“The simple act of delaying the grade meant that students had to think about their writing…”
All AboutWriting
Female Archetypes
Long ago, I created a lesson to help my students understand character archetypes. As I’ve revised this lesson, I’ve tried to balance the male/female ratio. For some archetypes, it’s pretty hard and I’d love your help!
Exploring Sci-Fi and Fantasy
Our students are passionately devouring science fiction and fantasy series. So why don’t our reading and writing programs reflect this? Some thoughts on harnessing the power of these genres.
What Could You Do With This Pancake Flipping Robot?
I love videos of robots messing up tasks. This one in particular struck a chord, because we get to see the robot learn from his mistakes. Let’s have students write him some advice…
Talking Less: Use Examples and Non-Examples
As teachers, we use tons of examples to illustrate concepts. But an example becomes even more powerful when paired with its opposite: the non-example.
Studying Ambiguous Sentences With Gifted Students
This type of sentence has great possibilities for classroom application because of its two different interpretations. It’s a perfect tool to: demonstrate careful reading, showcase the need for editing while writing, and encourage creativity and divergent thinking.
Get Students Out Of Creative Ruts
Sometimes students need a little structure to force them into a more creative state of mind. Here are a few ideas for interesting writing prompts
A Remix Library
A list of stories inspired by older stories to teach your students about the history of reusing ideas.
3 Advanced Literary Techniques
Students’ education about literary devices seems to max out with personification, similes, and other types of figurative language. But what about more complex tools?
Patterns In Writing: Conflict
Discussing types of conflict is a great first step towards building a strong narrative. Although the term conjures up images of ninja battles for many of our students, conflict can take on many more sophisticated forms than physical fights.