Had a great time at the ORA Winter Institute in Portland this weekend. I was expecting around 50 people for my session, but wound up with 127! SRO!! It was great, and even though we could have used more space for our activities. I might have cut the movement activities because of the numbers, but I believe movement is so important to learning that I wanted to show, rather than just tell about it. I appreciate the participants’ cooperation, patience, and eager participation. The Frozen Moments were awesome. I got several questions after the session, and I thought I’d post the answers for all:
What approach do you like for primary grades? I love the Kid Writing concept for kindergarten (see Kid Writing by Felgus and Cardonick) and Interactive Writing for first grade (see Interactive Writing by McCarrier, Pinnell, and Fountas; and Interactive Writing Strategies by Calabrese). I also like the Great Source materials (traits related), and Vicki Spandel’s book: Creating Young Writers.
Where can I get copies of The Magic of A.C. Gilbert? Print copies are available on this website under the Books tab. An electronic version is available at Amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com.
Will you come to our school to work with our staff? Absolutely! I do professional development presentations for staff and author visits (free class set of A.C. included) for students. See the Real Writing flyer in the handouts for more information.
If you have comments and/or questions, please use the comment tab here, or e-mail me directly at realwriting@comcast.net.
Hi tumbled to your site and it is great to meet you and see all the terrific work you are doing. I can’t wait to check out some of your books! I am also a real writer! (You are so right on about the term non-fiction!) I also started a blog on wordpress you might like to visit about playful writing. I taught as an elementary classroom teacher for many years, and now write books, teach university classes, and explore interesting topics, so we have a lot in common.
Thanks for your kind words, Rebecca. I enjoyed your site as well, and will share it with teachers I meet.