Getting Students to Write- Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers improve student writing.

By Melissa Morrison, Elementary, Middle School Writing Consultant, Literacy CoachEducation How To

Getting Students to Write- Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers improve student writing. episodes

April 03, 2023 Episode 18 Planning a Writing Unit
If you are like many teachers I know, you do not have a writing "curriculum" or writing units that are already planned out for you!
But as I spoke about earlier in Episode 10, you don't need a writing program...you just need to follow the steps I provide in this episode!
All it takes is:
Writing State Standards
A purpose for your writing unit
Writing Mentor Texts
And a bit of time!
This episode will help you feel prepared to plan your first writing unit for your students! The steps discussed will help with narrative writing, informational writing, opinion writing and non-genre writing units.

About Melissa:
Melissa is an enthusiastic educator and continuous learner with over 19 years' experience in education. Her passion and expertise is transforming writing programs so that teachers are confident in writing instruction and student writers thrive! She strongly believes teachers are the key to effective instruction and their writers are their best resources.
Melissa knows that too often, explicit writing instruction is pushed aside in elementary education, and she feels it is her calling to help schools make it front and center, providing teachers with the knowledge and support necessary to implement effective and engaging writing instruction.
Teaching to Transform, LLC was founded by Melissa in 2018 and partners with school districts to provide professional development in writing instruction.
If you would like to learn more or refer Melissa to your district, check out her website below!

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23 min
March 29, 2023 Ep 17 More About Letting Your Writers Teach You
This episode is a follow up from Episode 15, and digs a bit deeper into how to focus your observations of writers as well as ways to take notes according to various lenses of focus.
It is very helpful and effective for teachers to see what their students are doing, as well as what they are able to do as writers, in order to help inform your next steps in writing instruction.

About Melissa:
Melissa is an enthusiastic educator and continuous learner with over 19 years' experience in education. Her passion and expertise is transforming writing programs so that teachers are confident in writing instruction and student writers thrive! She strongly believes teachers are the key to effective instruction and their writers are their best resources.
Melissa knows that too often, explicit writing instruction is pushed aside in elementary education, and she feels it is her calling to help schools make it front and center, providing teachers with the knowledge and support necessary to implement effective and engaging writing instruction.
Teaching to Transform, LLC was founded by Melissa in 2018 and partners with school districts to provide professional development in writing instruction.
If you would like to learn more or refer Melissa to your district, check out her website below!

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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/teachingtotransform/message
20 min
March 22, 2023 Episode 16 Q&A from listeners!
Our first Q&A episode is here!
I love answering your questions because if they come from you, I know they will help so many teachers!

The three questions in this episode are:
How do we get reluctant writers started?
What should you do when students are given choice but still don't know what to write?
How do we help writers to persevere through all aspects of the writing process?

Listen in to hear my responses!

This episode will help answer "How Do I Get My Students to WRITE?"

About Melissa:
Melissa is an enthusiastic educator and continuous learner with over 19 years' experience in education. Her passion and expertise is transforming writing programs so that teachers are confident in writing instruction and student writers thrive! She strongly believes teachers are the key to effective instruction and their writers are their best resources.
Melissa knows that too often, explicit writing instruction is pushed aside in elementary education, and she feels it is her calling to help schools make it front and center, providing teachers with the knowledge and support necessary to implement effective and engaging writing instruction.
Teaching to Transform, LLC was founded by Melissa in 2018 and partners with school districts to provide professional development in writing instruction.
If you would like to learn more or refer Melissa to your district, check out her website below!

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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/teachingtotransform/message
14 min
March 14, 2023 Episode 15 Let Your Writers Teach You!
You are letting your writers write and that's fantastic! As you look toward moving them forward as writers by conferring with them, the first step is to ensure that you know where your students are in their writing journey.
This episode talks about the importance of letting your students teach you and show you what they need and provides ways to gather information from the students and their writing work.

Books mentioned: Teaching the Writer by Lucy Calkins and About the Authors by Katie Wood Ray

About Melissa:
Melissa is an enthusiastic educator and continuous learner with over 19 years' experience in education. Her passion and expertise is transforming writing programs so that teachers are confident in writing instruction and student writers thrive! She strongly believes teachers are the key to effective instruction and their writers are their best resources.
Melissa knows that too often, explicit writing instruction is pushed aside in elementary education, and she feels it is her calling to help schools make it front and center, providing teachers with the knowledge and support necessary to implement effective and engaging writing instruction.
Teaching to Transform, LLC was founded by Melissa in 2018 and partners with school districts to provide professional development in writing instruction.
If you would like to learn more or refer Melissa to your district, check out her website below!

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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/teachingtotransform/message
9 min
March 07, 2023 Episode 14 Teaching Writers for the Future Part 3
Do you have a few writers in your classroom who have trouble getting started or can't seem to write the whole time? This episode is all about engagement in writing, and how building up this independence in your writers will help them to be successful longer than one class period!
Writing strategies aren't just about what's on paper! They are also about students' behaviors and how they can help them to stay engaged during writing time.
This episode is short but important! It refers back to one of the foundations of writer's workshop, building a community, and reviews Jennifer Serravallo's Hierarchy of Writing Goals from The Writing Strategies Book.
Happy Listening!

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12 min
March 02, 2023 Episode 13 Teaching Writers for the Future Part 2
I just felt there was so much more to say about the last episode's topic, so I am making two more! This episode is all about the language you use when teaching writing so that you are teaching the writer!
It is so important and effective to use certain words and phrases, because it will change your mindset, questioning and teaching practices!
If your students struggle with using writing skills consistently, or don't seem to improve from one writing to the next, this episode is for you!
"Use the writing as a tool to teach the writer!" Just one helpful tip for writing instruction and conferring with students.
This idea of the language you use is helpful for narrative writing, informational writing, opinion writing and all writing strategies.

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17 min
February 06, 2023 Episode 12 Are You Teaching Your Writers for the Future or the Right Now?
This episode asks an important question of you, writing teacher! It is one that helps you to reflect on your practice and understand the "why" behind many aspects of writer's workshop and "teaching the writer".
You will hear how to teach your writer for their future, not just for this writing, right now.

These strategies for writing instruction are crucial to growing your students as writers!

I reference two books that I have referenced in previous episodes: The Writing Pathways Book by Lucy Calkins and The Writing Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo.

Happy Writing!

About Melissa:
Melissa is an enthusiastic educator and continuous learner with over 19 years' experience in education. Her passion and expertise is transforming writing programs so that teachers are confident in writing instruction and student writers thrive! She strongly believes teachers are the key to effective instruction and their writers are their best resources.
Melissa knows that too often, explicit writing instruction is pushed aside in elementary education, and she feels it is her calling to help schools make it front and center, providing teachers with the knowledge and support necessary to implement effective and engaging writing instruction.
Teaching to Transform, LLC was founded by Melissa in 2018 and partners with school districts to provide professional development in writing instruction.
If you would like to learn more or refer Melissa to your district, check out her website below!
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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/teachingtotransform/message
17 min
January 26, 2023 Episode 11 Two Ways to Choose Writing Strategies Through Student Data
It can be difficult to know and choose what skills and strategies to teach your writers. Today's episode provides two ways to gather data on student writing that will inform your instruction.
We will talk about looking at writing as a class with a process called "thin slicing" as well as looking at writing of individual students one at a time during quick conferences.
Some resources mentioned in this episode are The Writing Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo and Writing Pathways by Lucy Calkins with Kelly Hohne and Audra Robb and colleagues from the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project.

About Melissa:
Melissa is an enthusiastic educator and continuous learner with over 19 years' experience in education. Her passion and expertise is transforming writing programs so that teachers are confident in writing instruction and student writers thrive! She strongly believes teachers are the key to effective instruction and their writers are their best resources.
Melissa knows that too often, explicit writing instruction is pushed aside in elementary education, and she feels it is her calling to help schools make it front and center, providing teachers with the knowledge and support necessary to implement effective and engaging writing instruction.
Teaching to Transform, LLC was founded by Melissa in 2018 and partners with school districts to provide professional development in writing instruction.
If you would like to learn more or refer Melissa to your district, check out her website below!

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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/teachingtotransform/message
18 min
January 10, 2023 Ep 10 Why You Don't Need a Writing Program to Start Your Transformation!
Teachers! Let me tell you why you do not need a specific writing program or manual to teach writing!
I promise that you only need a few methods and bits of information to get your students writing and growing as writers.
Making a few changes will start your transformation!
Are your students struggling with writing independently? Do you feel unqualified to teach writing?
If you know that the writing happening in your classroom is just not quite enough, listen in!
Resources:

Writing Pathways

The Writing Strategies Book

About Melissa:
Melissa is an enthusiastic educator and continuous learner with over 19 years' experience in education. Her passion and expertise is transforming writing programs so that teachers are confident in writing instruction and student writers thrive! She strongly believes teachers are the key to effective instruction and their writers are their best resources.
Melissa knows that too often, explicit writing instruction is pushed aside in elementary education, and she feels it is her calling to help schools make it front and center, providing teachers with the knowledge and support necessary to implement effective and engaging writing instruction.
Teaching to Transform, LLC was founded by Melissa in 2018 and partners with school districts to provide professional development in writing instruction.
If you would like to learn more or refer Melissa to your district, check out her website below!

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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/teachingtotransform/message
18 min
December 15, 2022 Episode 9 An Interview: The Journey of Two Teachers
In this episode, I had the pleasure of talking with two of my favorite teachers whom I have been lucky enough to work alongside as they journey into writer's workshop.
They share many juicy tidbits:
-How workshop compares to their previous experience with writing instruction
-The difficulties they encountered
-What they love about workshop
This is definitely my favorite episode so far, and I am so thankful for their willingness to speak to all of you!
About Melissa:
Melissa is an enthusiastic educator and continuous learner with over 19 years' experience in education. Her passion and expertise is transforming writing programs so that teachers are confident in writing instruction and student writers thrive! She strongly believes teachers are the key to effective instruction and their writers are their best resources.
Melissa knows that too often, explicit writing instruction is pushed aside in elementary education, and she feels it is her calling to help schools make it front and center, providing teachers with the knowledge and support necessary to implement effective and engaging writing instruction.
Teaching to Transform, LLC was founded by Melissa in 2018 and partners with school districts to provide professional development in writing instruction.
If you would like to learn more or refer Melissa to your district, check out her website below!

---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/teachingtotransform/message
32 min

About Getting Students to Write- Helping Elementary and Middle School teachers improve student writing.

From the publisher's feed

Are you a K-8 Elementary or Middle School ELA teacher wondering how to get your students to write? This podcast is for teachers looking for a way to revamp and transform their writing time! You don't need daily lesson plans or prompts-you just need to understand what writers need!