Come on a Story Safarai with Joyce Hostetter! If you've followed my blog for awhile, then you are not new to my friend and mentor, Joyce Hostetter. I have learned so much from Joyce over the twenty years that I've known her, that I'm happy she will be leading the next Write2Ignite virtual Master Class.… Continue reading Unlock Your Writing Potential with Joyce Hostetter
Yesterday I received the following email from Elizabeth A. Gillespie, Public Communication Specialist, at NCCAT. She wrote: "The Senate Education Appropriations Subcommittee will begin working on its budget proposal this week; we need you to contact these committee members with the same wonderful messages you sent to House members. Urge them to fund NCCAT. Your personal… Continue reading Help Preserve NCCAT's Future
Last week I blogged about how North Carolina thanks teachers by giving them the opportunity to receive instruction and professional support at NCCAT. Soon after I received word from NCCAT's new chairman, Elaine Franklin, that the NC House is considering eliminating funding for NCCAT. Since its inception in 1985, NCCAT has been a line item… Continue reading Will NCCAT Be Forced to Close?
If you live in North Carolina then you know that twin jewels bedeck its geographic crown: the mountains and the sea. What you might now know is that each coast also hosts a unique educational treasure: The North Carolina for the Advancement of Teaching. Begun in 1985 by the state legislature, NCCAT is a leader in providing professional development for… Continue reading There is No Place Like It In the World
Many of you know that ever since the Lord brought Joyce Hostetter and I together four years ago at Mid-South Reading and Writing Institute, we've collaborated together in several different ways. We've co-taught at NWRESA and NCAIS; we've co-presented "Is there a Children's Book in You?" three times at NCCAT and are about to teach there once again as well… Continue reading Meet my First Guest Blogger: Joyce Hostetter
LOOKING BACKBefore we left our week at NCCAT, participants shared what they learned and Henry Wong, the NCCAT Center Fellow, led the group in song and dance. During the week several teachers wrote ABC books. Reflecting their work and honoring everyone's efforts, several teachers wrote the following ABC book and read it that morning. (Inside… Continue reading NCCAT: Looking Back and Looking Forward
At the Virginia State Reading Association Conference this past weekend, I gave three presentations for reading specialists and literacy coaches. As many of you know, Teaching the Story: Fiction Writing in Grades 4-8 has specific mini-lessons to help students develop rich, in-depth characters and settings. One teacher suggested that after students have brainstormed a character… Continue reading Virginia is for Writers
If you've been to one of my writing workshops you know that when it comes to learning Show, Don't Tell writing and revision, I get teachers up out of their seats in this kinesthetic activity. If you want to try it in your classroom, first teach the "Muscle Words":- vivid verbs- specific nouns- image-driven adjectives-… Continue reading NCCAT Teachers Exercise Muscle Words
At NCCAT where Joyce Hostetter and I have been co-teaching the "Is There a Children's Book in You?" seminar, I asked the teachers to tell me what their favorite books were and why. Here are some of their favorites:My Little Sister Hugged An APE by Bill Grossman, illustrated by Kevin Kawkes. Gail Hurlburt of Randleman,… Continue reading Favorite Books Selected by some Favorite Teachers
On the ride to NCCAT with Joyce Hostetter, my fellow presenter, we talked about our NaNoWriMo books. This is my first foray into historical fiction; this is Joyce's fifth book. Her story is about a teenager who for unexpected reasons finds himself working in a mental hospital in the 40's. I was curious to know… Continue reading How Writing a Nano Novel is Different than “Normal” Novel Writing