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Encouraging Words

First, let me say that now that it is February, I have stumbled upon my new year's resolution.  Better late than never, as they say!  I am resolving to improve my blog and also write in it weekly instead of every other month, or every 9 months!

Found a link via #TLChat on Twitter tonight to "Seven Features of Highly Successful Picture Books" by Abby Connors.  Her bio states that she is a music and arts teacher of over 20 years.  I loved that even though the article is geared toward librarians or teachers, that I can use it to help my students write fiction stories that are not too complex.  Often, students try to write fiction that is as complex as the stories on their 4th, 5th, or 6th grade reading levels.  They get overwhelmed and bogged down in overly complicated dialogue and too many subplots.  Plus, they simply don't have the timeframe to flesh out and publish a full-length novel.

At the bottom of the article was a link to another of Abby Connors' articles, "The Pinocchio Effect:  12 Ways to Make Read-Aloud Stories Come Alive".  Even though I have read stories aloud for 12 years of teaching, I learned some new tips and tricks!  Again, I can also use this article to help my students prepare for a performance based assessment for their fluency scores.  :)

Thanks Teachers.Net Gazette!
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