Latest Writing & Grammar Posts from the Blog
How to Help Reluctant Writers: Strategies to Overcome Cognitive Overload
Writing is one of the most challenging subjects for students. It requires them to juggle multiple tasks at once. From understanding the prompt to organizing
Step-By-Step Success: Teaching Fictional Narrative with Explicit Writing Instruction
Fictional Narrative, Storytelling, and the Impact on Childhood I used to think the most important writing unit I taught was the expository and research unit.
Unlocking Student Writing Success: The Power of Explicit Writing Instruction
As upper elementary teachers, our goal is to create strong writers. However, the lack of Explicit Writing Instruction has caused students in the US to
The Major Problem with Writing Instruction and How to Fix It
Writing instruction at the elementary level needs an overhaul. The last time the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) measured 8th-grade students’ writing proficiency in
How to Optimize Grammar Instruction in 15 Minutes a Day
As elementary school teachers, we are always thinking about how to integrate subjects. History content and nonfiction text features. A science equation and a math
5 Ways to CONQUER Elementary Grammar Instruction and Get Results
As I was sitting at my kidney table, going through my students’ writing, I realized that even my best writers had paragraphs littered with grammatical errors…
8 Ways to Make Grammar Fun
Let’s be real…Grammar is important, but it can also be very dry. Since boredom is one of the easiest ways to make our students check
Using Games to Teach Parts of Speech – Grammar
Have you ever found yourself thinking, “I just can’t wait to teach grammar?” I mean, we know that grammar is important and that we do
Teaching Grammar Using Mentor Texts
Mentor texts are one of my favorite tools to use in the classroom and I love using them to teach grammar. To me, grammar is
Spread Some Kindness Letter Writing Activity
The end of the year is a hectic time. Kids are checking out as spring fever kicks in and you, as a teacher, are trying
How to Teach Paragraph Writing – Topic Sentences in Paragraph Writing
I’ve always loved writing, so it makes sense that I also love to teach writing. Teaching writing though is not always easy. What seems so
How to Teach Paragraph Writing – Supporting Ideas and Details in Paragraph Writing
Teaching paragraph writing is crucial in my mind. When you consider all the reports and papers a student will need to write during his/her school