Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category

What is a Friendship Box

The Friendship Box is a box containing a name card for each student. Students are assigned short writing tasks which prompt them to write for a variety of purposes. By drawing a name from the box students have an audience for the task. Note: Students enjoy decorating the name cards so that they are reflective of their personalities. A profile of …

When does the teacher stop?

The simple answer is that we don’t. The aim of modelled writing is use the “think aloud strategy” to model what goes on in the head of the writer. Not only does this give the teacher opportunities to explicitly talk about elements of the writing process, but also allows students to observe the way a writer crafts and records a text. …

Writing is a tricky business for many students. Many dislike writing and some students experience feelings of anxiety from the words, “Take out your writing folder”. So what do proficient writers know and understand about designing literary and non-literary texts, that others do not?

Highly effective young writers know that:

Writing is about purpose and audience. These writers write with a sense of purpose and understand the …

As new literacies evolve and students embrace new technologies, often developing expertise before their teachers, it is interesting that the old debate around (print based) reading and writing, and whose responsibility it is to teach these, continues.

At a recent workshop, the following question arose.
“I am a teacher of mathematics. Should I be expected to teach literacy?”

If we ask education bodies, there is a resounding, “Yes! …