Welcome to this week's edition of The Writing Round-Up, a gathering of some of our favorite tips for teaching writing and being a teacher-writer. Let's get started...
For Teachers of Writers:
Starting the Year With Writing:
In the busy first days of school, don't forget to make time for writing! The beginning of they year sets the tone for the months to come and writing should be a part of that. You will want to capture a beginning of the year snapshot of where your students start the year as writers. Avoid the stale "What I Did This Summer" prompt and give your students space to go deeper with their beginning of the year writing using one of the prompts from the "51 Back-to-School Writing Prompts" from the website, Journal Buddies. I especially like #5, 8 & 45.
Setting Up a Writer's Notebook:
Planning on using writer's notebooks this year? This post, "Sharpen Your Workshop Routines: Setting Up the Writer's Notebook for a Year of Writing," from Tara Smith is a great overview or review of notebooks and how to use them in your writing classroom.
Creating Awesome Notebook Covers:
Students will use their notebook as a holding space for their words, ideas, and writing for the year. Why not make it an extension of who they are by letting them collage the cover of their notebook? This document from Madiera City Schools gives clear directions and a rubric to assess the cover if you choose to do so. Note: There are many ways to protect the covers once the collage process is finished. You can use contact paper, Modge Podge or a mixture of white glue and water to seal the covers so they last all year long. (They take about a weekend to dry if you choose Modge Podge or glue.)
Source: Scholastic
For Teacher-Writers:
Sometimes we are hesitant to write because we fear not getting it right -- the pacing, the conflict resolution, the details, etc. This post from Writer Unboxed, called "Non-Advice for Writers," will help put your mind at ease and get you to just put the words down on the page for the sheer joy of discovering them.
It's always interesting to hear writing advice from popular authors and this article from Neil Gaiman, Five Must-See Tips on Perfecting Your Writing, doesn't disappoint. I especially appreciate his words of wisdom in tip #3.
Let's Chat:
Mark your calendar to join us on Monday, September 4th (yes, Labor Day evening) at 7:30 pm EDT for our monthly #TeachWrite Twitter chat. This month's topic is a timely one given the back-to-school craziness: "Making Time for Writing." You can sign up to receive a reminder text message here.
NEW!!! Join our Facebook group! Last week, we launched our new Facebook group, TeachWrite: A Tribe for Teachers of Writers & Teachers Who Write. Our goal is to build a community for writing teachers and writing teachers where we can support each other, learn about writing and teaching writing, and have fun! We would be honored if you would join us!
Every Sunday, the Writing Round-Up shares a few of our favorite finds about teaching writing and other topics of interest to writing teachers.
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Thanks for reading this week's Writing Round-Up! See you next Sunday.
