Greetings!
With Spring in the air, we want to introduce our fresh newsletter format---geared toward you as a Level 3 teacher of The Write Tools strategies. We hope you find the information useful.
Don't miss our coupon at the bottom of this e-mail to receive 15% off our Classroom Instructional Posters! |
Carolyn Simmons
Carolyn has been a trainer for the past 13 years and likes to keep her training fast-paced and fun. Her clear understanding of issues, such as data assessment and differentiating teaching for a variety of learners, makes her stand out as a trainer. Carolyn states, "As I've worked with teachers all over the United States, I've learned to appreciate how hard teachers work and how much they care about their students. The fact that I have something to offer that makes their job more successful and fun is a gift for me. I love that what I enjoy doing so much makes a positive difference in classrooms."
Carolyn's tip for today is about Companion Papers:
My last several years in the classroom, my 7th and 8th graders did a project that we called, "Companion Papers." My purpose was to give them a thorough review of the differences between expository and narrative writing prior to our state assessment which tested both types of writing.
I began by showing my students a set of books that are common in many elementary schools. There are different brands, the ones I had were called "Twin Texts" published by Sundance. One book was informational text called Islands of the World, and the other was a personal narrative called Island Snapshots. The goal was to show students two different models of text with a common topic--in this case, islands.
I then shared with them two pieces of writing that I
had developed which dealt with the topic of my childhood piano lessons. The expository piece was called "Lessons learned at the Piano," and the narrative piece was "Finishing what you Start." Both of my pieces were well developed with two different plans. After sharing these models with them, I passed out the written assignment which had a two-week time period for completion. The assignment included the purpose of the project and a note to parents.
The instructions I provided were detailed, and included the following:
 | | Piano Lessons by Carolyn Simmons |
Step 1: Students select a general topic for both papers. It should be a topic for which they are familiar, as this assignment is not a research paper. Think about topics based on hobbies, family experiences, and extracurricular activities, i.e. hunting, ballet, skateboarding, Mexico, my baby brother, karate.
Step 2: Create your plan for each paper. Both pieces must show evidence of the entire writing process--planning, drafting, revising, editing, publishing.
Step 3: Final papers are expected to be neat and error free. Papers should be in some sort of permanent cover, if possible.
The final results of this project were amazing, and we displayed their finished papers in the classroom. Students had a lot of fun reading and sharing each others' papers.
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 Alice Greiner to Present at
90/90/90 Schools Summits Sponsored by Doug Reeves and The Leadership and Learning Center, these summits will highlight research and replicable practices used by results-driven, high achieving schools. You will also learn practical strategies to lead and sustain improvement in times of change. You will hear directly from administrators of now-successful 90/90/90 schools about their journeys, challenges, and successes.
The most important practice of all the successful 90/90/90 schools is the emphasis on expository writing. Alice will be sharing The Write Tools strategies at these important summits.
April 26-27, Orange County, CA
May 4-5, Chicago, IL
May 17-18, Atlanta, GA
July 12-13, Denver, CO
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To Rhyme or Not to Rhyme?
That's NOT the only question! An absolute must buy for the novice and an incredible asset for any writing teacher, this book gives you guidelines for starting a poetry writing program and then the tools to do it. Betty Bonham Lies offers practical advice on teaching the technical aspects of poetry, suggests ways to revise work and overcome writer's block, and discusses how to integrate poetry writing with other parts of the curriculum. Numerous exercises, examples of student work, an annotated bibliography of sources for further ideas, and a glossary of poetic terms are included.
(Book description provided by Amazon.com)
Don't stop with just a book purchase!
Consider a day of training in Descriptive Writing with The Write Tools.
We can help you put all those creative juices to work! |
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We're beginning to schedule our summer institutes now. Call us today to secure your dates for your customized training! 303-221-5301.
Sincerely,
The Write Tools, LLC |
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| Terrific Teacher Resource! |
Take a look at the web site called Kim's Korner for Teacher Talk. It's full of ideas for lesson plans on English Language Arts for Middle School and High School.
Click here to go directly to Kim's Korner.
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| Doug Reeves Endorses The Write Tools! |
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Dr. Reeves believes in the importance of today's students being strong writers. View a short video clip of Dr. Reeves discussing the strategies The Write Tools offers teachers and students. Then examine the data of the outstanding results many schools have achieved on state assessments using these strategies
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