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Take a Risk
You’ve got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down. – Annie Dillard Summer of 2014 might have been my busiest summer yet. I had a week and a half to breathe—to sleep in past 5:00AM, to not work 12-14 hours a…
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The Halfway Mark of 2014: Are You Where You Want to Be?
Halfway There It’s the end of June. We are officially halfway through 2014. The question is, are you pleased with where you are as a writer this year? Are you working toward your goals? Are you making time to write? If so, keep going and planning out the rest…
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June Monthly Focus Reminder and New Planning Template
Where did May go? I looked up behind my computer where I hang my monthly focus paper, and it still says April. Oops. It’s not that I haven’t been working in May. I’ve actually had one of the busiest writing months ever, but it was so busy, I never…
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Help Me, Help You (Mentor Text Resources Survey)
Summer is approaching, and while I’m knee deep in deadlines at the moment, I’m still thinking about what cool mentor text resources I can start providing. I have ideas about mentor text resources I’d like to create, and I’ve even started on many of these ideas. However, with time…
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Baseball Books as Mentor Texts: BARBED WIRE BASEBALL by Marissa Moss
Barbed Wire Baseball By Marissa Moss Illustrated by Yuko Shimizu Abrams, 2013 Kenichi Zenimura loved to play baseball. He play baseball for years. Until World War II, when he and other Japanese families lived their lives in internment camps. But inside that bleak camp, Zeni made a baseball field.…
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Mentor Texts for Writers and Character Post
Mentor Texts for Writers Recently I had the privilege of doing a workshop in Northern Virginia for a group of writers. The lovely and amazing Dianna Aston spoke in the morning about the stories behind her books. I spoke in the afternoon on using mentor texts to become a better…
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We’re All in This Together: Growing as a Writer
We all grow as writers as we move along on our writerly journey. When we look back on the things we wrote a year, five years, or ten years ago, we can tell how much we’ve grown. What is one thing that you’ve done to help yourself grow as…
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Baseball Books as Mentor Texts: MIGHTY JACKIE by Marissa Moss
Mighty Jackie: The Strikeout Queen By Marissa Moss Illustrated by C.F. Payne Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster, 2004 Jackie had been pitching her whole life, even getting coaching and encouragement from a former Brooklyn Dodger pitcher. But girls couldn’t play major league baseball. Her team played an exhibition game against…
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SHE SANG PROMISE by Jan Godown Annino, Mentor Text Lesson Plan
SHE SANG PROMISE: THE STORY OF BETTY MAE JUMPER by Jan Godown Annino Illustrated by Lisa Desimini A few weeks ago, I featured SHE SANG PROMISE as a mentor text on the Grog site. This week, I’m debuting the full length lesson plan. SHE SANG PROMISE MENTOR TEXT LESSON…
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Baseball Books as Mentor Texts: Miracle Mud
This month, I will be featuring baseball books as mentor texts. Using sports-related books is a great way to get reluctant readers and writers interested in the story and the story structure. There are so many wonderful picture book baseball books that I couldn’t fit them all in. But…
