My reading for the week has consisted of wonderful student narratives and informational reading on Columnist in preparation for an exciting unit we are creating for the B trimester.

Student narratives: The reason I'm enjoying these narratives is because I'm noticing purposeful and authentic dialogue, precise word choice for imagery and setting, and intentional structuring of the text to increase suspense. Thank you for using our short stories as models to incorporate these techniques in your own writing!

The Art of Column Writing by Suzette Martinez Standring: We can use this book as the backbone of the unit. I see lesson potential for writing leads, endings, subject matter, self-revision, and concise writing. There are also several quotes from famous columnist which I think could be used as conversation starters for each lesson. There are several examples of columns which include models for each of these lessons. I can't wait to hear about what my colleagues are reading about in regards to column writing!