writing with Jacob Chastain! In this episode, we dig into a few sections of Mr. Chastain's book, Writefully Empowered, and he shares his thoughts on writing assessment, breaking the mold in writing instruction, conferring with your writers and more. Quotes from this episode: "The equality of outcome is different than equity of access." "The standard...

Calling all educators! What a pleasure it was to speak with author, educator and podcast host Mr. Jacob Chastain. Mr. Chastain's passion for students and for writing (and for student writers!) is clear and contagious, and is such an inspiration for all educators, regardless of the grade level or content they teach. A few quotes from our guest: "Not everyone is going to be a certain type of writer....

There are several ideas of how to best teach writing. Some believe that the practice of having students write independently should not occur until a certain list of techniques is taught or modeled. I respectfully disagree, and in this episode you will hear my reasons for being opposed to this practice, and what I feel is important in primary writing instruction and independent writing. I hope this...

There is oh so much to consider when teaching writing, am I right? Today's episode speaks to a few specifics that have come up time and again when speaking to and working with teachers of writing, as well as one common logistical issue for independent writing. Underwriting and the use of whole class graphic organizers are two practices that have been used for a while, but I believe should be thing...

I think writing teachers everywhere will connect to this episode! We want to help our writers and we rely on our own assumptions to make choices and decisions for writing instruction. But what if we allow our writers to show us what they need before we give them what we THINK they need? If you want to Get Your Students to Write, listen in to hear about this teacher mistake with writing and how to...

Here is Part 2! This one is all about providing Meaning and facilitating Collaboration. In order for students to feel motivated to write, it must be meaningful to them. Creating meaning always comes back to authentic writing opportunities. Does that mean a writing prompt? NO! Collaboration is vital for so many reasons! Writers will be able to: celebrate, work through problems, generate ideas and f...

If we are hoping to help our writers to enjoy and be engaged in writing, what do we need to provide and facilitate in our classrooms? This episode will cover two of the four aspects I feel are necessary for helping writers to feel confident and enjoy writing time: Belief in our Writers and the Energy of the Classroom. Our students need to know that we believe they are able to write and write well...

One big struggle many writing teachers face is knowing what to teach their writers. I believe that your writers are your biggest resource, and that asking questions during writing conferences will provide the teaching points you are looking for! We don't need to know it all. If you don't know, ask! This episode provides ways to come up with questions to ask as well as examples of those questions....

Here is Part 2 where we will relate that high jump session to writing instruction! Identifying a jumper's bar height, understanding their approach, observing and analyzing their jump, identifying a foundational skill, demonstrating a skill, allowing for practice and providing feedback all happened in one training session! Each part of that session correlates to a variety of components in writing s...

I mean, it really is! I recently watched my daughter's high jump training session and was blown away by the parallels between teaching writing and coaching the high jump! The cycle of observation, demonstration, practice, and feedback the trainer used is exactly how we want to support our writers. Listen in to see if you can find the similarities to writing as I tell the story of my daughter's ses...

Teachers, I feel ya! It seems to be that time of year when you've been in full swing for a while, and you're tired. I hope this episode will provide some validation as well as support with a couple of strategies for moving forward. Thank you for all you do! About Melissa: Melissa is an enthusiastic educator and continuous learner with over 19 years' experience in education.  Her passion and e...

Writing teachers! I know there is such a variety of writing levels in your classroom! This issue has been brought to my attention from several teachers this school year, so we are going to tackle this challenge head-on in today's episode! Listen in to hear how to collect real-time data from your writers and then use it to guide your writing instruction. It will take a bit of time to gather data, b...

Just like me, I bet you have said, "they just aren't growing!" and you've felt frustrated with your students' writing growth. What do we do when our writers (or we) struggle with writing instruction. Long story short, Just Keep Going! It takes time and lots of repetition for students to grow and succeed, so we need to keep teaching, writing, sharing, trying and supporting our students! Listen in t...

I've been there. I've wanted to be in charge of what my writers do in the classroom. I worried that their writing might not reflect 'good teaching', so I controlled much of what they did as writers. When writers struggled to strong pieces, I thought I needed to come up with all of the next steps. But did that help them to learn how to be successful writers? I don't think so. Today we talk about a...

I can picture it now, students are still and silent as they try to work on their writing piece. The teacher quiets anyone who is whispering and tells them to keep writing. Maybe that is just asking too much, or not enough, of our young writers. In this episode, we talk more about what it means to allow students to write authentically, which includes encouraging collaboration with peers...DURING wr...

Alright teachers, here's the thing. I know it can be scary to teach this writing stuff! Today I talk about the 3 obstacles around teaching writing and the ways to combat our fears and concerns and start transforming writing instruction! Teaching writing does not have to be scary! Teaching writing doesn't have to be fancy! In this episode, I share my best strategies for making the jump into helping...

If you are wondering how to start your writing program this year, this is the episode for you! K-8 teachers will find helpful information for getting started with writing so that your students will ASK for writing time and enjoy writing! In order to create classrooms full of independent, successful writers who enjoy writing, try these 3 things. *Encourage community *Get to know your students as wr...

I am still excited about my conversation with Kimberly Rotter about her experience with and passion for teaching writing. In this episode, I reflect on what stands out the most to me from our conversation and speak of ways to implement what we've learned from Kimberly in your classroom with your writers! What you'll hear: If we want students to be successful writers, we need to share the i...

Wow! What an inspiring episode! Kimberly leaves us with so many thoughts and questions! Her passion is contagious, and I hope you feel it too! Just a few of her quotes that stand out are: I try to sell writing to my students. Writing heals Writing is your voice For students to see themselves as a writer, the teacher must see themselves as a writer. Remedial writing classes have exploded at the col...

Listen in as I model the mentor text portion of 2 mini-lessons! Mentor Texts are highly effective in demonstrating writing strategies to your writers! I will discuss the process of using a text as a mentor text and share with you two mini-lessons to with a particular mentor text- The Day You Begin by Jaqueline Woodson. I will be taking a break soon but will be back in August and would LOVE to hear...

Here is a quick episode to give the short and sweet of modeled writing. I share what Modeled Writing is, What it isn't, and why it is such a vital technique for your writing instruction. Modeled writing can be implemented as a part of your mini-lesson, or on its own. About Melissa: Melissa is an enthusiastic educator and continuous learner with over 19 years' experience in education.  Her pas...

Building a writing unit can seem like a daunting task, so here is another episode with even more help for planning one! In this episode, I will speak more to the idea of obtaining feedback from your students and how helpful it can be to identifying teaching points. We will also discuss the "go to" teaching methods to utilize throughout your units. Happy Listening! About Melissa: Melissa is an enth...