Episodes
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Access the entire show notes here on my blog:
Four main ways to use the Drawing to Write strategies: Important objects. These object sketches in my writerās journal are especially important if I need to refer to them again and again as I write a story. Storyboards for presentations videos and big story scenes are another way that I draw to write. Although my art is just drawing stick figures or very simple to DC characters, usually front facing, these storyboards help me to organize my thoughts and visualize my message. Floor plans of characters rooms or of an important building help me describe a setting as it relates to the space my character needs to inhabit. Maps. When I wrote about a medieval castle, I also mapped out the entire area of the lordās domain. One of my main characters had to run through it to escape from enemies, so I needed to know the lay of the land. Where would he hide? How would he get out of the second floor window and down a huge hill fast enough to get away from pursuers on horseback?Of course, my maps are nothing like J.R.R. Tolkienās Maps of middle earth or George RR Martinās Maps of a world of ice and fire, but a quick overview of Forrest, Mountain Range, river at the castle, now that I can sketch out in my writerās journal
BONUS: Characters. My students use this way more than I do. I tend to use stock images for this, but I love the elaborate character sketches some of my students create.
As you can see, there are lots of ways that you can use the writing strategy of drawing to write. Iām sure that the drawing to write strategy could be used for helping students to formulate non-fiction writing as well.
For more writing strategies, visit my blog at Teach2Write.com
For more on how to help students with writer's block, click for the START WRITE NOW GUIDE.
For teachers who would like some drawing directed activities, my friend from Coffee Fueled Classroom has this: Earth Day Directed Drawing and Writing Activities
Music Credit: āCome Insideā by Snowflake (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/59564 Ft: Starfrosch, Jerry Spoon, Kara Square, spinningmerkaba
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Click here for the free Start Write Now Guide
Music Credit: āCome Insideā by Snowflake (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/59564 Ft: Starfrosch, Jerry Spoon, Kara Square, spinningmerkaba
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Episodes manquant?
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Ep 14 7 Tips for Teaching Writing During Co-vid 19 Teaching online
I didnāt plan on talking about this today. This will probably be my shortest podcast ever.
I was actually supposed to release my podcast about freewriting, but then everyone bought all the toilet paper and Purell, and now weāre all teaching from home.
So, today I just want to talk about some easy things you can give students to do that requires no photocopying or learning Google Classroom or Canvas LMS. Although I have lots of videos on my webpage, TPT and Instagram about Canvas, if you need them.
First of all, keep it simple. If you have to get some things together for your kiddos, keep them simple. Let students practice what they already know how to do. No new content. Give them something to do that provides choice. For example,ask students to choose a book to read and write a paragraph recommending it to a friend or another way to demonstrate reading. It can be an online book if they have no access to books, but to their phone if they have WiFi. Here is a blog post on One-Pagers from the Cult of Pedagogy. If you donāt have a way to deliver curriculum, like Google Classroom or Canvas, see if school can give you a way to do a mass email to parents and students. If you have parents signed up for Remind101, you can use that. For writing practice, students can write a story. Any story. You can give them a picture or image to start with and let them write about it. Remind students that capitalization and punctuation still matter. For those kids without internet, they can hand write stories in their journals. Their parents can take a picture and email it to you. Hereās another idea. What if your student pretended they were a character in the book they are reading. A new character of their own creation or one thatās already in the story. They could write their own version of how they would interact with the other characters. This could be in a diary format, story format, a letter to another character in the story, or some idea the student comes up with. Whatever you end up giving your students, remember that any practice reading and writing will help them. Even if they arenāt getting direct instruction every day or learning new content, they will still learn. They will still be learning from what they read. Empathy for others, problem solving and knowing they arenāt the only person who feels awkward or different - this is what stories teach them. If they read non-fiction - theyāll learn information that can widen their background knowledge about the world.If you feel overwhelmed by all of this, reach out to other teachers, either from your own school or on Instagram, Facebook or email. Iāll leave my links for all of those things in the show notes below.
Take some time for yourself and your family. Write a little more. Read a little more. Walk around in nature, if you can.
Well until next Sunday, stay healthy. Stay safe and enjoy your extra time with your family.
Bye for now and happy Writing!
Need help? Reach out to me at:
Teach2Write.com/blog
Teach2Write, LLC Facebook Page
@teach2write on Instagram
Email: [email protected]
Start Write Now Guide teaches my top four writing strategies as well as the intended audience strategy - also included are PowerPoint presentation and a rubric for assessment.
Music provided: Come Inside by Snowflake (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/59564 Ft: Starfrosch, Jerry Spoon, Kara Square, spinningmerkaba
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Here is a link to the show notes: https://teach2write.com/writing-strategy-mind-mapping/
Here is the link to the YouTube video on Mind Mapping
The video is 7:10 minutes long and walks students through how to mind map about a place.
Click here for the free Start Write Now Guide
Click here for the link to more mind mapping resources in my TeachersPayTeachers Store
Music Credit: āCome Insideā by Snowflake (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/59564 Ft: Starfrosch, Jerry Spoon, Kara Square, spinningmerkaba
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3 Quick Revision Strategies:
Revision Strategy 1. Determine your central idea.
If you can't make this statement: The central idea of this nonfiction piece is...because..., then you need to brainstorm and figure out what you want your intended audience to know about your topic.
Revision Strategy 2. Headings and Subheadings
By figuring out your main ideas and writing down your headings and subheadings before you write, you will save lots of time in writing and revision. However, if you need to write everything down first, then, go back and look at how you can group your ideas together to make them flow.
Revision Strategy 3. Reasoning through examples helps you win the game
Did you give examples for each main point? Did you include evidence from other sources? Did you cite those sources? Did you tell why these examples are important to your main point and your central idea?
For more proven writing strategies and techniques, click here to my blog at www.teach2write.com/blog
For the START WRITE NOW GUIDE to help you break through writer's block, click here.
Music Credit: āCome Insideā by Snowflake (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/59564 Ft: Starfrosch, Jerry Spoon, Kara Square, spinningmerkaba
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Informational text structures are the organizational patterns all writers must learn. Most people read and write for informational purposes.
Five Basic Informational Text StructuresThere are five basic informational text structures. Those are:
description compare/contrast cause/effect sequence/timeline problem/solutionEach structure gives the reader a unique perspective about a topic, and each structure has a purpose.
Decisions writers must make about text structuresBefore a writer can even choose a text structure, the writer needs to know the topic, intended audience and purpose for writing. These decisions can help you to figure out what informational text structures youāre going to need to explain or argue something.
Improve comprehension and writing skillsThrough teaching informational text structures, your students will gain the necessary study and writing skills theyāll need for the rest of their lives. I canāt tell you how many former students thank me for the writing skills I taught helped them in high school and college. All I did was introduce them to 5 simple text structures and showed them how to use them. However, these strategies made a world of difference in their note taking and writing.
Click here for a free pdf of the 5 basic informational text structures.
Click here for the START WRITE NOW GUIDE
Music from: Come Inside by Snowflake (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/59564 Ft: Starfrosch, Jerry Spoon, Kara Square, spinningmerkaba
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Teaching descriptive writing requires giving students strategies for mind mapping as well as word lists that can help them to access their senses.
www.teach2write.com/blog
Start Write Now Guide - for generating ideas strategies
Barry Lane After the End and Discovering the Writer Within
Teacherspayteachers store: @teach2write Sensory Word List Flipbook
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Thank you so much for tuning in! Why writers workshop in middle school?
Very early in my teaching career, I noticed that many of my middle school students didnāt really like to read or write at school, but they did like to express themselves. Notice I said āat schoolā because some of the children read a lot, (like the entire Harry Potter series) but they didnāt necessarily read what I put in front of them. I also noticed that students didnāt want to write because theyād never been given a real reason to write about what matters to them personally. They also enjoyed making up stories, so I decided that my way to āhookā kids into reading and to practice writing skills was to teach them how writers actually write in real life situations. That was 20 years ago.
Guess what? Kids havenāt changed much in 20 years about their distaste for reading and writing in middle school. Itās much more fun to talk to friends and be on their cell phone, and yet kids love to learn about the things that interest them. Motivating middle schoolers to write and read is a daunting task, but if you allow students to express themselves and connect with each other, youāll be surprised by how much they will write and read.
Writers Workshop Framework allows students the connectivity they cravePreteens and teens spend most of their time online. According to a survey conducted in 2018 by the Pew Research Center which collected data on teen consumption of social media, 95% of all teens have access to a smartphone, and this is ānearly universal among teens from different genders, races, ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds. ā Additionally, 45% of students are online āalmost constantlyā(Pew Research). 40% of 13-17 year olds surveyed said that their main reason for being online is their need for human connection with family and friends.
All human beings crave connectivity, and a writers workshop framework in an ELA or other writing classroom can do this for them. A writers workshop provides a mix of both interactive connections as well as independent work time.
Master teachers of the writers workshop in middle schoolAlso early on in my teaching career, I read Nancie Atwellās book, In the Middle and Linda Riefās book, Seeking Diversity: Language Arts with Adolescents where I learned about the writers workshop method of teaching. After reading and studying both books, I realized that I wanted to use writers workshop to teach my students, too. It also helps that I took a course that used both of those books, thank you to my secondary English language arts curriculum professor, Dr. Daniel, for introducing these books to me in her course.
Student voice and choice in workshopWhat I learned from these excellent mentor teachers and from my own students is that voice and choice matter. When we just give students assignments day in and day out, they donāt really feel motivated to complete those assignments even with a grade attached. Pride and hard work are overshadowed by getting tasks completed, so getting students to revise can be difficult, too. However, with a workshop approach, students are much more engaged in their learning because in a writers workshop, students are given a voice where they can often choose what they read and write about.
How writers workshop is structuredWriters workshop needs to have moments where kids can have some movement and discussion time, especially in middle school. A true writers workshop has three components: mini-lesson, independent work time as teacher conferences with students, and share time. Atwell and Rief both seem to give share time at the end of the workshop. I have whole class share time after the mini-lesson and partner share time at the end of the workshop(end of class).
A typical 50 minute day in my writers workshop looks something like this: 5-10 minutes Students enter, gather in front with journals and complete a bell ringer.My bell ringers are always a review of the previous day or getting them thinking about the dayās mini-lesson topic. For example, last Tuesday, when students came back from break, I had them write down a writing goal. Then, I taught them about SMART goals during the mini-lesson.
10 minutes I teach an interactive mini-lesson and students share with each other and whole class(Students are never forced to read aloud their writing in my class.) This is where I teach grammar, vocabulary, model writing or reading skills. I donāt have a set schedule as to when I teach each type of skill because it depends on what weāre working on. However, I do make sure students are exposed to all of these types of skills and I keep track of them in my lesson plans.
20 minutes Students go to their seats to write or read, and I conference with them and/or grade 10 minutes Students share with nearby neighbors, pack up and log out of computers, clean up and that sort of thing. I donāt review at the end of the class period, I do that the next day during the mini-lesson.In my creative writing courses, most students read and complete reading workshop assignments on Fridays; however, when students finish a piece of writing before others, they default to reading.
With so much writing, do you grade everything?No way do I grade everything students write. I donāt read 130 daily student writings either. Thereās no way I could possibly do that. This is why students share with each other.
When I do grade, Iām looking for very specific things - whatever I taught during the mini-lesson should be applied to their current assignment. My mini-lessons are based on the skills I know they need to master content related standards.
Iāve also learned to have students turn in ONE assignment per week, and during their bi-weekly conference, I grade their journals as well. I assess according to whatever standard I taught that week. Students are given a student-friendly, standards based rubric. I only focus on one standard per week with my assessments.
Assignments lead to projects. Therefore, each assignment is part of a larger project. These projects lead students through much of the writing process. I assess their projects as well, but I also have students self-assess as part of that grade. Generally, my gradebook contains 15 grades by the end of each 9 week quarter. I do ALL of my grading at school because I grade as we go.
How you can try out a writers workshop week in your classroomI have something for you to be able to try out a writers workshop for a week in your classroom to see if you and your students like this learning framework. Use the START WRITE NOW GUIDE.
Click the link here: Start Write Now Guide
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Happy New Year! Iām so excited about all the free content that will be coming your way this year. Youāre about to get some episodes that are packed with information and things you can do in your classroom or in your writing.
Todayās episode is about goal setting, more specifically - using SMART goals as a writer
I will have a detailed template for you in the show notes, so please click on the link in my show notes to get this helpful free SMART goal worksheet for writers. CLICK HERE for the SMART goals worksheet and lesson plan.
What is a SMART goal?A SMART goal is a goal that is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timed.
This acronym was first discussed by George T. Doran, in 1981 in "There's a S.M.A.R.T. Way to Write Management's Goals and Objectives".
Goals keep you focused and motivated on something you want to achieve, especially when self-doubt and other obstacles get in your way.
The problem with most goals is that they are often too broad in scope and not really something you can measure in a given time. Without this emphasis on time, goals become further and further away from you and seem impossible to achieve.
I have seen this time and time again with not only my students, but with myself. Making and attaining goals really depends on how motivated you are and how you can get over obstacles that get in your way and that make you want to give up. The key to attaining goals is to make the SMART.
Making a SMART goal gives you a specific goal with a due date.
So, how can a SMART goal help writers?Writing is hard work. It takes a lot of skills and brain power to communicate something effectively. Often times when youāre writing you donāt know whether the people youāre writing for, your intended audience, will actually read what youāve written. This can become very frustrating and discouraging.
Therefore, staying motivated to write is an obstacle you have to overcome and be aware of things that will distract you.
The larger the goal, the more time it will take to complete. If you are new to writing long stories or reports, itās better to break those bigger pieces into smaller goals. Teachers, we must do this for our students because even adults struggle with this.
My advice is to start with a small, specific goal that doesnāt take a lot of time that will help you attain a much bigger long term goal. For example, if you want to write a novel, you first have to write a scene. So, make a SMART goal to write a scene first, and then make another SMART goal to write the next scene and so on.
Your SMART goal needs to be specific.Here are some questions to get at a specific goal:
What do I want to accomplish? Why is this important? Who else is involved or needs to help me? Where is this goal to be obtained? What resources or limits are involved?Wanting to write a story is not a specific goal.
However, if I want to write a short story about losing a friend in middle school, and the reason this is important is because lots of girls go through this and feel very alone, then Iām being more specific.
Now I have to decide, who is involved? Should I write this as a fictional narrative or a personal one?
The last thing about a specific goal is knowing what resources you have and the limits that are involved.
How much time do you have? How long does it take you to write a page or 250 words. Most short stories are 5-10 pages long.
You also have to ask yourself if you have the skills you need in order to attain that goal.
For example, if you donāt know how to write dialogue correctly, youāll need to learn this first.
Hereās my specific example of the SPECIFIC part of a SMART goal: I want to write a fictional short story about the end of a friendship because other girls could be suffering the same problem, and I also need to learn the skill of writing dialogue to make my story realistic.
Measuring your SMART goal for writers:How much time do you want to spend on the goal? How many resources or limits do you have? How much do you want to accomplish within a certain amount of time? How will you know when your goal is accomplished?
Teachers, I usually give my students a week to practice a skill within an assignment. This might be learning how to punctuate dialogue or using common homophones correctly - youāre and your, there, their and theyāre. It also might be planning a story. I model and review each skill daily, but itās up to the student to show that skill in their own writing. I assess to see if theyāve learned the skill, and then either give more information and practice or move onto another skill that builds on from previous skills.
Writers you can do the same thing for yourselves. Learn one new writing skill a week, put it into practice and reread what youāve written to determine if this skill has improved your writing. I read books, Google and watch YouTube videos about writing skills constantly. Iāve taught myself many of the writing skills I know. You can, too, but focus on learning ONE new thing per week, so you can put it into practice and not feel overwhelmed.
Smart goals need to be attainable.Goals should stretch you, but not break you. Stepping slightly out of your comfort zone to learn or try something new is good for you. Itās how you grow, but leaping into the unknown is often too scary for people.
Ask yourself:
How will I accomplish this goal? Is this a reasonable goal at this time in my life for me? Based on my limits, how realistic is this goal? How will I reward myself?Time is our biggest problem. Knowing whether or not you can accomplish a goal within a time limit is important. Be honest with yourself. Know how long you have to work on something. Also know what can distract you and how you can get rid of those distractions.
Itās also a good idea to think about how you can reward yourself once you attain a goal. This keeps motivation going even when youāre tired or feel less than your best.
A word about whether or not something is attainable - no idea is original. So, if your specific goal is to come up with an original idea for a story about a girl facing a dictatorship that your audience will read, itās been done before over and over again from the story of Boudica who fought the Roman Empire to Katniss Everdeen who fights the Capitol of Panem. Itās HOW you tell the story that makes it original. Your word choices, how you put those together, etc. This used to be my biggest obstacle to writing, but Iāve learned that specific audiences like specific types of stories. So most likely, if there is an audience for this topic, you will find readers and attain your goal.
Is this goal relevant to whatās going on in your world?Will the time and hard work you put into your writing be worthwhile to you, even if no one reads it or buys it? Is this the right time for you to try this? Does this match my other efforts or needs?
This is why knowing your intended audience and doing some research is so important. Also, this part of the goal can also help you be realistic about your outcomes. Writing for an intended audience other than yourself means that you want other people to read your writing or listen to what you have to say.
If you are trying to decide between which writing idea to go with, this is where you can make that decision because you have to ask yourself how is this topic or story relevant to me and those around me?
Time-bound goals help you to do so much more than you could ever imagine.By giving yourself due dates and time limits, you will accomplish a lot more writing. If given more time than you need to write, you will procrastinate. You will find other things to fill up your time, like watching silly cat videos or Live PD for hours on end.
Itās very easy to get distracted from hard work. Writing can be fun, but itās mentally labor intensive. Consuming other peopleās content is a lot more fun, but it doesnāt help us to read our goals.
Not that Iām NEVER distracted, but I try to put away my cell phone or turn off the TV when Iāve got a project, and use those things as a reward once I am finished with a part of my goal. For example, after writing this podcast/blog, I plan to see the new Star Wars movie with my family.
This gives me a time limit for todayās writing. I have to get it done before we go to the movies, but it also gives me a reward. If youāre a video gamer, promise yourself a new game after you accomplish a goal.
How to avoid ineffective writing goals:Focus on skills, not problems. If one of your goals is to stop writing sentences without punctuation, then the skill you want to practice is slowing down and looking at your writing to see if you need a period. If youāve written four or five lines of text without a period, most likely, you need to work on punctuation. Or after writing a paragraph, reread what youāve written aloud to yourself. Where does your voice naturally drop and stop? You most likely need end punctuation there.
Teachers, if you see a lot of students with this problem, this can become a mini-lesson during writers workshop. I do teach students the 4 types of sentences, but this takes a lot of time and repetition, so I have to make sure to give students time to learn simple, compound, complex and compound-complex sentence structures. So, introduce and give lots of practice. There are some programs like Brain Pop, Quill.org, Flocabulary and Nearpod with exercises kids could do to help them practice these skills. It also provides a nice break in writing.
What skills will make your writing more effective? This also helps you to focus and prioritize.
Which skill should you focus on first?
The most important aspect of writing is communication. Does your writing communicate your ideas clearly and effectively? If you give someone your draft, and they donāt understand whatās going on or what your main point is, you need to work one or all of these areas:
Being clear - keep it simple specific (KISS) Organization of ideas Editing skillsChoose ONE skill and learn that skill, and then move on to the next skill.
So, if I were to create a SMART goal out of my example above, it would look something like this:
I want to write a fictional short story of 1,000 words about a girl who loses a friendship (to help other girls in the same painful situation) and I want to learn how to punctuate dialogue this week.
S: Write a fictional short story about a middle school girl who loses a friendship
M: 1,000 words
A: I need to learn how to punctuate dialogue
R: This is relevant to middle school girls who go through friendship drama
T: I want to write this in ONE week so I can share it with my students.
Publishing the above story would become a new SMART goal since it would take time for me to figure out where and how to publish a story like this.
Thatās all for todayās podcast.
If you would like a copy of the SMART goal Worksheet for Writers, click on the show notes below.
Please rate and comment to keep this podcast going, and to let other teachers and writers know about it.
I hope to see you here next Sunday. Thank you so much for listening and Happy Writing!
CLICK HERE for the SMART goals worksheet and lesson plan.
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The list making writing strategy helps students to generate topic ideas quickly. By keeping a section in their writing journal for list making, students will always have topics to write about throughout the school year.
In this podcast, I'll be explaining:
when I use this writing strategy - at least 1-2X per week as a bellringer reasons for using it the need for modeling the strategy often how to keep students accountable through assessment and conferencing actionable steps after list makingClick here to access the Start Write Now Guide that I mention throughout the podcast.
Music Credit: āCome Insideā by Snowflake (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/59564 Ft: Starfrosch, Jerry Spoon, Kara Square, spinningmerkaba
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Show Notes for Episode 6: Writing to a person you love as a holiday gift
Hey writers and writing teachers,
Welcome to The Write Idea Podcast. Iām Kathie Harsch, public school teacher, writer, blogger and host.
I teach writing strategies and techniques that help writers and teachers create dynamic fiction and non-fiction with joy and ease.
If you are new here, welcome, and if youāre not, thank you so much for returning!
Iām so thankful you are here - letās get started!
Can you believe it? This is episode six? Iām so happy to share todayās topic with you.
I want to talk to you about using your writing for a very particular intended audience and purpose.
Last week I talked to you all about intended audiences. Today, Iām going to talk to you about a very special intended audience- the people you love and care about.
So remember the strategy I talked about? Well, this time I want to give you the Topic and the Purpose for writing.
Most writers donāt really think about doing this and I donāt really understand why because the people we love really appreciate this so much.
Enough of being cryptic and holding you in suspense. I gave you a hint last week that I would be talking about giving very special Holiday gifts to the people that you love.
First, pick a person and make a list of things you love about them.
So here is your topic: write about how much that person has meant to you this year. What things have you accomplished because of this personās love and support. What fun things have you done together that have been special to you. Even if itās just singing in the car as loudly as possible to your favorite song - or just taking a walk in the park. Itās the simple little times spent together that matter most.
When you think about these things list or mind map as many specifics as possible. Give your intended audience, your loved one, a movie in their head about the experiences youāve shared.
So, you can probably guess your purpose, right? This is intended as a gift. Now, youāre probably thinking this might be better if written in a card. Actually if youāre going to put it in a card, then you should make a homemade one.
However, it would be much better if you gave this piece of writing in its own special publication.
Here are some ideas for that:
Create a photo book of pictures and add your writing to it. Walmart, Walgreens or anyplace that prints pictures usually has a way to create photo books as well. Create your writing on Canva.com and put a picture with it. Print it out on cardstock paper in color and frame it. Make a storybook that tells the story of a lost loved one for younger children, who might not know this person. Make a personal poem into a card. Buy a pretty journal and fill it with poetry. Give it to someone you love who has encouraged your writing. Create a piece of art to go with your writing.Whatās great about writing about this particular year and this particular person is that you can create a new one later on in another year, or make it a yearly tradition.
Donāt worry about your writing being perfect. Use the Grammarly plugin on Google Chrome to help you out. Or use their website. It will catch most of the errors, you might miss. Then, make it look great by using a template from Canva at Canva.com, which is where I created my Start Write Now Guide and the logo for The Write Idea Podcast.
Remember the reason we give gifts to begin with - to bring other people joy. Telling someone how much you mean to them and taking the time to create something personal is deeply meaningful, especially in such a consumer-driven time of year like the Holidays.
Hope you are able to put these writing tips to good use this week. Take some time to relax and reflect on your year with your loved ones. It just may become a very special gift that they will enjoy in the years to come.
Thatās it for this weekās podcast. If you enjoy The Write Idea podcast, please subscribe and give it a rating. I wouldnāt want you to miss out on any of the episodes, which come out every Sunday.
Please see my show notes below for more free content about writing. Click on the link for the Start Write Now Guide for writing strategies and techniques that work for any type of writing.
You can also visit my website Teach2Write.com for more strategies and techniques to improve writing skills.
Thanks for listening and Happy Writing!
Music Credit: āCome Insideā by Snowflake (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/59564 Ft: Starfrosch, Jerry Spoon, Kara Square, spinningmerkaba
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I often explain to my students that they need to know who they are writing for - who will be their intended audience?
I remind students that they arenāt just writing to complete an assignment, and Iām NOT supposed to be their ONLY audience, especially in our class.
In this episode Iām going to be talking about the intended audience- which also points to a purpose for writing as well.
The first segment will talk about how sometimes you write only for yourself.
Click on this link for the Start Write Now Guide
The second segment mentions the ATPRS strategy for figuring out who your intended audience is.
A=audience T=Topic P=Purpose R = Role S= Style
For more in depth information about this podcast, visit my blog at: Teach2Write.com
Writing Journal Prompts given during this podcast:
Entry 1: For five to ten minutes freewrite about who you want to write for and why? Knowing why you write is important for growth as a writer. I had my students write a letter to me at the beginning of the school year where they answered these same questions.
Entry 2: Make a list of topics in your writerās journal. Topics that interest you. Topics youāre passionate about. Then, decide which topics are for your eyes only, and those youād like to share with an audience.
Entry 3: Choose ONE of those topics and use the ATPRS strategy on it - Who will your intended audience be? What will be the specific topic? (Did you research it? Are people looking for it?) What will your purpose be? To entertain, to inform, to argue, to express, to tell a story ? What role will you take on? What writing style will you use?
Music Credit: āCome Insideā by Snowflake (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/59564 Ft: Starfrosch, Jerry Spoon, Kara Square, spinningmerkaba
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Episode 4 A Writerās Workspace
Episode 4 A writerās workspace is where Iāll discuss finding the workspace and time to write.
Do you long for a special place to write? How about a chunk of TIME to write?
So many writers have these same problems, but TODAY...I have a few solutions for you!
Thank you so much for being here! I hope you find this episode helpful.
Finding the workspace to write:Some of my favorite authors have these elaborate places to write - offices within their homes with vast private libraries behind them. Stephen King, Anne Rice, Ernest Hemingway and a bunch of others. Yet, until last year, I never had my own writing room.
I remember once dreaming of going to a writing retreat, but it was too expensive. At that time, I couldnāt leave my two babies for a whole week during the summer. I would NOT have written ANYTHING because I wouldāve felt guilty and anxious about leaving them.
Does an author need their own workspace, their own office, to create?
I spent years thinking I had to have a specific space to write. An office, a room of my own, free of distractions, etc. For years I made excuses about not being able to write because I didnāt have a āwhereā to do it.
You know what I found out? Quiet writing spaces are a myth.
I finally started writing a romance novel after 15 years of research and false starts. 15 years! I have notebooks full of obscure information about the Carolingian era and the Vikings. Little did I know the market was not only oversaturated, it was passƩ.
Even with my own twist, focusing on France, instead of England, didnāt get me an agent or an editor interested in my 80,000 word romance novel. I still love that plot. I love the characters, and maybe ONE day I will try to rework and revise Giselaās Ring. I can talk more about why I shifted away from this first novel in another podcast episode.
About a year after I finished writing that book, two things happened:
First, my husband told me to write something like Stephenie Meyerās Twilight series - basically to write for the age group that I teach. Then, I had a dream which became the genesis of my Children of the Psi book series. Getting Creative with your Workspace:My biggest obstacles to writing - I had two small children and a full time job as an English teacher.
Iād read how Stephanie Meyer wrote her books with a baby sitting on her lap. I thought, if she can do it, so can I. I sat on the floor of my childrenās bedroom, watching them play while I wrote. At that time, Erin was about 3 1/2 and Danny was about 6 months old.
I wrote and wrote and wrote, sharing parts of my story with various students who wanted to read it. They gave me feedback and I went back and revised and clarified. I joined a writerās group and met weekly with those ladies until I got the beginnings of my book written in a way that caught a readerās attention.
I still go to coffee shops or Paneraās every now and again. Sometimes, I write at the park. Other times I write in a parking lot that overlooks a beautiful view. For years, I made excuses about not being able to write because I didnāt have a āwhereā to do it. Not anymore.
Writing teachers - I tell my students that writing time is sacred. I give students brainstorming time during mini lessons with a short collaborative peer discussion, but then I send my students off to write or read, depending on what our focus standard is for the week.
Other than conferring with them once a week or so, I let them just write (or read).
For writers - this advice is for you - butt in chair writing - needs to be your mantra.
Butt in chair writing - itās a thing. Itās not always easy. Just remember, you have so many tools you can use at your fingertips (or thumbs if youāre using your smartphone).
Finding the TIME to write:When I tell people that Iāve published some books, I often hear back from colleagues and friends, āI want to write a book someday too.ā Yet, I think only one or two of them actually did.
My colleagues are part of the 80% of Americans who would like to write a book someday, according to a whole ton of articles that I just Googled. Less than 1% actually pursue that goal, and the biggest reason people give for not writing a book is - time.
Writing does take time. Itās butt in chair, eyes on the keyboard or your screen, and allowing your thoughts to go through your mind and out through your fingers. Sometimes the words just donāt come to you. Which is why, by the way, I use a writing journal. I can usually brainstorm my way through that writerās block.
Iāve also heard from many teachers and students that they donāt get enough time to write what they really want to write in school.
Before common core came along, my students used to write every day, as soon as they came into my classroom, in my ELA classes. However, when I switched schools, there was so much demand to āteach to the textbook.ā I often didnāt allow enough time for writing, especially writing my students most enjoyed.
A horrible trend for student writers:A horrible trend started - kids hate to write. The only reason they are given to write is to talk about another authorās text. They really donāt get the chance to write about their own thoughts, their own beliefs, their own ideas. This has become a nation-wide phenomena. I have discussed this with hundreds of students over the last five years.
However, in the last year or so, Iāve seen a shift away from doing strictly evidence-based writing with more and more teachers embracing creative writing again in their ELA classrooms.
When I saw myself going down that rabbit hole, I course corrected and started having students write what they love on Fridays. Then, I let them share. Not only did they sharpen their writing skills, students also practiced listening and speaking skills, and sharing also built class rapport.
After I switched to 8th grade, I needed to do even more academic writing. So, I decided that I would give students 5 to 10 minutes, sometimes a little bit longer, at the beginning of the period to write about any topic and any genre. After one or two students shared, I tied this in with what I taught for my mini-lesson. During the rest of the 50 minute class period, students either read or wrote about the required texts.
Students should write and read multiple genres throughout the school year. Teaching students how to write a fictional story (not just personal narrative) for more than a couple of weeks can pay off in higher reading scores with fictional passages. They understand the decisions authors make, which is often included in the analytical questions from textbooks and local and state reading assessments.
Jen Jones, the world renoun literacy specialist behind Hello Literacy!, and I discussed this at length in Austin this summer at the Teacherspayteachers annual conference.
Writing strategies for finding a writerās workspace and writing time:So here are writing strategies for finding where and when you can write:
Pull out your cell phone, go to the notes section, press on the microphone on the bottom right part of your phone, speak into your phone. The words will appear on your screen. Or open your Google Drive app, open your Docs app and press the microphone and talk into your phone. (That way you donāt have to copy and paste to a google doc.) You can go to a library or a coffee shop or the park and give yourself an hour of writing time and a walk through the park gives you some exercise, too! Bonus! If you canāt give yourself an hour, but you need a new location, put on some headphones get into a comfy chair with your laptop, set a timer for five to ten minutes and type as fast as you can for those minutes. These are called writing sprints.(This is a trick that I learned from NaNoWriMo which stands for National Novel Writing Month, which is held every November. If you need a challenge or if you need some extra motivation, sign up for the NaNoWriMo writing sprints challenge on Twitter. When the sprint is done everyone says how many words they wrote it keeps you somewhat accountable.)
On the idea of keeping yourself accountable to writing time, you can also tell your friends, āHey, Iāve been working on this piece of writing, and I just went for 30 minutes and wrote so a thousand words,ā or however many words you wrote and youāll get compliments and hearts or thumbs up. Just enough of a dopamine hit that can keep you motivated to do it again and again.
Your writerās workspace and time woes solved:But there are two pieces of advice I want to give you.
One is from Nike - JUST DO IT!
The second piece of advice is āButt in Chair Writing.ā
I didnāt come up with either one of those sayings, but they are so true. The only way that youāre going to write a book or compose a poem or finish a short story is if youāre actually writing it.
The Start Write Now Guide gives you strategies and tips and tricks for breaking through writerās block. Click on this link to sign up for a free copy of it: Start Write Now Guide.
Thank you so very much for listening. I really do appreciate your time, especially for someone who is just starting out with this podcasting gig. It really means a lot to me. If you want to be a guest on this podcast or have some suggestions, please reach out to me on Instagram @teach2write.
So, writers and teachers, please join us next week for a discussion on writing for the self and writing for an audience.
Bye for now and happy writing!
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How do writers come up with specific details to help a reader visualize their message or story? The following strategies are explained in greater detail:
1. Mind mapping - YouTube video on mind mapping
2. Listing topic ideas as well as specific details about a topic
3. Freewriting - writing without editing for 5-10 minutes - I usually do a focused freewrite, where students focus on a particular topic idea and freewrite about it. For example, they might freewrite about a new character in action.
4. Sketching/Drawing - students can draw or sketch their characters or maps of places they've been with memories marked with an X and labeled with what happened at each of the Xs.
You can also practice techniques with students, such as point of view or character conflicts, dialogue or description of a setting. Students can also practice non-fiction writing, like thesis statements and opinion pieces.
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Why a writerās journal when we have computers?
Brain research and writing: 2010 - German scientists research study - How Handwriting Trains the Brain - The Wall Street Journal by Gwendolyn Bounds, Oct 5 2010 2012- Indiana University study by Karin H. James and Laura Engelhardt - The effects on handwriting experience on functional brain development in pre-literate children by Karin H. James and Laura Engelhardt Dec. 2012 Here are the other articles I also referenced:Three Ways that Handwriting with a Pen Positively Affects Your Brain by Nancy Olson Forbes May 15, 2016
Your Brain on Writing by Institute for Writers August 17, 2017 - I shared this one with my students and we discussed it
Other helpful links about writerās journals:
How to Keep a Writing Journal You Won't Neglect
The more I use my journals ( I have different journals for different writing purposes) the more productive I am vs. just typing everything out on the computer.
Less distractions from social media Less false starts and less revision due to those false starts I donāt want to waste time because my writing time is preciousWriterās Journals Experimentation in my classroom
Last year, I didnāt have students take notes or brainstorm the first quarter in their notebooks. I wanted them to have more writing time. They actually had less because they spent too much time trying to relearn what Iād taught during mini-lessons. Students forgot what Iād just taught them - even if I had them repeat it back to me multiple times before they went to their computers When they did get down to writing - they had lots of stops and starts and most suffered from writer's block so assignments took 2 to 3 times longer than they do this year. By comparison, this school year all students had a writerās journal They retain more info Students have notes at their fingertips They have drafts started More completed assignments over last year Less writerās block The key takeaway: writing in a journal can help engage your mind more productively and creatively than just typing on a keyboardWhat we use our writerās journals for:
Mind-mapping: Get your free download by going to www.teach2write.com/start-write-now-guide Freewriting - writing nonstop for a set amount of time like 5-10 minutes Listing - as many ideas about a topic as you can Sketching/Drawing - maps, characters, scenes, storyboards, one-pagers Practice techniques Example: trying different POV Example: trying different thesis statements for essays With my students For myself: main point I want to make in a blog post or podcast Outlining or planningI would be absolutely lost without being able to write down my ideas.
My writerās journal is a mess, so my computer docs donāt have to be.
When I type into the computer BEFORE journaling, the quality of my ideas suffer and it takes twice as long to write anything because Iām always revising
Conclusion: Here are some actionable steps writers and teachers can take
Download freebie: Start Write Now Guide Get a notebook thatās comfortable for you and start trying the strategies before you give it to your students How does it help you? What struggles are you having? Using a journal or writers journal itās just like any other tool - consistency is key - Work on it every day Rate, comment and subscribe- I will use your comments to help me improve this podcast so I can better help you with The Write idea. Thank you so much for listening- I look forward to hearing from you!Music from: Come Inside by Snowflake (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/59564 Ft: Starfrosch, Jerry Spoon, Kara Square, spinningmerkaba
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Show Notes for The Write Idea Podcast Episode 1: Welcome!
Welcome to the Write Idea. My name is Kathie Harsch, Iām an English teacher, business owner of Teach2Write and a self-published author.
This is my first podcast episode, and Iām SO excited to be here...sharing writing ideas with you.
Iāll be coming to you every Sundayā¦. with writing strategies and techniques for all writers, as well as teachers, who are looking for ways to help their students IMPROVE their writing skills.
Who is she? Why her?So, I know what youāre thinking - who is this chick...and why does she think she can tell ME anything about writing? Iām so glad youāre here and if youāve listened this far, you definitely deserve an answer to these important questions. Iām Kathleen Harsch, Kathie to most people. I'm the wife of Dan, for the past 24 years, he's a nurse. I'm a mom of our 20 year old daughter and 17 year old son. We have 2 large dogs - Gus and Copper.
I'm an English Language Arts and Creative Writing teacher in Florida and have been for the past 24 years. I'm also a self-published author of teen fiction - Iāll tell you why I self-pubbed in another episode - and I enjoy ALL things writing, except that I'm not a fan of the 5 paragraph essay! More on that later...
Why does she think she can tell ME anything about writing?Now, to answer your second question - yeah Iām a mind reader! - Why do I think I can tell you about writing?
I'm not only a teacher and writer, I also consider myself a researcher. Over the years, I've read books about the teaching of all types of writing - nonfiction, fiction and poetry. I will be sharing some of those books with you, too, but I put into practice what I discover. Iām always looking for ways to help my students become better writers.
Iām constantly trying to become both a better teacher and a better writer.
I want to share this information with YOU.
After reading countless essays, paragraphs and other student writing, you might not have time to do a lot of the research Iāve been able to do. Or new teachers trying to figure out how to best help your students as you learn the craft of being an educator. It is a craft, and it does take time, so be patient with yourself.
So, YOU are my reason for doing this podcast...
I've helped thousands of students achieve their writing goalsOver the years, I've helped thousands of students achieve their writing goals. I want to tell you about a couple of them right now.
Kurt... thatās not his real name, of courseā¦Kurt...was this really bright kidā¦Kurt was in my gifted ELA class. He was very articulate, but he really struggled with essay writing, especially the state writing test Florida used at that time. The essay students had to write was either persuasive or expository, and students were only tested in 4th, 8th and 11th grades for writing.
So, most teachers only focused on writing during the testing years, and focused on reading other years, since their evaluations and their test scores depended on the reading test exclusively. This lack of writing instruction, compounded by the test structure (students had NO reading materials to pull evidence from), so ALL the writing ideas had to come from their own imagination made these essays very difficult for students to write.
Students between 4th and 8th grades grow up significantly, but their writing often did not reflect that maturity and the response had to be long enough - the dreaded 5 paragraph essay - to cover the topic.
Case study of Kurt -Writing strategy:So Kurt, he knew a lot about black holes, but knew nothing about how to write an essay like this. He didnāt know how to elaborate.
The FCAT also had strange prompts, too like...āWho is a hero in your life? Explain whyā¦ā OR āPersuade your principal to take your entire 8th grade class on a field trip. Where would you go? What would you do there?ā
Student Scores were on a 0-6 scale, and Kurt often scored low on my practice essays, usually a 2 out of 6. Like I said - he needed help with elaboration.
I showed Kurt techniques for how to add examples and anecdotes to help him to explain his points. He found a technique that finally clicked for him. His essays really improved dramatically AND He scored a 5.5 out of 6 on his FCAT writing test.
Only about 3 percent of kids in the state earned scores that high!
I had students who routinely scored higher than other students in my district and state. Even though I taught him how to beat the test, I also taught him how to elaborate and other writing strategies and techniques that Kurt could use in high school and beyond.
Heās just ONE of the thousands of kids Iāve helped.
Case Study of Tiara - Writing Technique:Another student - Tiara - needed help with writing a poem for her social studies class. Shout out to history teachers that give creative writing assignments!
I taught Tiara how to mind map her ideas and how to include sensory details to describe as if the reader was one of the soldiers in the American Revolution - the cold, the lack of proper boots, the overwhelm of facing well-trained, British regulars. By using this technique, she was able to write her poem the way SHE wanted to express it.
Giving students the tools to express their VOICE...it's really powerful.Thatās what I hope to do on this podcastā¦Help you to find your writerās voice, to be able to come up with tons of ideas and learn which ones you want to use and when you want to use them...
This podcast is for ANYONE who wants to improve their writing skills AND...for teachers who need PROVEN strategies to help their students to succeed. The best thing about writing strategies and techniques is that you can apply them to ANY type of writing. In FACT, I used a few of them while coming up with this podcast episode!
ANYONE can use the strategies and techniques Iām going to talk about each weekā¦
By the way...Iāll be dropping these episodes to you on Sunday mornings because I know many teachers are lesson planning on Sundays or checking their plans to make sure everything is good to go.
The Write Idea Show Notes Conclusion:So, there you have it - my reasons for doing this podcast. Iāve been thinking about doing this for quite awhile now...and Iām so glad I took the leap and finally did it.
Before I go, I want to give you a hint about next weekās podcast. Oh! I love this topic so much, I canāt wait to talk to you about it. Itās one of the most essential tools I believe every writer should have. I will tell you ALL about it in next Sundayās podcast.I canāt wait to share with you how I use this essential writerās tool.
By the way, itās not a computer, although thatās essential, too.
Thank you so much for listening to the first episode of THE WRITE IDEA.
Like I said, I will be coming to you EVERY Sunday to talk about writing strategies and techniques that will help YOU and if youāre a teacher, to help your students.
If you like the Write Idea Podcast, please give a rating and leave a comment. What would you like to hear about writing on this podcast?
I will choose one or two of your comments or questions and give you a shout out and an answer.
If you'd like to visit my website, click here: https://teach2write.com/
Music Credit: "Come Inside" by Snowflake (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/59564 Ft: Starfrosch, Jerry Spoon, Kara Square, spinningmerkaba
