Seeing as I always gather great ideas from others online, I thought it only fair to share this "virtual opinion" writing unit for grade 2 that my co-teacher Ms. Yuka and I recently completed. The lessons are listed via image... Continue Reading →
The impetus behind this idea came from constantly reading over the Grade 2 Common Core standard CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.6 which basically states that students should, "with guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in... Continue Reading →
Eventually the time will come when we ask our students to self-reflect and/or assess their writing. Sometimes in the form of a rubric - sometimes in the form of a checklist - two stars and a wish, whatever you want... Continue Reading →
Born out of lack of success in having students independently use their class word wall, high frequency word lists, or personal spelling dictionaries to edit their writing my co-teacher @YYteach and I decided to give the Don't and Do spelling strategy... Continue Reading →
Every year the struggle is the same. Eager second grade writers pour their hearts out into their "small moment" personal narratives but without much to show for in terms of word choice or elaboration. In the spirit of sharing, one... Continue Reading →
At a recent after-school meeting a colleague asked the group ... What makes you happy? Such a simple yet profound question. My simple answer was watching the sunrise over a body of water with a hot cup of coffee. But... Continue Reading →
Note: the original post was published in October 2018. Now in June 2019 we have version 4.0 with lessons learned and some refinements. The revisions are added in italics and am proud to say that we have complete task cards... Continue Reading →
This post is all based on awesome idea #99 by my fab co-teacher @YYteach. The problem we were facing was that we had great mini-lessons and charts, but the students struggled to apply the teaching points independently. With our personal... Continue Reading →
The "Don't and Do" spelling strategy is very simple, effective, and quick. It works something likes this: When your students are ready to start editing their piece of writing ask them to make a T-chart titled "Don't" and "Do" on... Continue Reading →
