Writing
Exercises
A Touch of the Poet for 8-12 Students
Associate Director Marty Brandt shares his "A Touch Of The Poet" blog post, a lesson that beautifully moves students from the nostalgia of "Once" to the hope of "Someday." This lesson is representative of the brilliant work Marty does in his recently released book, Between The Commas.
When Your Heart is Broken: Using Literacy to Heal for K-3 Students
Associate Director and writing teacher extraordinaire Aeriale Johnson kicks us off with a week's worth of curriculum exploring how we can use the power of poem and song to heal. Her lessons feature readings from Maya Angelou, Matt de la Peña, and Randy Newman among others. Although she designed this with a K-3 audience in mind these lessons could be easily modified for any grade. As an added bonus you'll get introduced to one of the most powerful primary grade blogs out there!
Writing Comics with K-8 Students
Teacher consultant and Co-Director of our Writing Workshop River Brown takes our youngest writers through the process of writing and drawing comics while using music for students to time themselves through the process. As River says, this exercise is "for all ages, but children are the BEST cartoonists!"
6 Second Stories for 4-7 Students
San Carlos School District Teacher Consultant Jay Richards walks us through his process for writing 6 second stories with middle school students. These personal narratives hone in on very small but impactful moments of our lives. Imagine the inspiration students can draw from this moment in time!
These Days Matter Pt. 1-3 for 8-12 Students
East Side Union High School District Teacher Consultant Todd Seal reminds us of the importance of high school students writing as witnesses to this period of history. He provides a new writing prompt and text for each day of the week, and uses students' personal experiences as a launching point for writing.