Teachers Writers Notebook

1
Teachers Writers Notebook

• For your own writing and a place to keep teaching
  strategies you collect

2
In your Personal Writing

• What things have my hands held or experienced
  that remind me of stories I want to write?

3
Points about Personal Writing

• Opportunity to experience the lessons we teach
  our students
• These should be quick-writes, taking 5 to 10
  minutes
• Developing your own writing muscles
• Tips in the Calkins Books
• Other resources

4
Quickwrites with students

• Why
• A writer often becomes a
• better writer by
• writing frequently,
• concentrating on a main idea,
• rereading what they have written,
• organizing their writing,
• and using a distinct voice.
• Quick writes encourage all these habits.

• Procedure
• Read the prompt to the children
• Ask the students, What does what Ive just said
  make you think of? Write about it. After 5 or 10
  minutes I will give you the signal to stop. You
  may not be finished but thats okay, because this
  prompt is just so you can write whatever comes
  into your head. You may choose to complete this
  later if you want. I will do this quick write
  right along with you.
• encourage all the different ways children can
  write about a topic.
• After you have done at least 5 or 6 quick
• writes, you could add a step to the
• procedure and have students make a list
• of 2 or 3 ways they could respond to the
• prompt, then choose one of the ways
• and write.