Writing Websites
Below are websites to support writing instruction.
6 Trait Writing Resources
NWREL Six Trait Site - Research, resources, lessons, and evaluation information.
iWrite - A great website for grades 5-12.
The Writing Site - A site with resources for writing across the curriculum and writing for different purposes.
Poetry Website - Online poem generator.
Big Huge Labs - A site from flickr that allows you to create trading cards, movie posters, magazine covers, and much more using photos and text. You can save, download, and print for free.
Newspaper Clippings - Fodey.com is a place you can create newspaper clippings of your own stories. You type in the name of the newspaper, date, headline, and write the article and it generates a newspaper clipping. This works create for a small paragraph or summary. It will cut off text if it is too long.
Writing Fun - Online graphic organizers to help students with all text types.
Read-Write-Think - Interactive graphic organizers and lesson plans to support students of all ages.
Geocities- A site to support the six traits of writing including posters, picture books, and mini lessons.
Web English - Six trait writing prompts, lessons, downloads, and rubrics.
Madison K-12 Writing - This site includes downloads, lesson plan ideas, and explanations of the six traits.
Writing Fix - Interactive six trait lessons for students.
Houghton-Mifflin English - Interactive and multi-sensory lessons for students, benchmark papers for every grade, and teaching resources.
Primary Mini Lesson Ideas - Mrs. Meacham's list of mini lessons for emergent writers.
Writing Sites for Upper Grades (4th-5th) - Renwick Schools District's list of writing sites for upper grades.
Carl's Corner Writing Site - Many resources for primary writers including informational checklists and letter writing forms.
Mini Lesson Resources
Online grammar and spelling mini lessons
Nancy Atwell's Craft Minilessons - The following mini-lessons were created by middle grades preservice teachers in RE 3150 (Language Arts in the Middle Grades). The mini-lessons on this particular page are craft mini-lessons. Craft mini-lessons are those that address techniques, styles, genres, authors, and works of literature (In the Middle, Atwell 1998)
Mini Lessons
Mini lessons are writing tools to guide your writing program according to your students' needs. Mini lessons need to be created as you observe and recognize specific skills lacking or weak in writers. When you witness someone struggling in praragraphing, a mini lesson on paragraph writing should be taught. Some examples of mini lessons would be: What makes a paragraph? What does a paragraph looks like? The paragraph physical appearance: indenting, organizing paragraphs. Mini lessons should occur during any time of need, not just at the beginning of the week, any time of the day. The mini lesson should be explicit and and short. Remember they are "mini" lessons. Observation and constant interaction with each student guides your knowledge of which mini lesson needs to be taught and when. Click on "Online grammar and spelling mini lessons" to see examples. Also Nancy Atwell's Craft Minilessons is an excellent resource to check out (Tamara's entry).