Just a reminder….because June 5th is rapidly approaching!
The WNY Young Writers’ Studio Celebration of Writing is a free event that is open to the public. Join us on June 5th as our fellows lead informal sessions on writing strategies, ideas, and technology tools. A few highlights from the draft of the day’s events:
Teachers from Alden, [...]
Sending positive energy to all of you administering and taking the New York State English Language Arts Assessments this week!
Here’s a little treat to reward your efforts. I know many Amy VanDerwater fans. Did you know that she is blogging? Take a peek at how she is celebrating National Poetry Month. Beautiful stuff here!
On Saturday, I had the privilege of watching the middle and high school interns from the WNY Young Writers’ Studio guide small groups of writers through the next phase of our collaborative digital storytelling project. The last time we met, writers finished story boarding. On Saturday, they came prepared with props and ideas and spent [...]
The WNY Young Writers’ Studio celebrates its third anniversary this summer! Thinking about joining us but haven’t just yet? Well this year, we’re opening up greater opportunities for you to do so.
Studio is not a camp. It isn’t a workshop or an institute either. It is a learning community comprised of teachers and students who [...]
How are you celebrating National Poetry Month?
Some ideas:
Bud Hunt is publishing a photograph a day on his blog as a means of prompting poets, and if you haven’t visited the comments section to see what has transpired as a result, I highly recommend.
The New York Times invites readers to celebrate poetry with them in 11 [...]
The teachers that I work with often tell me that conferencing with writers overwhelms them because they aren’t certain what to look for in student writing or what to say when they find it. This is why the coach in me appreciates books like this one and this one.
Calkins and Culham never suggest that [...]
I’ve used this video to begin conversations with writers about the development of great ideas in writing. It could also serve as an interesting example of metaphor. I’m sure that every teacher could come up with a different approach for using it. Videos like these can be used in a multitude of contexts and for [...]
Found in my travels this week:
VocabGrabber enables users to see how words are used in context.
Confusing Words highlights the biggies that so many of us misuse.
Save the Words is kinda beautiful, although I’m struggling a bit with its utility.
IdiomSite.Com may become a quick favorite of some teachers I know…..
RhymeZone is a rhyming dictionary and thesaurus
Visuwords [...]
Just sharing what I’ve found in my travels…..
I know that I may be a bit late to the table here, but I’m loving this tool.
Lately, I’ve been teaching with StoryCorps almost as often as I’ve been teaching with TED. So much potential for the classroom……
Been playing with Firefox add-ons—simple ways to download YouTube videos [...]
I spent the better portion of last week on Long Island, introducing Studio to junior and senior high school teachers and exploring writing instruction and practice with them in a variety of settings. Part of our work unfolded in workshop sessions, there were several conversations with diverse groups, and we spent extended time coaching in [...]