Category Archives: Tips/Blog

What a day to be an educator and a student when one considers all the wonderful technology at our fingertips!!    Did you know that the definition for literacy now includes interacting with technology in a meaningful way besides just … Continue reading →

Before sentence-combining is begun in revision, please take time to review the types of sentences.  Review declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory. Teach simple, compound, and complex, and in some cases, teach the compound-complex sentence.  Review your standards and the expectations … Continue reading →

Expansion is just what it sounds like: adding details and expanding ideas.  This is a great place to teach modifiers, but don’t get too carried away with adjectives and adverbs.  E.B. White said, “It is nouns and verbs, not their … Continue reading →

While I have been working on the revision blogs, I have had in the back of my mind all of you who are working with those at-risk students and how difficult teaching them to write can be.  I want to … Continue reading →

Movability is a strategy I have used for many years with my students, all levels and abilities, as they revise their sloppy copies/rough drafts. I introduce it by asking students what the word sounds like and they generally tell me … Continue reading →

Before we begin the discussion of  revision techniques, I wanted to remind you to do something before you begin.  Get to know your students and their strengths and weaknesses in writing.  This way, you can identify “experts” before pairing up … Continue reading →

Revision is the third step in the writing process and may be the most important piece of the process.  I like to think about revision as the opportunity to make changes in the the way the paper sounds if read … Continue reading →

Christmas has once again come and gone and I await,with anticipation, the new year of 2012 and what it will bring.  Sitting and enjoying a steamy cup of coffee last night, I started reminiscing about growing up and  about my … Continue reading →

Stage 2 of the writing process is the rough draft, also called the first draft or the sloppy copy.  I prefer sloppy copy because it reminds the students that once they revise and proofread their first draft, it will be … Continue reading →

Prewriting is a very important part of the writing process, one of the most important steps, I believe.  Just as an architect develops a house plan, so does a writer develop his plan.  During  prewriting, one decides the purpose of … Continue reading →