In the last 7 days, I have been able to attend two fantastic conferences to see two major writing teachers/authors that I LOVE: Gretchen Bernabei and Ralph Fletcher. Within these last seven days...plus tomorrow...I have learned quite a bit of new information that I an incorporate into my secondary ELA classroom to help my students. In fact, last Wednesday I saw Bernabei, and when I returned to the classroom on Thursday...IMMEDIATELY implemented a kernel essay activity.
As a teacher opposed to such extreme accountability testing but understands that it is my reality, Bernabei helped put a spin on her writing activities that helped me bridge what I can to do to help my students' real world writing AND testing genre writing. Below are some of my FAVS from her Workshop:
- 11 Minute Essay & Truisms
- Kernel Essay
- Writing Tools Anchor Chart
- Color It Up
- Renaming Activity
- Ba-da-Bing
You can find MANY resources for her activities on her blog at the following address:
There are a TON of resources to download!
Another resource I learned about at the training is a 4th grade teacher blog with tons of free resources and ideas that she uses in her classroom: Texas Teacher Website
TODAY, was able to listen to Ralph Fletcher during his Keynote at the Reading Recovery Institute help by TWU, stand with him in line for lunch, and sit in on another session! I felt like such a rock star for being able to talk shop with Ralph Fletcher in a lunch line! What a treat!
After his session on mentor texts, I picked up two more FANTASTIC books that I will use in my teacher: 1. NonFiction Craft Lessons and 2. Guy Write.
Ralph really helps the writing teacher understand gender differences in writing and how to support those boy writer and be successful. If you aren't using his strategies in your writing classroom, you and your students are missing the boat! You can also find more information about Ralph and his works on his website: Ralph Fletcher.
Hope these resources are as helpful to you as they have been to me!
Happy Teaching!
Maas Out...
