By Deborah E. Louis, Ph.D. It is precisely because Cherry blossoms scatter That we find them appealing. Does anything endure for long In this world of sorrows? – “Tales of Ise” 125 Mother was sitting at her Singer sewing machine …
By Deborah E. Louis, Ph.D. “If there is anything we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves.” C.G. Jung, (Collected Works, Vol. …
For teachers and students to implement the Jane Schaffer Academic Writing Program® with a high degree of fidelity, school leadership teams, grade level professional learning communities, and individual teachers must commit to a simple but key process. The process is …
Dear Dr. Louis, I need your insight and expertise. As so much continues to shift and change in our district, we have had more and more questions about all things related to English Language Arts (ELA) and literacy. Some folks …
A thesis statement is a writer’s promise that every word the writer uses supports his or her thesis statement. In argumentation, the thesis statement is critical. When we first teach our students to write a thesis statement in an argumentative …
Good afternoon, Dr. Louis: Please see below a prompt that I made for our students this week on Chapter 6 from Of Mice and Men. If you have time, let me know what you think and what changes need to …
DECODING A WRITING PROMPT We have all heard students exclaim, “I don’t know how to start!” The Jane Schaffer Writing Program® (JSWP) was designed by Jane to remove that thought from their minds. From the prompt to the final draft, …
Dear Dr. Louis, What is a WOW sheet? – A. Stout, AP® English Literature Endorsed Consultant, Boise State Writing Project Fellow Dear Mr. Stout, Thank you for your insightful question! “WOW” stands for the “Web-off-the-Word”™.” It is one of …
Dear Dr. Louis, How do I teach weaving? Scott Dear Scott: “Weaving” is Jane Schaffer’s integral step of blending concrete details (CDs) and commentary (CM). When a student demonstrates his/her ability to identify and understand CDs and CMs and when …
Dear Dr. Louis, “For the synthesis question on the AP Language exam (which is basically an argument prompt but the students have to use sources as CDs), I’ve heard much talk from other AP teachers that the commentary should still …