Although this chapter is part of a larger set of chapters on teaching first-year writing, this specific chapter deals with general principles related to creating good assignment prompts.

Being organized is a key component to student success. Learn how to help students, and ourselves, be able to keep our Google Drives organized.

In this Writers Who Care blog post, Kim Johnson describes a series of strategies she used with her students to practice writing collaboratively in a way that would support the transfer of these writing strategies to a new writing task (a standardized test). Teachers may find this resource useful as they consider how to develop and implement writing strategies throughout a writing unit or to find examples of how to build writing strategies during collaborative writing experiences.

In this Writers Who Care blog post, Amy Worob shares a set of strategies related to mentor texts that she uses in her writing classroom. This resource will help give teachers examples and ideas about how to use mentor texts to develop writers’ strategies in their classes.

The Utah Core Standards are aligned to
scientifically based content standards.
They drive high quality instruction
through statewide comprehensive
expectations for all students. The
standards outline essential knowledge,
concepts, and skills to be mastered at
each grade level or within a critical
content area. The standards provide a
foundation for ensuring learning within
the classroom.

Using voice typing in Google Docs allows users to explore writing through a new lens.

In this text, the authors provide research-based foundations for the use of young adult literature as complex texts. In the first three chapters the authors provide an accessible explanation and discussion of the three components of text complexity. The chapters and materials that follow use well-known and often award-winning young adult titles to exemplify these principles.

What could be more fun that having students create a sea battle in Google Sheets.

This one-page article by the NRICH team reports on the history of the measuring of weight/mass. It is an attempt to provide material and ideas for lessons that address the disciplines of history and mathematics. Topics covered include weighing by comparison, the need for standard units, and weighing methods in various cultures. Questions and suggestions are provided for further research by students.

In this Moving Writers blog post, Alison Marchetti shares several examples of reflection strategies she uses with students to help them identify the strategies and choices they use as writers and to consider how to adapt and apply these strategies in future writing situations.

In this Moving Writers blog post, Rebekah O’Dell describes how she conceptualizes all of the parts of a writing unit. This post may be helpful for teachers as they develop their writing unit outlines as they consider the different mini-lessons, activities, and strategies they want to teach throughout the unit.

This hyperdoc collects some great ways to engage our students in the Winter Olympic Games.

This article provides helpful guidance for teachers seeking to implement the English language arts Common Core State Standards into their curriculum planning. Their recommendations can be adapted to other standards frameworks and help teachers make informed choices as they approach text selection.

The five “C” goal areas (Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities)
stress the application of learning a language beyond the instructional setting. The goal is to
prepare learners to apply the skills and understandings measured by the Standards, to bring a
global competence to their future careers and experiences.

Student learn to create an if-then adventure story using Google Applied Digital Skills

FreeReading is an open source instructional program that helps educators teach early literacy. Because it is open source, it represents the collective wisdom of a wide community of teachers and researchers. FreeReading contains Writing Activities, a page of activities to address important writing skills and strategies.

In this blog post, Tricia Ebarvia shares the strategies she developed to set up a writer’s workshop structure in her classroom, including a portfolio she has students submit to document their growth as writers through the process.

A teacher reflects on his experiences trying to teach Standard English and honor students’ dialects.