Sharing stories in the classroom and at home is the most important way to support literacy, according to Gordon Wells, who conducted a 10-year study of oral language development in the home and at school at the University of California at Santa Cruz. “Constructing stories in the mind — or storytelling, as it has been …
It’s more fun to do projects you know you can win. If you were painting a table, you would have certain supplies to insure you will be able to complete the task all at one time; it makes sense. Writing is the same. And writing in a classroom environment means each student should be equipped …
Imaginary friends play an important role in a child’s life. If they don’t have an imaginary friend, they can create one in minutes. And they don’t eat much. Unless you want them to. I love writing stories about my cat. In really, he is just a cat – a big, fluffy cat. He’s my buddy …
An important step of any writer’s process is the sharing phase. When children write they are revealing part of themselves, and this shows the reader a little bit about who they are. This gives a glimpse into what is important to them and how they learn. When children read the work of their peers they …
“Human beings have a deep need to represent their experience through writing… we write because we want to understand our lives.” This quote from The Art of Teaching Writing by children’s literature expert Lucy Calkins describes how to empower children to write. Children write to understand their chaos, but it isn’t enough. They want to be …
