Teach letter writing based on the sender’s purpose The genres associated with letter writing have gone through a dramatic change as technology has evolved. And although “snail mail” has been largely replaced with electronic communications, students still need explicit...
Strengthen arguments with counterclaims When introducing students to the counterclaim, answer two important questions: How do you write the counterclaim? Where do you put the counterclaim within the overall writing? Duration: 4:15 | Grades...
Teach readers to discern 5 nonfiction text structures As we prepare readers to infer a text’s main idea and eventually the author’s purpose, it’s important to build a foundation of understanding about text structures. Stories or narrative texts have a predictable text...
Persuade an audience with rhetorical devices Move beyond teaching students what to say and teach them how to say it. These craft lessons will focus on rhetorical devices—or different ways to impress opinions and express ideas to a reader. There are dozens of...
Do I teach Launching the Writer’s Workshop lessons from start to finish, page by page? When it comes to planning and executing an effective writer’s workshop, it’s helpful to have a playbook that offers yearlong guidance. That’s why so many intermediate and secondary...
