Tag: writing instruction
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Decision Fatigue: Part 2
In her first blog post in this series, Megan Kowalski talked about the power of using templates with her middle school students to help them build confidence as writers. Drawing from They Say / I Say by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein, Megan taught her students first to use templates and then noticed over time…
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Decision Fatigue
I teach in an inner-city school and work with students who have a variety of disabilities including specific learning disabilities, autism, behavior disorders, and many other labels. My students are smart and capable, but they’re not always able to display these traits without some accommodations. Two years ago, I was assigned a caseload of 13…
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Routine Argument Writing Practices: Using Images to Spark Conversation
Students enter my classroom, milling about as they retrieve their writing journals from the bin, and make their way to their seats. While a few glance at the image projected on the screen at the front of the room, most ignore it (and me) and focus on each other. It’s a typical day in my…
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“Show and Tell” Using Peer Templates to Teach an Argument Move
My high school juniors sit, gazing at their Chromebook screens as they think about my challenge to “extend” their evidence. I can see and feel the tension, so I know it’s time for “Show and Tell.” Extending is one of the four terms referenced by Joseph Harris in his text, Rewriting: How to Do Things…
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He Said, “Yes”: President Davies Visits Pre-Service English Teachers to Discuss Writing OR A President Who Is a Writer, Part 2
On November 30, 2018, President Davies accepted an invitation to the final exam session of ENG 319: Composition Methods at Central Michigan University. The purpose of the visit was to talk about the urgent message he had sent to the university community the morning after a hate crime took place on campus. ENG 319 students,…
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To Grade Rough Drafts or Not to Grade Them: One Teacher’s Journey
To grade rough drafts or not to grade them: that is the question I’ve wrestled with recently in my English teaching. Writing takes so much time to assess, especially when teaching the writing process and requesting that students revise multiple drafts of the same piece of writing. Moreover, I’ve learned over the years that students…