How To Convert Your Fake Writers Into Real Writers

A few weeks ago I blogged about How to Spot Fake Writers. But once you spot them, it doesn't mean much until you know what to do about it. So here are some simple ways you can move your student from a fake writer to a real writer!

They may need frequent writing conferences and support... but it's a great start!

What Should a Writing Classroom Look Like?

Writing? Who has time for that? Writing time tends to get shoved under the rug. Most kiddos run out of topics to write about and with so many different writing curriculums, sometimes writing gets just plain BOOOORING. Are you with me?

So what's the solution? Well, here's what I think a Writing Classroom should look like...

Mini Lessons! Typically 5-10 minutes (I'm talking miniiiii) with a simple strategy or craft you want students to notice and try in their own writing. I feel like the best way to teach grammar and usage is in 1:1 conferences and through modeling. ALL THE MODELING, teacher friends! It's power is unreal! I also love to turn our mini lessons into anchor charts that we can showcase in the classroom.

Independent Writing! This is the biggest chunk of writing time. It should be AT LEAST 30 minutes, should be very quiet, and all students should be doing something related to writing. This is tricky, because you can have many "fake writers" or distracted writers. Classroom management is key here! While students write, you, the fab teacher, meets with students for writing conferences. (I keep track of this in my Writing Binder and try to meet with every student twice a month for 5-10 minutes). I also let students publish their stories on the computer during this time.

Share Time! I swear I was always running out of time to share at the end of writing. But when I do it daily, I notice a HUGE difference. So don't make Kelly Anne's mistake. SHARE! I typically try and help a student use our mini lesson in our writing conference - then I have them share "THE AMAZING THING THEY WROTE TODAY" during share time. I encourage other writers to try the same thing. It's legit magic, y'all. I swear! Try it and let me know what you think!


How do you spend your writing time? How much time do you have for writing?

3 Tricks to Boost Student Engagement in Writing

Getting our kiddos invested in writing can be quite challenging. We want them to love writing, but can't make them fall in love with it. Below, I've shared 3 tricks to help kiddos feel in charge in their writing!

Tips and Tricks for Grading

One Simple Trick to Make All Students Love Writing

Writing doesn't come easy to most students. And, letsbehonest, most students don't enjoy it. It's hard enough to just get ideas down on paper and we expect them to do it flawlessly?! Go read through my journal or writer's notebook and I can guarantee that there's an abundance of spelling and punctuation errors hastily made as I scribble down my story.

"Students who don't love writing will never learn to be writers." I learned this from Lucy Calkins when I heard her speak a few years ago... and it's SO STINKIN TRUE. We're teaching elementary students to despise writing by criticizing what they write. I don't know about you, but when I share my writing with someone, I want to hear praise! I want to be appreciated! I won't grow or continue writing if it's criticized and I don't feel valued.

I took some time to think about this and, with Lucy's words ringing in my ears, created a new strategy for my writers. I implemented this trick and found great success! My writer's LOVE writing. And I really do believe this one simple trick is why.

After my students submit a published piece of writing, I hand write them a letter of praise. This quick letter tells them everything I love about their writing. I attach it to their writing and send it home with them. This copy is for their family too. (Note: this is also a great way to share more positive feedback with families!)

You may be asking, but what if their writing sucks? What if they didn't do a single thing they were supposed to do? I know - but teaching really is all about building trust and respect. Each piece of writing is a valuable tool for you as a teacher! Each time I sit down to read a piece of writing, I have my Writing Conference Binder next to me. In my binder, I track what I see. I track what this writer is doing well (and use that in my letter!) and then take notes on what we need to work on. During our one-on-one conferences, I use this information to guide them through whatever they're working on and make it better. Because they know I love their writing and appreciate them as writers, they're ready to hear my criticism. When we meet, they're also sharing with me a work in progress, something that they know isn't "perfect" yet so I can help them make it "perfect" by focusing on skills they need, helping them grown as writers!

Obvi, some writers will have more needs than others. But we're only human and can only do so much. Prioritize and do what you can. Your patience and gentle support will go a long way!

I use these pages to write my letters and attach them to student writing. Grab them FOR FREE here! And grab my note taking pages for free HERE!

Keeping Student Writing Organized {A Never Ending Task}

I never seem to get rid of my piles. Piles, piles, everywhere! Paper piles, laundry piles, dog toy piles. Even if I have a place for the piles, they seem to end up on my desk or on the kitchen counter, or on the living room floor just waiting for me to step on them.

I think I tried organizing student work every way possible. Especially their writing. Holy guacamole. File cabinets, filing folders, recycling bins, etc. You name it, I've tried it! After running across the beeautiful binders in Target, I realized that I had to have them. And so I purchased a few. The following Monday I started looking for ways to use them. Because something this beautiful must be used. (Duh!)

And thus a beautiful friendship was born. I grabbed some of those dividers that go up to 25 and (with each student numbered) began creating a section for each kiddo.

I started doing this for reading conferences. But then quickly realized that binders were the way to go for evvvvvvverything. Seriously, friends. So I ditched my file folders and began a love affair with binders. (Grab a billion of them for cheap here.)

Why Do I love Binders? Well, let me count the ways!

(1) You can grab them inexpensively and cram in as much as possible.
(2) You can add and take away pages easily, unlike a notebook.
(3) Binders and the dividers can be reused year after year after year. It's magical!
(4) Clear covers can be customized with spine and cover inserts.
(5) Did I mention there are some totes gorg binders at Target?

Once I discovered the amazingness that is a binder, I went ahead and switched everything to this binder system. It may be a bit expensive at first, but I've been using the same binders for ever. And it works great! This is epecially true for Writing. How in the world do you keep track of student writing?

I want them to keep a copy of their writing and I want access to their writing pieces. And most importantly, I want my system to flow smoothly. So to keep student writing organized, I insist that ALL writing be done in their Writer's Notebooks. These can be any notebooks, but I really love composition notebooks because it's hard to tear paper out of them (and they're inexpensive!!). And I want to see everyyyything they do.

Students number their pages at the beginning of the year. This allows me to track how
many pages they write throughout the year and see who is fake writing. Because, data.

I use these simple conference forms to check in with each kiddo (or if you purchase my writing units, you can use my custom conference forms that go along with each unit!). All rough drafts and edits must be made in student's Writer's Notebook so when we meet for conferences, I can see everything. When students want to publish, they type up their final piece of writing and print out 2 copies. One copy goes into student portfolios (which are binders - because, space savers!) and the other is turned into me. I read it, take notes in my Conference Binder (focusing on goals, observations, and mini lessons needed), write a positive letter back to the author (because writing is supposed to be fun! More on this next week!) and return the writing and the letter for students to take home (hopefully in a timely manner).

By meeting with students once every other week (again - that's the goal) I am able to keep up with their writing and learn all about them as writers. I'm also able to see everything I need to know in my writing binders.

How do you stay organized with so many papers?

How to Get Re-Energized About Teaching Writing Halfway Through the Year

It's January. It's cold. I don't know about you, but by now I'm usually over writing. Kiddos have run out of topics. I've run out of patience. And writing conferences just aren't running as smoothly as they used to.

But writing is important. And we want our little writers to see that and know that. And they can't see that and know that if you're sitting in the corner even more frustrated or unhappy than they are!

So how does one get re-energized about teaching writing? Follow one (or 2 or all) of the steps below to help you feel better about your writing time!

 >>My TpT Store<<

I hope these ideas can help you feel great about your time spent teaching writing! Don't be scared to spoil yourself - YOU DESERVE IT!

The NaNoWriMo Experience

Have you heard of NaNoWriMo? If you haven't - check it out, now! Every November, writers all over join together to write a novel (National Novel Writing Month).  There's even a version for your students! Why am I bringing this up NOW, you may ask? 1/3 of the way through November? Well, 2 reasons!

1) This is my first year participating in NaNoWriMo and I am writing my own novel

(eeeeeek!) It's scary and hard and time consuming. But if I ask my students to push themselves as writers, and I talk all about writing, I figure I should be walking the walk as well as talking the talk. By no means does this mean I am a good writer. I'm horrible. But you only learn by doing and practicing and pushing. So here I am - sharing with you that by the end of November, I hope to have a novel written. Typically novels are anywhere from 40,000 words to over 90,000 words. NaNoWriMo's typical goal for most writers is to have 50,000 words written by the end of the month. My goal is 20,000. It's Children's Fiction and I've never written anything more than 5 pages. So 20,000 words seems like a great goal for me right now. And is still over 600 words a day!

2) Writing a novel not your thing? Your little writers can get involved.  The website has all sorts of resources you could need to get your students to write a novel! (Or you can always use this!) Let's be honest - it's not necessary to do this in November. January, March, or April work just as well! I LOVE how it pushes writers to keep going. Writing stamina these days is at an all time low, and NaNoWriMo encourages writers to push through that! What's not to love?

With a Dare Machine, who wouldn't want to get writing?!

Have you written your own novel before? Have you used NaNoWriMo? I'd love to hear! Tell me more in the comments below!

And don't forget to enter our giveaway for a chance to win some ahmaaazing prizes! *Cough*$50 to Amazon*cough*

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What Should Writing Conferences Look Like in the Classroom?

Are you a Writing Conference master? Writing Conferences are something most teachers squeeeeze into their day. And when they're squeezed in, they begin to look weak. But did you realize we're doing a huge injustice to our students by not being prepared? Check out my quick tips for making sure you have Writing Conferences nailed!

 Challenging, I know! But if you let yourself mingle with students for 15+ minutes, you'll never be able to meet with everyone. It's a fine line you need to walk between quality & quantity.

If you discuss these 3 things every time, you should have a strong grasp of what your writers are working on at all times. Make sure the majority of your time is spent discussing the student's writing goal and how they plan to achieve it. (This is where I love to pull from the masters, like  Cynthia Rylant and utilize mentor texts).

Grab Free Writing Conference Forms Here!

 They're free and pretty - what more could you ask for? For personalized Conference Forms with the CCSS standards included, be sure to purchase one of my writing units!

Don't forget to enter our giveaway! AND check out the FAB Miss L's Blog for some seriously amazing tips for breaking up those November blues!








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Halloween Writing Lessons

I love holidays, especially Halloween! And I love having a festive classroom. But I nearly always plan week to week (due to nothing ever going as I planned!) and hate interrupting a Unit to incorporate holiday fun stuff!

Which is why I created this little Activity Pack to go along with any writing unit. 

Writing narratives? This fits right in! Writing expository texts? This works as well! Have some fun with the materials included and make them work with whatever you're doing! You'll be able to have some fun and stay on pace! Check out my Halloween Writing Activities to work in some fun!