Teaching Writing

Interactive Writing Tools
Inspiration from Multi-Media Muses
How often have you heard students say, "I can't think of anything to write"? The fact is, we can assign incredibly specific, prescriptive prompts, but what does that teach students about creativity? This is where Interactive Writing Tools come in. As I teacher, I have found that these low tech, Internet-based writing tools inspire the most reluctant writers while enabling the most gifted writers to really stretch their imaginations. More importantly, these writing sites will help you to b...

FREE Draw And Write Worksheets For Teachers: Music Theme NEW!
Drawing Pictures, Writing Words, Enjoying Music
Draw and Write worksheets are a fun way to engage young learners in practicing fine motor skills, creativity, language development, and thinking skills. Children enjoy choosing how they will respond to open-ended drawing and writing prompts. This lens contains 10 pairs of prompts about several aspects of music, a favorite theme for many. Simply copy and paste the desired activities into a document for printing. You will be able to customize your worksheets before printing if you wish- change ...

Educating Young Writers
How is Writing Education Changing?
Writing education, and education in general, was very different in my mother's era. In rural Kentucky at that time, a lot of students -- boys particularly -- didn't make it through school. They were needed on the farm. They had eight years of education in a one room schoolhouse. The focus was, by and large, on the basics. Many students didn't even learn those. They might have responsibilities that kept them from attending regularly -- or illnesses. One of my mother's sisters couldn't only wal...

Nurturing the Very Young Aspiring Writer
The Child Who Loves to Write
As a teacher, I have often had my students write an about the author page to accompany heir stories. I will always remember one that was composed by a particular second grader. She wrote that she had been writing since she was five and had become an 'afishal auther' at seven. I have seen other children chronicle their writing histories and aspirations in similar poignant fashion -- right there on those little rectangles of notebook paper that I staple to their illustrated stories. They may te...