• Verseday: Concrete Poetry Picture Books

    Back in August, I did a post on resources to use when teaching LOVE THAT DOG by Sharon Creech. I didn’t include my concrete poetry picture books because I knew it would be a post all on it’s own. Here are some of my favorite concrete poem picture books.…

  • Onomatopoeia Palooza!

    I am a contributor to this onomatopoeia resource. If you are a writer or a teacher of writing, I hope that you will find this helpful. It’s like an onomatopoeia encyclopedia. To download this onomatopoeia resource, click on the picture below. Onomatopoeia Sounds Like… Other Onomatopoeia Resources: Onomatopoeia Mentor…

  • Mentor Text Tip Tuesday: Familiar Books

    Tip: Use a book students are already familiar with as a mentor text. When I pull out a book to use as a mentor text and students say, “Oh I’ve read that book,” I’m always thrilled. You know why? The first time we read a book, we are interested…

  • Mentor Text Tip Tuesday: Pictures as Mentors

    Tip: Sometimes students need more than an author’s words to help them in their writing. Many students respond well to pictures. I know many primary teachers that start students out with drawing a picture first, then writing. This can work for older students too. Pictures can be mentors for…

  • Mentor Text Tip Tuesday: One Thing at a Time

    Tip: Revise one thing at a time. If you are working on describing the setting, then only work on composing and revising the setting. As a writer myself, revising a whole host of things at one time can be overwhelming. Many professional writers I know do several passes of…

  • VerseDay: Resources to Use with LOVE THAT DOG by Sharon Creech

      One of the highlights of my year is teaching LOVE THAT DOG by Sharon Creech. My students love reading this book and discovering that they can write poetry too. Over the years, I’ve collected some favorite books that I use while teaching LOVE THAT DOG. The resources are listed…

  • Mentor Text Tip Tuesday: Use Non-Book Resources

    Tip: Use examples from non-book sources like newspapers and magazines. I tend to focus a lot of my energy on fictional mentor texts. However, much of what students will have to write and read in their school career will be non-fiction. So I’m working on incorporating more non-fiction into…

  • Mentor Text Tip Tuesday: Poetry Stations

    Tip One of my favorite units that I did with my class last year was on poetry using Tamera Will Wissinger’s GONE FISHING as a mentor text. But I also incorporated many other mentor texts in this unit as well. I created poetry stations for different forms of poetry.…

  • Mentor Text Tip Tuesday: Scavenge the Books

    Tip Scavenge your favorite books for good writing. In a recent onomatopoeia lesson, one of the activities includes creating a Noisy Words chart—looking for onomatopoeic words for every letter of alphabet. But looking for onomatopoeic words is just the beginning. Young writers can go on a scavenger hunt for…

  • Mentor Text Tip Tuesday: Make a Chart

    Tip When I’m introducing a mentor text to students for the first time, we talk together about the things we admire about the writing. One way to do this is by making a chart. It gives us a chance to color-code phrases or words and talk about it in…