Living Life Twice

  ‘Giving young writers genuine choice is the best way I know to create an environment where they can flourish.’  Ralph Fletcher  Some suggestions for teachers of writing to consider in regard to using writer's notebooks in the classroom writing program. • Choice of notebook is the first opportunity to practice choice. Allow each writer to choose a notebook that meets their needs. • Allow notebooks to move between school and home to create a bridge between the two locations. Encourage writing in multiple locations, at different times. • Not everything written in a notebook has to be published or fully drafted. Not everything is significant.  • Respect the integrity of the notebook by not writing in them. Don’t try to control the notebook, otherwise it may well become just another ‘workbook’ in the eyes of the young writer. Its integrity will fade away. It is not assessed or scrutinized. It is nourished and supported as a writer’s resource. • At all times th...

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.   Reading a text for enjoyment before you move to examining craft increases the likelihood of the text impacting on a student’s writing. When the student knows the text, it releases their cognitive energy more specifically to that aspect of the text under examination. Think of mentor texts as a term that essentially means –models, exemplars or examples. ‘Mentor texts’ is not something we do within a writing program for its own sake. It is not an entity in itself. It is an integral part of learning how to become a better writer.  It is an approach requiring an ability to read like a writer. This allows the reader to see the potential in a text to provide them with a writing model worth following or adopting. When ...