So you want to be a better writer ....

On Monday nights on Twitter, a group of 4th grade teachers meet, talk, and share resources using the hashtag #4thchat. I found this chat by accident a few weeks ago and wrote a blog post about the night they shared Math resources. Last night's chat was about Social Media in the Classroom. The 4th grade chat has a wiki where they post the resources shared during the chat, the chat archives, and many of resources relevant to 4th grade. They even have their own logo for the #4thchat! :)

When I was a 4th grade teacher, I primarily taught Narrative Writing (for two years, I taught 3 writing classes each day). I decided to look through the archives to see if I could find anything about writing since I really like that type of resource. I found an archive of a whole chat devoted to just that topic. I picked a few resources to share but would strongly encourage you to go look at the whole archive since you never know what you might find (even if you don't teach 4th grade).

• Steven W. Anderson and I do a weekly podcast on Instructional Technology, so the mention of a narrative writing podcast caught my attention. That blog post from Maureen Devlin (@lookforsun) outlines the steps involved in the process, share the numerous benefits, and even provides some examples. Maybe I need to find a 4th grade class to try this with next year ....
• Another resource called 30 Ideas for Teaching Writing was also shared:The ideas shared in this resources are great as standalone strategies and also work well when paired together:

The National Writing Project's 30 Ideas for Teaching Writing offers successful strategies contributed by experienced writing project teachers. Since NWP does not promote a single approach to teaching writing, readers will benefit from a variety of eclectic, classroom-tested techniques.

• Finding the presentation called "Writing for Real" from Angela Maiers was a definite plus. Angela Maiers is an independent consultant from Des Moines, IA. She shares so many great ideas both on her website and in her presentation (I have been lucky to attend one of her presentations before).

Writing For Real Reading Recovery Conference

View more presentations from Angela Maiers