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• What does it mean
to live a writerly life?
Listen in on the
conversation
between teacher
consultant Penny
Kittle and writing
giant Donald Graves.
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• On chart paper,
create a visual that
shows what it means
to live a writerly life.
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Uncle Kracker
Every day I climb a little bit higher
Every night I learn something new
I’m writing it down
In case I forget
One day it'll be my story for you
Writing It Down by Uncle Kraker is available on Itunes.
22
Write yourself. Invite children to do something you're
already doing. If you're not doing it, Hey, the kids say, I
can't wait to grow up and not have to write, like you. They
know. And for the short term and the long term, you'll be
doing yourself a favor by writing. All of us need it as a
survival tool in a very complex world. The wonderful thing
about writing is that it separates the meaningless and the
trivial from what is really important. So we need it for
ourselves and then we need to invite children to do what
we're doing. You can't ask someone to sing a duet with
you until you know the tune yourself.
Donald Graves
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• Literacy coach, Janet
Allen, challenged teachers
to write the seven
significant stories of their
lives. What seven stories
would you pass along to
future generations to help
them know the real YOU?
Jot them down in your
notebook.
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Be reflective
Choose a personally important topic
Go “off topic”
Personalize writing process
Write badly
See others write
Be assessed well
Go beyond the formula
Find your own voice
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26
• Writing communities
are built around a
shared set of values
about writing and the
work that writers do.
Regular use of
classroom rituals and
routines fosters the
development of writing
communities.
27
• Teacher Ellen Gruwell,
portrayed in the movie,
Freedom Writers, found a
way to connect with her
class of “unteachable, atrisk” youth by creating a
safe environment and by
inviting students to write
journal entries about the
adversities that they faced
in their every day lives.
28
The video clip from Freedom Writers (2007) is only available on DVD. The scene
highlights the writing community as students make a “Toast for Change.”
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Ms. G., as the kids called
her, embraced a concept
that has been lost in modern
life: writing can make pain
tolerable, confusion clearer,
and the self stronger.
Anna Quindlen
Pulitzer Prize Winner
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• What if you were
issued an invitation
to make a stand, to
make a difference?
What message would
you share with the
world?
32
This video features the response from individuals all around the
world to Mad V’s video, “The Message.”
33
• What stories do your hands
tell? Trace around your
hand and fill it in with
memories that are
connected to your hands.
34
• Hook up with your
“soul mate” by
finding the other half
of your partnership.
Share your hand
stories with them.
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