Category: Small Writing/Big Idea

  • Rethinking “I’m proud of you.”

    Andi, a student of mine, was so excited during writing workshop today. After trying a few different things out, she finally wrote an introduction to her persuasive essay that she felt would really grab her readers’ attention. She excitedly requested a conference with me to ask what I thought about her introduction. I didn’t plan…

  • I Haven’t Read Aloud in Days

    That’s right. You read that title correctly. If you know my work with teachers or my work with students, you’re probably thinking the title just can’t be true. Well, it’s true. I haven’t done our picture book read aloud in days… My students have taken over! They are now taking the initiative to bring in…

  • What’s the Point?

    It’s that time of year again! Now, you may be thinking many things after reading that statement… it’s time for spring break, the start of baseball season, the end of hockey or basketball seasons, the time flowers bloom, the air temperatures start to warm, or even the time to start making plans for summer. Well,…

  • Kids These Days

    “I want to write about what happened at the school in Florida,” is the phrase that started the conversation today with my fifth graders. I’ll let this email to my classroom families explain the rest. Dear Classroom Families,           I’m writing to let you know that we had a whole class…

  • Book Mingle!

    I’ve been thinking lately that my fifth graders need more opportunities to talk about books that they are reading  and learn about books that may be new to them. We often do book talks as a whole class and partner talks, but I wanted to incorporate a more fun and casual way to chat about…

  • Quick Lunchtime Thought: The Good of Children

    Today, one of my fifth graders came in with this piece of paper. She spent time on her own last night looking up Swedish words and phrases so she could communicate with her kindergarten reading buddy who just moved here from Sweden. She did this completely on her own. I love that I get to…

  • What Kids Remember…

    Small Writing/Big Idea Think back to your days in school. What is it that you remember most as a student? Field trips, assemblies, friendships, great teachers, reading, writing? You might be wondering why I tacked on reading and writing to the end of this list. Recently, in casual conversation at school, a couple people were…