Sometimes, the best way to figure out whether a strategy will work in your class is to first see it working in another teacher’s room.
In these videos from our editorial partners at Teaching Channel, accomplished educators demonstrate strategies they use to engage students in complex writing assignments.
Read additional stories from our Next Draft: Changing Practices in Writing Instruction story package.
This collection of short clips covers creative strategies for close reading, group discussion, classroom management, interactive activities, and more. Head to Teaching Channel‘s full site for more videos of classroom teachers in action.
A Descriptive Writing Experience
A 7th grade English teacher heightens his students’ use of details and sensory imagery through a sweet physical-learning experience.
Writing Strategy: Using Warm and Cool Feedback
High school students in this classroom revise their work through active feedback. Peer editing is used way to identify writing goals and effective writing, as well as areas of improvement.
Academic Choice: Comprehending and Retelling a Story
A 1st grade teacher allows her young students to select their own methods of retelling selected stories. She then has her students vocalize what they learned during interactive reading.
Analyzing Texts with Storyboards
A high school English teacher takes on a more entertaining approach to text analysis. She has her students interpret a story like “The Hunger Games” from the perspective of a reality TV producer.
Remember It with a Bookmark
A 7th grade English teacher has her middle school students use bookmarks to identify and discuss significant events in their texts. She uses this as an alternative, more engaging critical-reading response.
Small-Group Writing
Ninth graders in this English class work in small groups to create a persuasive argument about their interpretation of a given text. The students first verbalize their responses in group discussions and then translate those into writing.
Evidence and Arguments: Ways of Experiencing a Text
Writing depends on reading. A high school English teacher develops his students’ close analysis strategies through both group and individual critical thinking. Students work in groups to analyze texts, engage in a class-wide Socratic seminar, and follow up with their own personal responses.
Teach from the Walls
An elementary school teacher incorporates movement into text analysis by using “walk-around research” as an alternative to the traditional classroom setup. Students actively participate with one another through constructive comments as they walk around the room to complete graphic organizers.
