S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Nov 5, 2009, 7:41 am
Dialogue. It’s something we wish students would use purposefully inside of a piece of writing. Too often, when our students do write with dialogue, it sounds like this: “Hi,” I sa...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Nov 4, 2009, 9:09 pm
These words are speaking to my soul tonight.  I’m planning to use them in a workshop I’m leading tomorrow. Students such as these walk into your classrooms in every size, shape, and color...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Nov 2, 2009, 11:29 pm
Happy Election Day!  Whether you’re teaching today, attending professional development (I’m personally leading a session on conferring, so I’ll be posting my Slice later today.), or...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Nov 2, 2009, 10:54 pm
At the Basic Workshop Training there is always time for Adult Writing.  Yesterday, I shared one way to help get students writing is to read aloud a well-written text (a poem, picture book, or novel ...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 30, 2009, 12:40 am
This past Monday I heard Kwame Alexander, who is a poet (He trained with Nikki Giovanni at Virgina Tech!), author, and founder of Book-in-a-Day, speak at the KSRA Conference in Hershey, PA.  My handw...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 29, 2009, 12:21 am
Pennsylvania-based author Linda Oatman High led a session entitled “Writing to the Beat of a Different Drummer” at the KSRA Conference I attended this week.  (My handwritten notes from he...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 28, 2009, 12:51 am
From time to time, I use this blog to sort out ideas I’m wrestling with.  I must admit this puts me in a vulnerable place.  Such was the case with Monday’s posts.  Audience — aut...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 27, 2009, 5:06 pm
KSRA Authors Tea Mug & Chocolate (er, what’s left of the chocolate) Originally uploaded by teachergal When I received the registration form for the KSRA Conference, I did something I don’t us...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 27, 2009, 12:11 am
Please link your Slice of Life Story to this post by leaving a comment.
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 26, 2009, 11:13 pm
This finally led me to thinking about my high school art classes.  I was in the Honors Art Course and for me it was tough to get into.  I worked even harder to stay in it.  I didn’t have the ...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 26, 2009, 6:46 am
Last week I was in a history class.  It was the teacher’s prep, but there were students working to put final touches on their presentations which were due later in the day.  Out of the blue...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 24, 2009, 8:29 am
Revision is one of my favorite parts of the writing process to teach.  I enjoy figuring out ways to encourage writers to make significant revisions.  It seems so often our students revise just to ap...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 23, 2009, 4:12 pm
This morning as I was listening to the radio on my way to school, they were asking little kids to respond to the question:  How do you know someone loves you?  This response stuck with me: You know ...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 22, 2009, 7:50 pm
I presented at the Capital Area Writing Project’s WordFest tonight.  Just thought I’d share my presentation in this forum as well. SESSION NAME: Well-Chosen Words About Slices of Real Li...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 22, 2009, 10:23 am
A copy of Laurie Halse Anderon’s The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School arrived at my home last week. I read it once and put it aside since I was unsure of what this book would be most su...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 21, 2009, 9:43 pm
It’s getting late.  I’m tired.  A blog post is required before I go to bed.  Although I have a list of possibilities, I don’t have the energy for them.  Not tonight.  Tonight I...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 20, 2009, 7:20 pm
Many parts of the U.S.A. are experiencing unseasonably cold weather right now.  Since my favorite season seems to be slipping away a bit too quickly, I wanted to take some time to cherish the positiv...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 20, 2009, 12:02 am
Our weekly Slice of Life Story Challenge coincides with The National Day on Writing today.  Celebrate this special day by doing one, or more, of the following things as a writer: 1)  Craft a new pie...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 19, 2009, 1:14 am
These words of Peter Johnston’s from his book Choice Words (2004) have been tumbling around in my mind this weekend.  I plan to keep them close as I go about my work this week. If nothing else...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 16, 2009, 1:00 pm
Ruth and I are putting the finishing touches on the Conferring Section of our book just as I’m starting to work on presentations for two separate school districts about conferring in the Writing...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 15, 2009, 12:03 am
I’m not recommending a children’s book you can use in your classroom today.  Instead, I have something better.  It’s a professional book about children’s books that every writing teacher nee...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 14, 2009, 8:31 pm
Today Tony Miller and his third grade class invited me to celebrate with them the publication of their first pieces.  (Although we considered this the launch unit, it was actually the third unit of s...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 13, 2009, 3:02 pm
This past summer Pam Munoz Ryan, author of two of my favorite read aloud books (i.e., Becoming Naomi Leon and Esperanza Rising) spoke at the TCRWP Writing Institute. Her speech, “Reading to Wri...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 13, 2009, 12:03 am
I’m presently working on a PowerPoint Presentation for an interactive workshop I’m leading at next Thursday’s WordFest 2009: A Celebration of Writing, which is sponsored by the Capit...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 12, 2009, 4:59 am
In this (too-long) video, I share a peek into my notebook.  I’m not sure what happened, though, because when I prepared it for the Internet, the final letter was dropped from many of my titles....
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 10, 2009, 12:03 pm
After grappling, for months, about what I would submit to The National Gallery of Writing, I finally wrote a piece about my transition to teaching from working in public relations.  I submitted my pi...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 9, 2009, 2:17 pm
My oldest daughter is a second grader and a whiz at spelling.  Every Friday she brings home a list of “Word Wall” words for the upcoming week and asks me to “quiz” her.  She...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 8, 2009, 12:02 am
This past summer I spent a week at the TCRWP Summer Writing Institute.  One of my week-long courses was about mentor texts.  Emily Smith, the section leader, introduced us to a book, But That’s An...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 6, 2009, 12:08 am

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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 6, 2009, 12:04 am
The National Day of Writing is rapidly approaching.  Have you submitted your writing to the Gallery yet?  There are many possibilities for the type of submission you can contribute.  Click here to ...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 5, 2009, 12:57 pm
I have this quote near my computer to remind me of the importance of narrative, among other things.  Jodi Picoult is a master at the craft of writing, if you don’t know her work, you’ll w...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 2, 2009, 1:14 pm
Katherine Bomer once said, “Writing celebration is the most important part of the writing process.”  With that being said, there should be ample time set aside to celebrate the hard work ...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 1, 2009, 3:48 pm
A couple days ago I was looking at our blog stats and noticed our blog was being searched for apostrophes. Not just any apostrophes, but someone was specifically looking for “creative use of ap...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Oct 1, 2009, 12:41 am
Voting for the Cybils starts today!  Be sure to cast a vote for your favorite new books of 2009.  Nominations are open from October 1st – 15th, 2009.  At that point, the first round of judging wi...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Sep 30, 2009, 9:07 pm
I’ve been thinking a lot about authenticity when it comes to Writing and Reading Workshops.  I’m beginning to think that a big part of authentic instruction lies in trusting students.  ...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Sep 29, 2009, 5:00 am
 
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Sep 28, 2009, 10:17 am
I took the list of Ways to Revise and made it into a minichart for students to keep in their notebooks.   Here is a link to the document for anyone who is on this line of thinking in Writing Worksho...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Sep 28, 2009, 1:55 am
Do you know about the “little books” for student writers by Ralph Fletcher?  I think they are lifesavers for Writing Workshop teachers, at least they were for me.  I loved them because b...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Sep 27, 2009, 9:04 pm
Last week, someone asked me:  How do you balance it all? This question always makes me smile sheepishly and give my standard response:  I don’t. Yet her question has tumbled around in my mind ...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Sep 25, 2009, 1:34 pm
Ruth and I have completed about 25% our manuscript.  We’re in the midst of working on the section of Writing 180 that deals with conferring.  Even though we’re in the thick of writing, we’re b...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Sep 24, 2009, 9:28 am
When I first read Norah Dooley’s Everybody Cooks Rice, I encountered something larger than a neighborhood making some sort of rice for dinner. Rather, I found people from different ethnicities ...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Sep 24, 2009, 12:08 am

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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Sep 23, 2009, 10:11 pm
This week my coaching has taken me into middle school classrooms.  In one class, the teacher has asked me to launch notebooks and move into a personal narrative study.  As we’ve gotten into no...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Sep 22, 2009, 12:03 am
Happy Tuesday! Please join us today for the Slice of Life Story Challenge.  (If this is your first time participating, then click here to learn more about this Challenge.)
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Sep 21, 2009, 3:01 am
This weekend I was rereading some past posts on Two Writing Teachers and came across a few “Monday Musings.”  I was inspired to write a post like this for today.  My OLW (One Little Wor...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Sep 19, 2009, 9:43 am
All-Write is hosting Cris Tovani in northern Indiana on October 15.  If you’re in the area and teach grades 4 – 12, you will not be sorry if you attend this conference.    Click here f...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Sep 18, 2009, 3:49 am
Scholastic Instructor Magazine named the “Top Twenty Teacher Blogs.”  According to Instructor, they identified: 20 blogs that have taught us a few things, made us laugh, made us cry, and...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Sep 17, 2009, 6:24 pm
Eve Bunting has been one of my favorite children’s book authors ever since I read Fly Away, Home. I’ve used her books in my Reading Workshop, as demonstration texts and as social issue bo...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Sep 16, 2009, 8:26 pm
I was back in Mr. Miller’s third grade classroom today.  It is such an enjoyable place to be; his students have become writers.  Today K. asked me, “Will you have a conference with me?&#...
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S.A. S. posted an article on Two Writing Teachers - Sep 15, 2009, 1:05 pm
There have been a lot more education-related news stories appearing in the newspapers with the start of the school year.  To that end, here are some stories from newspapers, as well as some online so...
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