Reading like a writer is a skill that allows us to delve deeper into the intricacies of storytelling, characters, and the art of crafting meaningful prose. It invites us to go beyond simply enjoying a story and instead, to analyze the author's choices, techniques, and writing style. We can unravel the layers of The Wild Robot by Peter Brown to uncover the secrets that make this book a remarkable mentor text for the middle school classroom, and learn how to apply these insights to the teaching of writing. From grammar to writing moves, the published books kids are already reading can be one of the most powerful tools for teaching kids to write in any genre.

Peter Brown's The Wild Robot is an extraordinary adventure alongside Roz, a robot thrust into a wild and unfamiliar environment. This post outlines the writer's moves throughout four different parts of the book including figurative language, character development and description, and the interplay between plot and setting.

You can also check out my daily/weekly lesson plans for using this book as a mentor text and my corresponding slide presentation.

Creative writing isn’t just for famous authors or story writers. One thing I have really noticed since becoming a mother is that imagination and play have such a huge role in our lives, and as we get older, the former methods of play kind of fall away. They seem not needed. Almost trivial. In the classroom, creativity and imagination in the form of free writing with limited rules are one of the most beloved activities that kids crave year after year. It is not because it works in every single classroom, it is because they can feel that imagination and be able to play is fun again. Learning should be fun. Also, life and having kids should be fun.

Mamas have all sorts of stories to tell.

Stories of when we were kids.

Stories of times before we had our own children.

Stories of giving birth and labor.

Stories of how we adjusted to parenthood.

Stories of raising little ones.

Stories about our fears and triumphs, our hurts, and our hearts that now walk outside of our bodies.

We keep these stories in important places. We carry them in our physical beings and in our minds. We take pictures to not forget these moments. We write down important moments. We teach our babies about the value of stories. The power of creative writing unlocks the ability to share the real stories that happen to form the memories in our lives, and it allows us to dive deeper into our imaginations. We teach our babies to think "outside of the box," and our writing allows us the same outlet for play. Creative writing allows us to be heard in some way. We get to be silly. We get to have fun. In many cases, we get to heal. If children learn about their worlds through exploration and play, we can learn about ourselves through the stories inside of us.

Mama, you are already a writer without putting one word down on the page. This post contains a free resource to download or preview, and anyone can pull from the creative writing prompts to find inspiration, fun, and play.

Teaching inspiration often comes in cycles, especially for literacy teachers. We get excited about a reading project, and then figure out a workshop for writing that just works. We create a project for kids that gets them moving, and then come up with the perfect book-tasting setup that makes them want to read more. We hone in on the aspects of teaching that keep us going when it gets rough. Sometimes we know inspiration fades away during periods of burnout. This project with writing got my creative flow turned on again to want to research, put together, and create a lesson and activity for kids. Creative writing play kits are loose part containers that show kids how to find story ideas in everyday surroundings. They could be used for a variety of things, and you could easily create them with things you find at the Target dollar spot, local craft store, or even things around the house. Many of the things were items that my two-year-old can’t play with just yet because they were too small. This post is an outline of creative writing play kits: What they are, how to use them, and how to get inspired by putting them in front of kids.

When I make a list of non-negotiables each year, Friday Free Write is on the list. Free-writing doesn’t have to be on a Friday, but the English teacher in me loves the alliteration, and I love ending the week with a little bit of joy. Free-writing is joy. Why? Free-writing allows students to explore the topics, genres, and prompts of their choice. When I survey students at the end of the year, they always say to keep free-writing. I even always offer for the administration to come do walk-throughs and observations during these times because I want them to see the excitement and happiness kids get out of free-writing. While I can infuse love into academic writing, there is nothing like having time to think of your own story and then share with others. This post walks you through what is free-writing, what it looks like in a middle-school classroom, and the logistics of setting up a free-writing time-block in your own literacy classroom. I answer commonly asked questions including what to do when kids won’t write. I would urge non-English teachers to also consider free-writing time as it helps students learn the power of generating their own ideas and showing them their ideas are important enough to put down on the page.

The Third Coast Camp for Young Writers is an annual summer camp for young writers entering grades 3-8 that happens each year on the campus of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI. While planning for this year, my teacher partner Mrs. Roberts (Go see her at her teacher blog Literacy Adventures) already met to plan our sessions. I was going to do Animal Memoir writing with a mentor text of El Deafo by Cece Bell, and Mrs. Roberts was going to do science-themed writing sessions with the Science Comics series of graphic novels for kids. We had a plan back in February.

Then, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit our area, and we both navigated through emergency online learning, we were unsure that parents would want a virtual option at all for summer camp. We also were admittedly tired from online learning. After putting out a survey to our own students, their families, and former camp attendees, we got feedback that almost everyone wanted a virtual option for summer camp. So, we pulled together to develop a week-long adventure into writing called Camp Third Coast. See our promotional flyer here. This post is all about the planning of our virtual writing camp, and the lessons that I want to take with me into the fall teaching writing in an online environment. Spoiler Alert: The biggest lesson is that all of our students should we engaged in creative writing as much as possible-even in online learning formats.

In my other post, “Middle-Grade Narrative Writing: Using Mentor Texts to Describe Setting (Snapshots)” I explained how a teacher could use examples or passages in mentor texts to help their young writers add details, description, and imagery to their narrative writing. This ability to “see” or visualize the imagery is called making a snapshot. Snapshots were first introduced to me by the way of Barry Lane’s The Reviser’s Toolbox. Characters really have five areas of focus when it comes to description: thoughts, feelings, actions, appearance, and speech. All of these areas can afford opportunities for students to learn how to do snapshots.

In review, a snapshot is a moment in narrative writing when you stop to describe a person or place in detail. There are many different writing moves to do this technique; however, the gist is the same: stop to inform your reader what the imagery is in your writing so they can become part of the reading experience with you. When you are designing a lesson on snapshots in either setting or character, I first like to start with adjectives and describing things my students know a lot about. Then, we can move on to the more abstract ideas of the imagination. The bridge between simple adjective description and more sophisticated writing resides in the use of mentor texts. I also like to practice all together in a whole group format using pictures. I love Nearpod for this type of practice because students can share adjective word ideas, and you can track whole group class participation. It is also pretty cool whole group collaborative writing. In the post, I will outline four different strategies for helping you to introduce snapshots for character description to your students with a variety of middle-grade mentor texts. I use mentor texts in my classroom to teach grammar, provide book talks to my students, and in writing instruction. Students then mimic the style of published authors and use their writing as a guide to help set up their own writing.

The McGinnis Reading Center and Third Coast Writing Project Camp for Young Writers have teamed up this year to put on a MEGA reading and writing camp! We had our first week this past week with Middle Schoolers focusing on WorldBuilding: Taking the Scenic Route. Students started to create the elements of their own worlds focusing on character, setting, plot, and conflict.

Yesterday, I posted about my Greenbelt Writing project with my General English 6 students. We found joy, freedom, and love for just sitting down and writing. Now, on the same Sunday in April that I decided to toss out my old game plan, I was also faced with another dilemma.