Stacey explores the importance of co-creating goals with students to help them grow as writers. She discusses how collaboration during goal-setting enhances students' ownership, motivation, and personalized learning. It also allows for individualized growth and fosters collaboration and communication with the teacher. If you haven't tried co-creating goals with your students before, this Tip for Tomorrow will inspire you to do so with future groups of students.Go Deeper with These #TWTBlog Po...

In this episode, Melanie guides you through the art of crafting concise and well-structured paragraphs that are easy to follow and understand. With her expert tips on oral rehearsal and the use of sentence frames, she empowers young writers to hone their writing skills and develop a unique voice. Tune in to learn how to help students move from writing formulaic paragraphs to composing authentic pieces that truly showcase their writing talents.Thanks to our affiliate!Libro.fm: Use the TWTPod C...

Task initiation is one key to student success, particularly in the context of writing instruction. The episode highlights some students' challenges with executive functioning skills and how they struggle to begin tasks efficiently. The host provides nine effective strategies to help students overcome task initiation challenges, such as normalizing task-avoidant behavior, emphasizing work quality, preparing materials, using visual aids and organizers, breaking tasks into smaller steps, employi...

In today’s Conversation with a Colleague, Stacey chats with Lainie Levin, a gifted interventionist and coach, about helping learners conquer perfectionism. Lainie unveils the manifestations of perfectionism in students, particularly during writing instruction, highlighting key signs to watch for. She shares an innovative work quality continuum she co-created with her students, as a powerful tool to address perfectionist tendencies. Practical strategies are discussed for reframing perfectionis...

Make sentence structure more straightforward for students with Melanie's intentional activities in this episode. Melanie shares ways she helps students understand the definition of sentences, create sentences with phrases and pictures, and combine sentences. You'll help students recognize and create simple and increasingly complex sentences with Melanie's playful and purposeful ideas.Go Deeper:Sentence Patterning ChartsBring on the Fun in Sentence ConstructionWord, Sentence, ParagraphThanks t...

Explore the origin and significance of end-of-year reflection letters in this week’s episode. Stacey highlights the unique nature of these letters, which go beyond self-evaluations of academics and instead focus on students reflecting on their growth as learners and individuals. Practical guidelines for structuring the letters are shared, emphasizing flexibility in paragraph structure to suit individual needs. The episode also features touching excerpts from actual student letters, showcasing...

We explore the vast potential of student-facing AI tools. Join us as we delve into the benefits of tools like Co:Writer Universal, EverWrite, Grammarly, Read&Write, and Speechify. Discover how these cutting-edge tools revolutionize students' learning, writing, and communication and empower students to reach new heights of academic excellence. Check out the Los Angeles Unified School District’s AI policies.  Listen to our previous episode: Boost Writing Instruction with AI. Related...

It is helpful to create checklists that are accessible to students so they are manageable, digestible, and possible for students to utilize. In this tip, Melanie shares ways to help students chunk checklists, think with intention, and digitize checklists. In addition, she plants the seeds to help you think about ways to help students self-create checklists that will allow them to grow as writers. ***** Thanks to our affiliate! Zencastr: Use our special link...

In this episode, we talk about content creation, personalized learning, accessibility, efficiency & productivity with artificial intelligence. We share various teacher-facing AI tools and discuss how you can incorporate them into your writing instruction. Go Deeper: Leveraging AI for Writing Miniseries on Two Writing TeachersLos Angeles Unified School District's AI PagePrevious TWTPod Episodes: Navigate a Digital World by Seeing, Hearing, and Reading: A Tip for TomorrowThree...

Learn about two engaging ideas for National Poetry Month, which begins on April 1. Stacey shares a bit about creating a collaborative "Living Poetry Anthology" where students curate poems to display throughout the school. Next, she discusses developing personal poetry collections featuring their work, inspirational poems, and reflections on poems they admired. Make poetry come alive for your students – listen now!  TWTBlog Posts A Breakthrough In Poetry: How To Bring Playfulness to Every...

There's a lot of brain work involved in written expression. This week, Melanie shares a tip to help students reduce their cognitive load, which will help them express their ideas more easily. In this tip, Melanie shares how providing students with sentence frames and a bank of vocabulary words can aid students with difficulty with word retrieval. Plus, she shares ways to shift the agency to students so they are not dependent on their teacher to do this work. ***** Thanks to our...

In this episode, we explore accommodations for student writers. The episode has five categories: organization, materials/tools, time, response, and seating. This episode will equip you with ways to create an inclusive, accessible learning environment. PAST TWT BLOG POSTS Exploring Voice TypingFinding Accessible Fonts for Classroom Use Flexible Seating OptionsIt’s Time for a Chart Check-in Paper ChoicesPens vs. PencilsPODCASTS MENTIONED: Embrace an Asset-Based ApproachMentor Text...

Stacey explores the power of pairing written explanations with oral directions to enhance understanding in the context of writing workshop. She provides an overview of Driveway, a Chrome Extension that allows educators to create step-by-step process guides with written descriptions, highlighted screenshots, and optional voiceovers. Learn how to create interactive walkthroughs to help students become more independent with the technology they use in writing workshop.  Here are some videos of...

In this Tip for Tomorrow, Melanie provides three ways to use digital mentor texts. She provides insight on using videos as part of your whole-class instruction, inquiry lessons, and as a goal-setting tool. Take advantage of this episode if you need more ways to integrate digital mentor texts into your writing instruction. Read Leah Koch's Two Writing Teachers post, Energize Opinion Writing with Surprising Mentor Texts: Ready-to-Go Tip, which inspired this episode. ***** Thanks to our...

Discover the untapped potential of oral language in the writing process and gain valuable insights from Lainie Levin, one of our TWTBlog co-authors. Lainie and Stacey discuss the importance of oral language beyond the primary years of elementary school and how storytelling and oral language support kids in developing a sense of story and composing writing in a low-risk way. Lainie shares strategies for making oral rehearsal engaging for children. ABOUT LAINIE LEVIN: Lainie is a dedicated...

Research can be instrumental in supporting instructional decision-making for teachers. In this Tip for Tomorrow, Melanie gives an overview of some of the most critical research surrounding writing instruction. She will cover what the research says about: Teaching kids about different aspects of the writing process.Studying strong examples of writing to lift the level of student writing.Teaching students to become fluent with handwriting, spelling, and typing so the cognitive focus is on...

Join Stacey as she delves into the power of reflection shares to promote growth and development in student writing. She discusses how whole-group reflection allows students to share insights, experiences, and strategies, and fosters a sense of community and accountability. She emphasizes the importance of students feeling valued and included in the larger writing community, which increases confidence and engagement in the writing process. Near the end of the episode, Stacey shares a few...

We explore the profound benefits of participating in the month-long writing challenge. Listeners will discover the power of making connections and gaining a true understanding of being a writer while cultivating a writing practice. The episode briefly overviews the Slice of Life Story Challenge's origins and purpose, pointing listeners to last year's Digging Deeper Dialogue for a more in-depth understanding. Whether new or returning, challenge participants will find a supportive global...

Bring the power of play into your writing instruction. Melanie explains how to teach kids to play PROVE IT in an effort for them to show evidence of the skills you're teaching in their writing.  Check out these posts on TWTBlog for more ideas: Ways to Teach Conventions: Our Favorite ThingsWhen Conventions Aren't Sticking–Some Tips and Tricks***** Thanks to our affiliate! Marley Spoon: $235 off through 5 boxes -- Makes the first box portion price start at $4.99. Click here or copy and paste...

Let's explore ways to energize your writing workshop! In this episode, we discuss strategies for revving up individual minilessons and units of study by opening up options, changing perspectives, bringing in magic, promoting collaboration, and creating authentic purposes for students to think about their audience.  Resources mentioned in the episode: Classroom Slice of Life Story Challenge -- Scroll down to Challenge #3 for more information.Collaborative Writing -- Discussed in this...

In the final episode of 2023, Stacey discusses the importance of shedding anything that isn't serving us and applies this idea to the classroom, specifically focusing on providing students with a diversity of writing supplies. She offers three suggestions for obtaining different types of notebooks at a lower cost or for free. Stacey also emphasizes the significance of paper choice as an accommodation for students, highlighting the developmental needs of young writers and providing resources...

Let's explore the importance of information writing and address common problems writers face in this genre. The episode delves into the need for explicit instruction in note-taking, emphasizing the purpose of notes as a tool for critical thinking rather than mere proof or text transfer. It also offers various approaches to enhance information writing by incorporating lists, exploring different text features, and integrating tricks like twin sentences and transitional phrases.  Links to...

This Tip for Tomorrow explores the art of essay writing beyond the traditional structure and formula. Stacey delves into "writing to think" and how students can infuse microstories into their essays to enhance their ideas. From choosing relevant stories to crafting concise microstories, she provides practical guidance on engaging the reader and connecting these stories to the central message of the essay. By balancing storytelling with other writing techniques, students can create impactful...

In this episode, we address the challenge of finding enough time to teach writing workshop daily in elementary school. We discuss the importance of writing instruction for students' literacy development and provide practical strategies for teachers to maximize their writing instruction time. This episode covers topics such as establishing efficient writing routines, ways to prioritize writing instruction, integrating writing across the curriculum, utilizing technology for writing instruction,...