by Elizabeth Oosterheert, Contributing Writer Teacher writers often find their inspiration from other teachers, so special thanks to Xochitl Bentley, a teacher and contributing author for Moving Writers, whose work inspired me to try braided writing with my 8th graders.  What is braided writing? I define it as a piece that has three distinct strands that are central to our practices in writing workshop: Excellent mentor texts for study and piracy (What can we “steal” from a professional writer that elevates our own craft?)  The power of lived experience: This has to do with relevan ..read more

by Elizabeth Oosterheert, Contributing Writer Though I’m now gratefully enjoying a rest from my classroom, I find myself frequently returning to our last study in literature and writing workshop–a closer look at William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.  In a previous post, I wrote about pairing Shakespeare’s famous play with West Side Story-certainly not a new idea, but an approach that resonated with my students.  In preparing for any study, I begin with wondering. Here are a few of the questions I posed as I started to plan for Romeo & Juliet: Which version of the play is the ..read more

by Elizabeth Oosterheert, Contributing Writer To use a literary analogy, the end of the school year can feel like a fruitless search for Captain Flint’s treasure. We know that the gold is out there somewhere, and we may even have clues about how to find it–(Jim Hawkins has an invaluable map in Treasure Island), but even given these clues, the prize is elusive. This year, I have a seventh grade class ending the year with a performance of Treasure Island, and it brings to mind a true story of an incorrigible boy who deepened my heart forever and reminds me daily that you’re never too small (or t ..read more

by Elizabeth Oosterheert, contributing writer Like director Steven Spielberg, I’ve loved West Side Story all my life. Impatiently, I waited for his new film  based on the 1957 Broadway musical with a screenplay written by the legendary Tony Kushner to come to theaters. Spielberg’s first venture into directing a musical does not disappoint.  Perhaps more relevant today than it was upon its initial release sixty years ago, West Side Story reminds us of how deep the divisions can be between unlike minded people, and that love can bridge any divide.  Leonard Bernstein’s score was a ..read more

by Elizabeth Oosterheert, contributing writer Recently, the New York Times Learning Network offered teachers the opportunity to invite their students into a profile writing contest. The idea behind this was sheer genius: Find a captivating individual, interview the person, and spin those notes into gold: Write that person’s thoughts in the form of a CBS Sunday Morning sort of interview, take a photo of the person–and voila–a fantastic profile is born from an authentic conversation and active listening. Sadly, I didn’t learn about the contest until after it was closed, but I loved the idea of a ..read more

by Elizabeth Oosterheert, Contributing Writer Construction begins on the Hispaniola. This month, I’ve been thinking about how much writing has in common with building… So much must be built for authentic writing to occur. Writing workshop teachers must be facilitators of choice, demonstrators of what risk looks like, and intentional collaborators who conference with students and illustrate the definition of community.   Winter is bittersweet. The flavor of goodbye begins to linger on my tongue as in my school, I  only have one trimester left with students I love; yet at the sam ..read more

I don’t know about you, but I have struggled to write since Covid-19 hit. While my lack of productive writing has been noticeable, the presence of vivid dreams has been increasingly notable. Sometimes, we can recall dreams in great detail and convey them like stories. More often, we remember fragments, images, feelings. Thus, dream recollection lends itself to poetry.  The idea of keeping a dream journal is nothing new; I have even tried to remember to do this before. However, the pressure of writing about a dream in a linear, prose style proved difficult and even cumbersome. Thus, I have ..read more

This school year has been one of simplification for me. I’ve really been trying to embrace doing more with less. Can I reuse this mentor text? Are there ways to better scaffold this concept? I’m constantly having to evaluate my lesson plans. Trying to find the tenuous balance between student engagement, skills practice, and bridging gaps has been difficult. You know what? That’s ok. I tell my students all the time that growth happens when we are pushed outside of our comfort zones. So this year, my teaching practice is growing and changing. Reading this post definitely encouraged me to be ref ..read more

“The soul of the brave warrior rising slowly with the smoke…” Taylor Mali For the last several years, my first writing study in January with eighth graders has consisted of what I refer to as food narratives. Many thanks to Karla Hilliard for inspiring me with this idea originally! Over time, I’ve learned that food writing is a love language of sorts for teenagers. Students soon discover that in writing about food, though meals are significant, it’s the memories evoked that matter. We’re remembering not only the Christmas cheesy potatoes, but the person who made them and the conversations tha ..read more

As we launch into the second semester I imagine everyone is facing a different scenario when it comes to returning to the classroom or establishing what’s “normal” again. Regardless of the tumult, it’s a pretty natural time to pause and look backward, to take stock of where we’ve been and to look ahead at where we’ll go next in the classroom.  I wanted to think about three ways of looking back and offer a couple of tools and resources that I’ve found helpful with my junior English classes. 3 ways to reflect Below is just an attempt to break down some different ways we tend to ask students ..read more