By: Toni M. Poling There is something about the first few days of the month of May that makes me happy. The air is perfumed with lilac and the books in my classroom windowsills are dappled with sunlight. If there was a Maypole outside, I wouldn’t be able to resist Read more…
Easing into March, we’re rounding the corner on research time (at least in my department). While research has become the most enjoyable part of my curriculum since launching the passion project, most of my colleagues seem to dread the research portion of their curriculum, finding it downright painful and cumbersome, Read more…
Born from a pile of generally well-written but boring essays, The Dash Hunt is a fun way to remind students about sentence variety and to promote the development of voice.
By Karla Hilliard My former principal was famous for his colloquialisms and aphorisms. So much so that part of his retirement celebration was dedicated to them. Like, “Don’t jump on your buddy’s back and pull him down in the mud.” And “Every choice has a consequence either good or bad.” Read more…
My students hate to write and it shows. Those happy little writers in elementary school making their first board books have been sucked up into the morass of testing and spit back out as writing curmudgeons. They have lost their voice when it comes to putting ideas down on paper. Read more…