Introducing....A Blog Series on Teaching Young Writers

We have worked HARD on writing in our class this year.  There has been blood, sweat AND tears (mostly mine), and more than a few days of wanting to pull my hair out (and maybe theirs).  But....but....my fledgling writers are spreading their wings and learning to fly!  They don't hate it anymore....they even like it a little (some days more than a little). There is now an air of excitement and joy during our writer's workshop time.  But the best thing that has happened is....my third graders now see themselves as WRITERS.

Of course, their writing has improved too, but that always happens.  The most difficult part of teaching writing is helping students to catch the writing bug....helping them to find their voice...their story.....and share it with others.  When they discover the power of writing....they want to do it more and more!  Once you've accomplished that...the rest comes easy.

So....writing has been on my mind....a lot.   I have planned a series of blog posts that will focus on writing.  I hope to share my trials and tribulations in a third grade writer's workshop and some ideas that have worked in my classroom.  I hope these posts provoke some great discussion and inspire you to try some new things with your students.

Some of the topics I plan to discuss include:

• Immersion with Mentor Texts
• Helping Students to Discover Topics
• Flash (Fast) Drafting
• Rehearsal & Planning
• Setting Up a Project Folder
• The Writer's Notebook
• Shared Writing
• Revision (4 week series in June)
• Teachers as Writers

So, stay tuned.  Starting on Sunday (and through the month of April), I will be talking about how to get started on using mentor texts to immerse and inspire your young writers.  Hope you pop back over to check it out!