One surefire way to make pop-up debates and discussions boring is to allow what I call “silo speeches.” Early on in the year, when we’re having our first pop-up debates designed to establish universal participation and public speaking comfort, silo speaking is inevitable. A silo speech happens when a student pops up, says what they want to […]
Exemplars, Sentence Templates, and Checks for Understanding
Exemplars, sentence templates, and checks for understanding have two important things in common: They improve the quality of our students’ writing, and They don’t require a moment of out-of-class grading. Exemplars show our kids what we mean by a clear topic sentence, a defensible thesis, a blended quote, and the like. It is one thing […]
Grading ≠ Feedback, and Sometimes You Don’t Need to Do Either
Until we get smarter about grading, feedback, and when to use which, we won’t meaningfully increase the quantity and quality of writing our students are expected to do. Teachers are already stressed, already pressed for time, and if every time they hear “increase writing volume” they see stacks of to-be-graded papers in their minds, then […]
The Pyramid of Writing Priorities
Note from Dave: This post and its pyramid of writing priorities has been polished, improved, and incorporated into the writing chapter of my best-selling book, These 6 Things: How to Focus Your Teaching on What Matters Most. If you like my blog, you’ll love the book — it’s a condensed and coherent version of all that I’ve been […]
Want More Writing Across the Content Areas? Validate the Content
The first step to improving the percentage of our kids who are capable writers is to increase how much writing they do. Typically, the classes with the greatest opportunities to do this are the non-ELA ones. Unfortunately, content area teachers are often given the impression, when a writing initiative comes into town, that writing is more […]