Living Life Twice

I cannot take credit for this idea. It comes from David Morley’s Writing Challenges . But I did see it as a variation on the lift a line strategy that many teachers use. So I have made use of this idea to generate additional writing ideas. I place a phrase into my writing, or I write off the phrase. In that way the lifted line becomes a spark for more writing The idea is that you open a book randomly and place your finger anywhere on one of the pages, without looking. Then select a phrase or a sentence that appeals, or you wish you had written. The selected phrase needs to be near where you place your finger. Transfer the selected words to the top of a new page in your writer’s notebook. Repeat this process using the same book (different pages) or choose different books each time –it depends on your access to books. Here are some lifted phrases I harvested in a short few minutes from my library of books. ‘The sacred moment was turning into an agony’ (Ash Road) ‘A booming voice grunted’...

Writers need to have a keen sense of observation. They need to notice things. Teaching students to be keen observers is not only critical to their writing development, but has implications for developing their world knowledge. A large part of writing is related to close observation of the physical environment in which the writer operates. If we want students to notice their world we must teach into it. After-all, they are a strongly visual generation. Let’s assist them to grow as discriminating viewers. Developing a writer’s keen eye for observation will serve them well. The more we notice, the more we chip away at our individual ignorance Let’s get started: Such observation works best if the observer is not pre-occupied with other matters. Sometimes it requires self talk to refocus the energies on the immediate surrounds. -to observe consciously. Learn to clear the mind first. Ralph Fletcher encourages writers to push beyond the sight of things and look at other less glamorous senses ...

Stop pulling your hair out about the state of student sentence structure. It can be improved by using a range of simple, yet effective strategies. Many of the same techniques used to teach fluency in reading can be used in writing. We need to highlight to students the importance and power of fluency. By exposing them to writing samples that flow easily, they will be more able to recognise good sentence structure and apply this skill to their own writing. By working with students and sharing exemplary literature samples we can highlight such important features as sentence beginnings, sentence length, sentence combining, and run on sentences. Sentence Beginnings: Sample Student Writing 1 I have a bike. It is red. I like to ride it. It is fun. My friend and I like to ride in the forest. It is really cool there. We have a good time. When it is time to go home I have to put my bike in the garage. That is where I keep it *Circle the starting word in each sentence Notice the following The sen...

During my almost six years living in New York, I regularly travelled on the subway system. The experiences provided a rich vein of stories and recollections. I recall among my many trips, one particular occasion at Essex Street subway interchange. I was walking up the stairs when a little girl and her mother approached from the opposite direction. As they descended, I noticed that the girl had her eyes tightly closed. Her mother held the girl’s right hand for support as they managed the steps. At first it appeared the child was sleep walking. Then it occurred to me that she had closed her eyes to experience the sensation of walking down the stairs unsighted. She was experimenting. The fact that she had her mother’s support gave her the confidence to take a step into the unknown. At that moment she became a risk taker- attempting something new and different. This brief scene reminded me of the responsibility a teacher faces each time he or she enters a classroom. Supporting students to ...

I am grateful to Stacey Shubitz of Two Writing Teachers who re-acquainted me with a great little book by Ralph Fletcher entitled, ‘A Writer’s Notebook: Unlocking the Writer Within You’ . Stacey was trying to inspire a reluctant writers in her classroom and wrote about some of the pearls of wisdom she excavated from Ralph’s little tome that she intended to share. I knew I had a copy of the book, and so I began searching the overflowing shelves of my library. After a short search, I found this slim, but valuable paperback wedged between two weightier volumes on writing. I began to scan the pages… It was great to reread Ralph Fletchers words. The messages resonated in my mind like familiar mantras. Like Stacey I now want to share some of the pearls I found. Hopefully, you may find they resonate with your students. Afterall it was young writers that Ralph was aiming at when he originally wrote this excellent book. “Writers are like other people, except for at least one important differenc...

When you write you use words to create pictures or mind movies in the reader’s mind. Words that express action make a big difference in the kind of visualizing that occurs in the mind of the reader. In the story “Fox “by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks there is a part where Fox is running away with Magpie on his back. While Dog sleeps, Magpie and Fox streak past coolibah trees, rip through long grass, pelt over rocks. Fox runs so fast that his feet scarcely touch the ground and Magpie exults, “At last I am flying. Really flying!” Verbs are without question, immensely valuable to the writer. When used effectively, they can make sentences vibrate with energy. They are the life support system of the sentence. Mark Tredinnick in his book , The Little Red Writing Book says this about verbs: “They are where a sentence moves, where it gets up and runs or walks or means or changes or loves or hates or talks or recommends or concludes or speaks its mind. It is the breath of thought, it is the hear...

I found myself talking to a group of enthusiastic grade one students who were keen to commence their writing pieces. As they stood up from the carpet to return to their seats to commence their writing, I realized that the spark of imagination that would fire my writing ideas had suddenly snuffed out. The students all seemed fired up and ready to create the miracle of meaningful marks on paper. I felt completely blank and could not conjure up a single thing to write about. I was trying to will my brain into action. Writer’s block had descended upon me like a damp,foggy mist A boy stood beside me at this critical moment and said, “I’m going to write about the first time I went fishing which was on Saturday with my Dad” “Oh thank you” I said and uttered a huge sigh of relief. The bemused child looked at me unsure what he had done. “You just gave me a wonderful idea for my writing this morning. Like you, I’m going to write about the very first time I went fishing. Maybe we can share our s...

I spent some time during the recent September term holiday scanning newspapers, magazines and the Internet for articles related to current issues in the news. The issues covered everything from local, to state, to national and including, global issues. I had to choose articles that had some significance to sixth graders as they were the target audience. Issues ranged from articles on adolescent health, use of mobile phones among children, world poverty, environmental degradation of the coral reef, to endangered animals, to supermarket levies on plastic bags, to the effects of global warming. I needed a minimum of ninety articles as I was working across three Grade 6 classes at Karoo Primary School in Rowville, Victoria. As you can imagine, I spent quite some time hunting and gathering these pieces. Students were asked to read an article that attracted their interest. Following this, they were asked to identify the issue, and then identify what their personal stand was with regard to th...

UPDATED 2021 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.  It is therefore surprising when news reports variously call for reviving the practice of formal grammar. As a result, media headlines scream the tired old catch cry ‘back to basics’ and the conservatives among us salivate. Every time the headlines scream ‘Back to Basics’ an appalling lack of awareness of the reality of grammar teaching is  displayed.  It is insulting to suggest that re-inventing the past is the way to go. Educators are being asked to cast their collective gaze back to some mythical golden era with regards to the teaching of spelling, grammar and phonics.  Teaching the so called basics has never gone away. Teachers co...

In the course of twenty four hours I received emails from two mates in vastly different parts of the world. Colin Murray wrote about an experience en-route to Budapest to conduct teamwork and safety training for oil workers. Chris Lowery wrote about his wonderful vacation experience on the Trans Siberian railway, an epic journey that took him from Moscow to Beijing. I was immediately struck by the strong visual imagery both writers conveyed through their choice of words. Colin in the course of explaining his in flight experience wrote: “My flights here were sprinkled with the usual array of personalities. From Singapore to Frankfurt, a mere 13 hours, I had a stick insect perched next to me. She came from India I suspect and was facially quite beautiful. She was also stunningly slim. She arrived onboard quite late, had no carry-on save a miniscule plastic bag, sat mantis-like in the seat next to me, said nothing, ate nothing, drank nothing, moved minimally and simply slept in the linear...