Are you curious to know about this Warning: 5 Simple Mistakes Made in Writer's Workshop? Welcome! I'm Pam from Rockin Resources and spent 26 years in the classroom. Now I work as a writing coach and curriculum designer and I'd love to share my ideas with you! In case you aren't familiar with my vision, I focus my teaching ideas around MOTIVATE, EDUCATE, DIFFERENTIATE ! I hope you find something useful! LOSING CONFIDENCE It is OK to admit you don't have confidence in writing! You are not alone! Did you know that the National Council on Teacher Quality scanned 2,400 syllabuses for teacher preparation programs and found little evidence that teaching writing was being covered? SAY WHAT? I know I didn't receive training in college on teaching writing and I am the first to admit that I started off my career lacking confidence to teach it. I figured out quickly that I wanted that to change and found ways to ROCK MY WRITING! I love the saying, "Fake it......

Since writing is my jam, I have tried so many different writing strategies in my classroom over the years and found ones that truly work like a charm. I wouldn't teach writing without them. Each strategy sets the stage for effective writing. LEARN 5 TESTED WRITING STRATEGIES THAT WORK LIKE A CHARM! 1.  SCAFFOLD YOUR WRITER'S WORKSHOP LESSONS The writer's workshop lessons should be presented to students in a step-by-step progression. When lessons are planned out and in an order that makes sense for that type of writing, students' writing will undoubtedly improve. They will understand the writing process and see how a quality piece of writing starts from the beginning stages of prewriting to the end stage with a final copy. Learn from my mistakes. I used to teach different mini lessons, but until I focused on an order to take one piece of writing all the way through a series of mini lessons, I didn't see the same results. It may take a long time to finish......

I was in the classroom for 26 years and I have to admit I fumbled many times. The good thing is I found what works and what doesn't work. Throughout those bumps in the road, there are lessons to be learned- even for teachers! Read on to find out what NOT to do in the classroom and alternative suggestions that will have your students begging to learn! 1.  DON'T USE A TEXTBOOK EXCLUSIVELY I'm not going to lie. When I first started teaching back in the dark ages, I thought the textbook was the best way. Who knew better than an already created source of information? I quickly learned that students weren't learning as much as I thought and guess what? They were bored reading one page after another. Look at a textbook as a guide, not the sole plan of your lesson. Think of Social Studies for example. When I was teaching American History in fourth grade, we had a textbook. My students were learning the bare minimum. There was so much information, that I didn......

Why does writing in complete sentences seem like such a grueling task? I'm sure you've heard students say, "Do we have to write in complete sentences?" Learn effective teaching strategies to help even your most reluctant writers. These tips will guide your students to be successful writers. Students are being held to more rigorous standards. Most teachers not only require students to write in complete sentences when writing essays, but also when answering text-dependent questions  for reading comprehension, math problems, and content area activities. With this requirement in all subject areas, students need to master the basic tools to writing in complete sentences.   Why go back to the basics? A shocking fact:  27% of 12th graders in the U.S. perform at grade level in writing. Many upper grade teachers think students already have the fundamentals of sentence structure ingrained in their brains. They quickly learn this is far from the truth. Althoug......

Most writing curriculums encourage teachers to use mentor text and modeling in their writing workshop. Why? Because they are effective instructional strategies that promote student engagement and give students powerful tools to apply in their own writing. Learn about these writing strategies, why you should use them, and tips for teaching them in your classroom that will help even your most reluctant writers! MENTOR TEXT and MODELING are both effective strategies to use when showing students examples of a writer's craft. That is why I chose to discuss them together.  Prior to using these strategies with a new writing lesson, provide students with an anchor chart explaining the meaning of that particular writing skill or writer's craft. Then use mentor text as well as modeling to show students how to apply the lesson in their own writing. Using both strategies will provide your students with two explicit examples. First, let's look at the definitions of mentor......

Analyzing writing curriculums,  planning writing workshop  and teaching writing lessons can be overwhelming.  You might think, how am I going to fit everything in and produce successful writers? Where do I start?  What skills do they need?  This post will share the 7 BASIC WRITING LESSONS that every teacher should teach! With this basic knowledge, students will be able to perform other writing assignments more effectively. The following skills are not only effective in upper elementary, they are often needed at the middle school level for review or the primary level for differentiation.  So yes, every teacher should teach them! If you start with these  7  fundamental skills, it will set the expectations for your writing lessons and assignments throughout the year! Frequently Asked Questions What are the basic skills and what order should I teach them? Sentence Structure 1.  Complete Sentences  ......

This writing strategy has been an effective approach for thousands of teachers.  Read on to find out what truly works for your upper elementary students and download the editable pacing guide to plan writing lessons for the year! "I have used your ideas for several years and find this writing strategy effective in my fourth grade classroom.   It helped motivate my students to grow into amazing writers and made them proud of their work.  Using a scaffolding approach to writing is genius!  Thank you for your ideas!"-  a veteran teacher. Being a writing coach, I come across teachers who question the effectiveness of their writing lessons.  I have no doubt that they are good teachers, they just need a guide to teaching the fundamentals of writing in an ORDER that makes sense.   With that in mind, I would like to share a writing strategy that really works!  You will find a step-by-step approach that has mini lessons in an order designed so ......