Living Life Twice -Most Popular Posts 2022


Here are five of the most popular Living Life Twice posts for 2022. Thank you for your continuing support and interest in teaching writing and all it entails.

Donald Graves Address 2022: Reflecting Upon the Writing Revolution and the need for Rejuvenation

I felt greatly honoured presenting this year’s Donald Graves Address. Given the names of those who had previously presented here, I found myself in rare air and quite privileged to be called upon to celebrate the life work of Donald Graves. I remain indebted to ALEA/AATE for this incredible opportunity to share Donald's immense legacy with you.

https://livinglifetwice-alwrite.blogspot.com/2022/07/donald-graves-address-alan-j-wright.html

Writing Conversations to Launch At The Start Of The School Year

Writing conversations to launch a school year. In the early weeks of a new school year, we would hopefully expect to hear conversations around writing raising matters with student writers, similar in intent to the types of matters listed below. Conversations that prompt thought and produce action.

https://livinglifetwice-alwrite.blogspot.com/2022/01/writing-conversations-to-launch-school.html

Making Writing Assessment Authentic

When teachers look closely at the writing students produce - using authentic writing assessment, they begin to understand, more clearly, how writers operate. The teacher learns exactly what the developing writer knows and what they need to know next.  The sampled writing reveals what the writer has mastered, partially learned, and those aspects of writing not yet consistently controlled.

https://livinglifetwice-alwrite.blogspot.com/2022/07/making-writing-assessment-authentic-and.html

Mentor Texts- Mindfully Considered

There is something quite magical in being able to spread the joy of reading great words and what possibilities they spark in the mind of the reader. It all begins with selecting and sharing powerful texts and simply letting kids enjoy the wonderful words within.

https://livinglifetwice-alwrite.blogspot.com/2022/08/mentor-texts-mindfully-considered.html

Teaching Grammar Within The Writing Workshop

In 2005, Professor Richard Andrews of York University conducted the largest systematic review of existing studies on the teaching of grammar and found there was no evidence that teaching grammar as a formal stand-alone exercise helped 5-16 year old write more fluently, or accurately. A most powerful and informative finding. By way of contrast, contextualising the teaching of grammar assists students to understand the role grammar plays in the development of an effective writer. It teaches students to produce writing that is ‘reader friendly.’ 

https://livinglifetwice-alwrite.blogspot.com/2022/02/teaching-grammar-within-writing-worskhop.html









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Learning How to 'Zoom In' When Writing

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It is important for young writers to understand that not all parts of a story are equal. There are parts through which a writer moves quickly, and important parts where the writer slows down and lingers a while. This is where the writer might intensify the action or reveal the character’s reactions in greater detail. Young writers need to know that this is a deliberate strategy on the part of the author. The author consciously zooms in. The writer uses a magnifying glass to view a part of the story more closely; to focus on a moment and to slow down time. When an important part of the story is enlarged upon, it   is a signal to the reader, that this part of the story is important. The strategy of ‘zooming in’ goes by many names: ‘exploding a moment’ ‘magnifying a moment’, ‘hotspot’ ‘snapshot’, ‘adding detail’ or ‘slowing the action.’  What ever the name, the idea is the same. The author writes in a way that expands a significant part of the story with the intention of drawing t
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Answering Questions Posed by Young POETS

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UPDATED, May 2020 As a frequent visitor to schools I have the great pleasure of working with groups of young, enthusiastic poets and their teachers. When I arrive in a classroom, young poets are often pre-loaded with questions, and most keen to have them answered.  I try to answer as many as I can, but we frequently run out of time, and the poetry caravan moves on to the next classroom. So I am here to answer some of those questions -right here, right now. So here goes: When you were little did you love writing? The short answer is yes. I have always enjoyed words and language. I can't recall a time when I wasn't doing some kind of writing. When did you write your first poetry book? I have had poems published over the years, but it wasn't until 2014 that I had an entire book of poems (an anthology) published. When I looked back through all my notebooks I realized I had hundreds of poems from which to choose. So, 'Searching For Hen's Teeth-Poetry From The
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Writing Irresistible LEADS with Grade One Students

I have been reading Australian author, Kate Grenville’s book, ‘The Writing Book – A Practical Guide For Fiction Writers.’ Grenville writes about leads and reminds us that the beginning of a piece of writing needs to be irresistible . Further to this she reminds the reader that it doesn’t matter where you begin a piece of writing- just begin! Grenville quotes Ezra Pound who said, ‘It doesn’t matter which leg of the table you make first as long as it stands up in the end.’ The writer’s aim is to glue the reader to the page. Grenville also makes the observation that sometimes you need to write the whole story before returning to the start in order to write a great beginning or ‘lead’ for it. Recently I have been working with groups of Grade 1 writers alerting them to the various ways in which writers ‘lead’ the reader deeper into their stories. Initially we looked at their own writing samples and I asked students, what did they notice about the words being used in their story leads? Th
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Writing Opposite Poems

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 O pp o s ite  P oem s In his book, ' How To Write Poetry,'  Paul Janeczko presents the idea of opposite poems. Paul suggests they could also be referred to as antonym poems. This is wordplay and it's fun to try. Here are some examples Paul provides to help us see very clearly how these short little poems work. I think the opposite of chair Is sitting down with nothing there What is the opposite of kind? A goat that butts you from behind Paul Janeczko You will  notice the poems are written in rhyming couplets. They can be extended so long as you remember to write in couplets. Paul shows us how this is done. What is the opposite of new? Stale gum that's hard to chew A hot-dog roll as hard as rock Or a soiled and smelly forgotten sock You might notice that some of Paul's opposite Poems begin with a question. The remainder of the poem answer the question posed. Opposite poems are a challenge, but it is a challenge worth trying. Not every thing has a
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Writing About Reading - Reading Reflection Journals:

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UPDATED February 2022 Writing in response to literature can be a great way for students to organize their thoughts, explore what they think, and generate ideas. One of the strengths of writing in journals is that it allows students to capture all of those great ideas that generally float off into the air during the discussion.  Journal writing can also become drudgery if students are asked to write too often, given little choice or inspiration in what to write, or if they simply don't have anything to say. While some students eagerly share their impressions about selections they have read in class discussions, others are less comfortable and keep their thoughts to themselves. In an effort to encourage all students to think more about what they read and confidently share their observations and opinions, some teachers are turning to the reading reflection journal and are gaining insights they never anticipated.  The Value of Reflection Journals   Journals assist teachers to gain i
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