All posts in Writing Process

Reggio Reflections: Communicating Complex Ideas when Print Creates a Barrier

30 Mar 2018 / No Comments

This is the third in a series of reflections made upon my return from a study tour of Reggio Emilia schools. You may find the other posts here, as I […]

Teaching Civil Rights to Kindergarteners: Research and Information Writing

08 Feb 2018 / No Comments

Two weeks ago, Laurie Schultz invited me to coach in her kindergarten writing workshop at John T. Waugh Elementary School in Lake Shore. I’m always grateful to work with Laurie. […]

Research and Information Writing: A Play-Based Approach in Kindergarten

30 Jan 2018 / No Comments

Last week, I had the great fortune to coach research and information writing in Melanie Jones’s kindergarten class at John T. Waugh Elementary School in Lake Shore, New York. We […]

Four Lessons About Writing that I Learned from Makers

07 Nov 2017 / No Comments

When I’m asked to get specific about what it means to MAKE writing, I often find myself sharing stories that underpin four of the largest lessons I learned from watching […]

Making and Writing: Get Beyond the Gimmicks

02 Nov 2017 / No Comments

This month, I’ll be celebrating the second birthday of Make Writing, the little book that could. When I wrote it, I never imagined that I would get to meet and […]

Journey Maps Help Students and Teachers Tell Their Learning Stories

15 Sep 2017 / No Comments

Schools have become increasingly skilled at gathering data about learners–particularly quantitative data in the form of standardized and local test scores. But these data often fail to communicate the most […]

The Fire Starters: Making to Ignite Critical Thinking in the Writing Workshop

31 Aug 2017 / 2 Comments

Earlier this month, I began sharing the four ways I notice making enriching writing in the workshops that I facilitate and coach in. In my work, that’s what I’m constantly […]

A Matrix for Designing Rich Learning Experiences

20 Aug 2017 / No Comments

Consider complexity: Now, distinguish it from richness: I’m wondering….. ….about the relationship between complexity and richness. ….about the pursuit of complexity at the expense of richness. ….how complexity might […]

MAKING a Writing Workshop Unit with Design in Mind

17 Aug 2017 / No Comments

On Tuesday, I shared a visual intended to help teachers conceptualize the whole of a writing workshop year before sharing a unit framework that middle level teachers might use to […]

Launching a Workshop Unit by Rooting Writers in Empathy

15 Aug 2017 / 6 Comments

It was empathy that drew me to design thinking. The notion that creative people might best begin their work by seeking to understand the needs of their audiences was […]