As the days tick down toward November, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) will soon be upon us. Some of you may have participated in this literary marathon in the past; some of you may have even participated with your students! NaNoWriMo challenges entrants to write–to completion!–a novel in the month of November. You can track …
October 21, 2014
This Connected Learning Month guest blog post comes from Christy Kingham, an NYCWP Teacher Leader who has taught middle and high school students for the past 10 years. This past summer, Christy co-facilitated the Youth Voices Inquiry Project alongside NYCWP Technology Liaison Paul Allison. Christy and Paul will also spearhead the fall phase of the …
October 17, 2014Announcing the NYCWP Forum! One of the great things about being an NYCWP teacher (or as we sometimes call ourselves in-house, “Writing Project People”) is that you are part of a community of like-minded, creative, enthusiastic teachers. Anyone who has ever participated in an NYCWP workshop series or Summer Institute knows what a valuable …
September 4, 2014Steal This Idea is a roundup of submissions from NYCWP-affiliated teachers; this section of our website will be updated frequently with great lessons and activities that you can use in your classrooms. Reading Steal This Idea will give you access to the ideas and innovations of a wide range of classroom teachers of all grades and content …
September 4, 2014September 4, 2014 Dear NYCWP Community, This week marks the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year as well as my first full school year as the Director of the New York City Writing Project. This fall has brought many changes, both within the Project and within your schools. Teachers are coming back to …
September 4, 2014In their notebooks, students should make four headings: People, Places, Times and Things. Students are then asked to list four childhood memories that relate to each of these headings. Here are some suggestions to get kids going: A person who/whose: I hated; death made me the saddest; I respected very much as a child; taught …
August 20, 2014Once every few weeks, put students into mixed groups and allow them to give a five minute “pitch” for a book they recently finished. They should give a summary, mention a few high points (or low points) and share their opinion of the book. The other students in the group are permitted to ask questions …
August 20, 2014Revision “telephone” can help students to change the wording of lines or sections of their writing that they’re having trouble saying the way they want to say them. Students should select a sentence from their writing that is giving them difficulty. They read the line aloud and then they go around the circle, with each …
August 20, 2014You probably already have your students using active listening protocols in your classroom, but have you thought about other ways that you can use active listening in your classroom? Try using written active listening as a note taking strategy. Having students jot in their notebooks things like “I heard so-and-so say…” helps students get the feel …
August 20, 2014Looking for a good “getting to know you” writing prompt for the beginning of the school year? Ask students to start a piece of writing with the following statement: What you have heard is true. See where their pens take them from there! Steal This Idea is a roundup of submissions from NYCWP-affiliated teachers; …
August 20, 2014