Monthly Archives: January 2012

Periodically, I will be sharing books that I have read that might be of encouragement to you. Some of these will deal with writing instruction and others may be about best practices for all teachers.  It is very rewarding to … Continue reading →

Publishing student work does not have to be a complicated matter and does not have to happen after all writing.  It actually doesn’t have to come at the end of the process but can occur throughout it.  Probably most of … Continue reading →

The final copy is a copy of the writing once all the changes have been made through revision and proofreading. Please remember that not all writing has to be taken to the final copy .  Sometimes students just need the … Continue reading →

It is impossible to write about all the wonderful strategies for revision, but I do have some more that I wanted to add. We have discussed revising for organization, word choice, and for a different audience (voice), but I haven’t … Continue reading →

Ok, we’ve worked to make our papers clear, concise, and complete during revision.  Now let’s proofread to work on the way the writing looks: punctuation, capitalization, spelling, formatting/indenting, homophones, contractions, margins. You know: all that grammar and mechanics stuff.  We … Continue reading →

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 →