Category: Write Ideas

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One Bite at a Time: Long Research Writing

Campfire Tip #10: One Bite at a Time

“The only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time,” or so the saying goes.

That’s also the mindset one must adopt when tackling the year-long research essay, known as Essay Volume 6: Advanced Research. This unit is designed for 11th and 12th grade students, representing the culmination of their research and literary writing skills. 

This school year marks my first foray into teaching Essay Volume 6. Over the last two sessions, I’ve learned a lot—and I’ve also fallen in love with this essay unit! It teaches life skills and writing habits that will stick with students for years to come. 

Is Essay Volume 6 a good fit for your student, either this coming year or years down the road? Here are some of my takeaways from teaching the long research project:

1. How It Works

Before we get into WHY I love Essay Volume 6, let’s go over what this unit entails. The Long Research Essay can be organized into two parts: the research process and the writing process. And conveniently enough, the guides are broken down into A and B volumes along the same lines. 

In the first half of the project, students choose a person, place, and thing they want to learn more about, unifying the three topics with a single theme (like creativity, truth, perseverance, or tragedy). Then they take a self-directed tour through the library and internet to find their sources and build a fund of knowledge. As I’ve taught this Pages class, I’ve given lessons on how to find and use credible sources—which is one of the most important skills in college writing—and expect students to present their research findings each week. This stretches their abilities in new ways!

In the second half of this course, students synthesize their research by writing and revising. Because they combine their person, place, and thing with their theme, they create a brand new narrative about their topics—chances are, no one has combined their topic and theme in the same way before! This is an exciting opportunity to apply a literary essay style to one’s own research.

2. Motivated Learning

A major principle of the psychology of memory is that we remember information that’s personally meaningful to us and struggle to remember information we don’t care about. You probably know this just from living life. 

Because Essay Volume 6 gives students so much creative freedom, they can choose to research topics they’re passionate about, transforming a potentially mundane research project into a motivated pursuit of knowledge. Writing doesn’t have to be boring. If you’re writing about the right things, it can be the most engrossing activity imaginable. 

For example, my student, Kingsley, has long been inspired by ballerina Margot Fontayne. She has a book about Fontayne’s life on her bookshelf that she’s never had the time to read. But Essay Volume 6 says, “Pursue your interests!” So that’s what Kingsley’s done. Choosing Margot Fontayne as her person to research, she’s taken a dive into this legendary dancer’s life, satisfying her curiosity and honing her research and writing skills. She finally had the chance to read her book!

When done right, research writing gives thinkers the chance to pursue questions they have about the world. 

3. Rising to the Challenge

Time and time again, I’ve seen this truth play out: Set high expectations and students will rise to meet them. 

The Long Research Essay is a daunting task. It demands self-discipline. Motivation. Consistency.

But, I believe our Blackbird students are more than up to the challenge. When students set big goals for themselves and then achieve them, they build their confidence one brick at a time. The impossible becomes possible. Students learn that they are capable!

The week-by-week scaffolding of Essay Volume 6 provides the framework necessary for students to soar to great heights. You don’t craft a masterpiece in one sitting; rather, you chip away at your work of art day by day, sometimes fueled by perseverance rather than inspiration. 

Let’s set some lofty goals. And then get to work. 

 

~Claire S.

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Blasting-off an IDEA

Tip #4 IDEAS Motivate Writers

Writing is an art form achieved via a series of steps:

1) It all begins with an IDEA. Without an idea, the writer will simply stare at the blank page.
2) Once there is an idea in the mind of the writer, the PENCIL steps in to translate thoughts to words on the page.
3) When the pencil’s work is complete, the job of the writer is to become a READER. Encourage your students to RE-READ everything they write.
4) Empower students to use the RED PEN as they re-read to REVISE. Teach them to use strong words, to fearlessly re-arrange, to make corrections, and to not be afraid to strike through.
5) Polish the draft, preferably in cursive by hand.

Children have enormous creative potential.

This potential will flourish and they they will thrive as writers when they are inspired to revel in the important work of IDEA making.

THINK Tortoise (not the hare). Learning to write is a long journey, we know this to be true.

Michaelangelo said:

“If you know how much work went into it you wouldn’t call it genius.”

At the core of each child’s being is some form of genius.

We inspire genius as we inspire children to bring shape to their IDEAS.

 

~Kimberly

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Why We Publish Student Work

Campfire Tip #3: Writing is a Gift

Hopefully you’ve heard about Reveal by now, Blackbird & Company’s annual anthology of student work. But do you know why Reveal is so important? Why we talk about it every chance we get?

It comes down to confidence. We like to remind students that writing is a gift. When polished student writing is published, your students are giving a wonderful gift to readers. Being published is the hallmark of legitimacy in the field of writing. True. But more importantly, published writing is a courageous and generous offering—so how better to prove to your students that their voices matter than to publish their ideas? 

I’ve always found the link between intrinsic motivation (or motivation that comes from within) and self-confidence fascinating. They feed each other. The more intrinsically motivated a person is, the more satisfaction is gained from completing goals.  People with higher self-confidence are simply motivated to attempt tasks for the sake of accomplishing.  Work itself becomes meaningful.

These psychological principles translate directly to writing. The best way we can help our blackbirds gain confidence in writing is to help them become personally motivated. The best way we can help them become personally motivated is to build up their confidence by publishing the polished ideas they have brought to shape. 

As the editor of Reveal, I’ve seen firsthand the pride that swells within students’ chests when their work comes out in print, when they know that their voice has been chosen and has merit and value. Fostering this budding belief in oneself is one of the most important tasks we can take upon ourselves as educators—it just might be the fuel that keeps young writers writing. 

That’s why we publish Reveal. To show young writers what becomes possible when they spread their wings. 

Submitting work to Reveal 2026 is super easy. And, if you submit work accomplished via any of our materials now through March 31st, 2026, you will be automatically entered to win a Solo Stove S’Mores Bundle.

 

~Claire S.

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Inspire Your Students to Write Meaningful Essays!

Take the heavy-handed prep-work out of teaching students to write an essay!

Our unique scaffolding, designed to mentor the art of essay writing, will guide your students each step of the way—from brainstorming through revision to the polished final work—allowing you to offer support as a mentor and guide.

I will never forget running alongside each of my four children when they were learning to ride a bike once the training wheels were removed, “Keep pedaling! You can do this…!” The messaging is almost the same when it comes to coaching a student to write.

Our introductory composition is designed to introduce students in grades 6 through 8 to the overarching purpose of the essay, simple rhetorical style, and both the descriptive and literary essay form. Middle school students will be equipped to write their essays articulately. Each of the three volumes is designed to be completed in 10 to 15 weeks and contains all of the information you will need to mentor and inspire.

Great essays have the power to encourage, empower, and enlighten. For this reason essay writing should not be treated as just a mechanical endeavor, but rather, as a pathway for the writer to communicate the depths of the heart and mind.

Big ideas can be communicated through a range of writing domains including creative writing. It is vital that students discover and explore the potential of all types. Some writing describes, some narrates, some exposes, and some persuades. Some writing is simply meant to entertain. All writing has the power to inform. This three volume set will guide students systematically into the art of essay writing!

Our Volume 1-3 Bundle include:

  • Student Guide – Vol. 1: Essay as Structure: Become an Architect!
  • Student Guide – Vol. 2: The Descriptive Essay
  • Student Guide – Vol. 3: The Literary Essay
  • Thinking in Threes, by Brian Backman
  • The Tin Forest, by Helen Ward
  • Grandfather’s Journey, by Allen Say
  • The Story of Ferdinand, by Munro Leaf
  • Train to Somewhere, by Eve Bunting
  • Letting swift River Go, by Jane Yolen

Volume 1 – Essay as Structure: Become an Architect!

An exploration of essay form and writing technique.

Teacher support material is included in the volume.

Volume 2 – The Descriptive Essay

An exploration of the Descriptive Essay.

Writers will be mentored through each step of the process as they compose five original descriptive essays—beginning with a prompt, brainstorming, crafting a thesis, and developing the idea through the self-edit and final draft. Teacher support material is included in the volume.

Volume 3 – The Literary Essay

An exploration of the Literary Essay.

Writers will be mentored through each step of the process as they compose five original literary essays in response to five exceptional small tales—beginning with a prompt, brainstorming, crafting a thesis and developing the idea through the self-edit and final draft. Teacher support material is included in the volume.

You might consider purchasing our complete middle school Writing Year Pack to start back-to-school writing on the right foot!

 

~Kimberly

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The BEST Sentences are Poetic!

This poem is a call to ACTION:

   to see light through the color slide,

   to listen for the sound of the hive,

   to watch the mouse wander its way through the maze of the poem,

   to feel around in the dark for a light switch,

   to waterski and wave at the author who is standing at the shore

   (patiently smiling, I imagine).

This poem is also a REMINDER:

   to NOT tie the poem to a chair and to NOT torture a confession out of it.

 

Deconstructing poems to shreds of rudimentary grammar and mechanics, rhythm and rhyme scheme, always distracts the reader from the ability of poetry to resonate a wonderful thought provoking idea!

Reading poetry aloud helps us listen for the lovely sounds of language.

Reading poetry on the page helps us see the way words work together and empowers us to write splendid, strong sentences.

This poem, as example, is comprised of four sentences. FOUR—count them. Each begins with a capital letter and ends with a mark—four beautifully simple sentences broken into bite-sized fragments. Here, Billy Collins demonstrates how words are woven to phrases, phrases to complete ideas in the form of a sentence.  Furthermore, when a poem is written to help us consider just exactly what a poem is, well that poem is a an ars poetica (click through to learn a little more).

Listen to Billy Collins narrate this wonderful poem here.

 

~Kimberly

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Inspiring Writers: Ideas are Genius!

Writing is an art form.

Writing is an art form achieved via a series of steps:

1) It all begins with an IDEA. Without an idea, the writer will simply stare at the blank page.
2) Once there is an idea in the mind of the writer, the PENCIL steps in to translate thoughts to words on the page.
3) When the pencil’s work is complete, the job of the writer is to become a READER. Encourage your students to RE-READ everything they write.
4) Empower students to use the RED PEN as they re-read to REVISE. Teach them to use strong words, to fearlessly re-arrange, to make corrections, and to not be afraid to strike through.
5) Polish the draft, preferably in cursive by hand.

Children have enormous creative potential.

 

This potential will flourish and they they will thrive as writers when they are inspired to revel in the important work of IDEA making.

 

THINK Tortoise (not the hare). Learning to write is a long journey, we know this to be true. 

 

Michaelangelo said:

“If you know how much work went into it you wouldn’t call it genius.”

 

At the core of each child’s being is some form of genius.

We inspire genius as we inspire children to bring shape to their IDEAS.

 

When it comes to literacy, much of the exceptional work that your students will accomplish is subjective in nature tied to their ideas.  As students read great stories, they make observations. These observations will inspire ideas. Cataloging ideas in writing over time builds confidence, nurtures skills, develops voice, and motivates students to engage in the work of writing.

Blackbird & Company is an idea born along the way. We have developed an ELA curriculum for kindergarten through 12th grade with three things in mind: 1) Work is GOOD, 2) Children are individuals with enormous potential—genius potential, and 3) Idea-making inspires genius to blossom.

When it comes to literacy, much of the exceptional work that your students will accomplish is subjective in nature tied to their ideas.  As students read great stories, they make observations. These observations will inspire ideas. Cataloging ideas in writing over time builds confidence, nurtures skills, develops voice, and promotes true literacy.

IDEAS are genius . Click through to listen in to Motivating Writers: Ideas are Genius on the Sped Homeschool Podcast.

We want ALL students to write well.

We want them to think creatively and to value their ideas.

We want them to know that engaging in the process of writing ideas is worthy because writing is a gift.

When you inspire children to write their IDEAS, their IDEAS will Take Flight!

~Kimberly

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Creating a Tradition of Letters

While cleaning out a closet I found some treasure! Real writing gold. A stash of letters my mother had written to my father over the course of a year while she was simultaneously raising 4 children and trying to sell our house in North Carolina. My father was out west in California building a new house in the 1960’s. As I read through these seven letters (as well as a few my older brother and sister had written to him), I was instantly transported back to my childhood in that small town as my mother was reporting on each child and all the goings-on of friends and close relatives like my grandmother and my aunts and uncles.

I was struck how writing letters is a record in time, an anchor to the shifting sands of time, people and places.

This led me to realize how much we forget from the past and how our lives change so much. How could we not change as we age? Each life stage changes us—education marriage, raising family, careers, possible trauma, big life changes, and so on.

And then I found another letter that really hit my heart.

This is a letter I wrote to a beloved aunt all about the man I was dating at the time (late 70”s), named John.  I was trying to convey matters of my heart and all my feelings about dating him and wondering if he was the one? I have never been a journal keeper, so these letters are all I have to remember who I was at that time.

I fear letter writing and all its myriad benefits have fallen away to the convenience of email and texting but it’s not the same. I can feel my mother’s love through that beautiful penmanship and the slow deliberate retelling of stories and gossip. I can imagine my father working alone up on the mountain, pulling up a paint can to sit upon while reading about his wife and children. There is so much love and longing in those letters flowing from the tip of that pen.

I am happy to report that my daughter was pen pals with her grandfather all through her childhood, as he was living a nomadic life in the desert, sending her sweet letters with little desert creature drawings imbedded. And at 30 she corresponds regularly with my cousin who is 45 years her senior! They share a love of travel and always send post cards from far flung places on the globe.

No wonder letters are regularly studied by historians to learn facts about the people and subjects they are writing about. Where would we be without Van Gogh’s wonderful letters to his brother Theo and all the insights contained therein? Or Emily Dickinson’s thousand extant letters (experts believe there were thousands more) that reveal her interests and profound feelings, which obviously informed her poetry and life? Or all the WWII letters written by soldiers to their mothers and fathers and wives? These letters are obviously invaluable.

So we at Blackbird and Company want to encourage the art and gift of letter writing! We have some brand new FREE resources—Letter Writing and Letterforms—to help you establish the very fun and rewarding endeavor that is letter writing.

Happy Holiday Season to you all!

~Sara

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More Leaves for a Friendly Letter

Accentuate your friendly letter with a fall-themed crafty insert!

This project began with a package of fall leaf table confetti. But you can just as easily begin by tracing real leaf shapes on colored craft paper, cutting out the shapes, and drawing. From there, all you need is imagination and a fine-point marker. Fill each leaf with a repetitive design of lines! You might even add a little message to your design! These handcrafted fall leaves, inserted into your friendly letter, will be a delightful surprise to the recipient and a fresh addition to any fall table.

Don’t forget to check out our FREE resources on letter writing and letter forms by hand!

~Kimberly

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The Friendly Letter is a Gift

Let’s start a tradition!

Let’s write friendly letters!

Composing a letter by hand—a non-electronic letter—is a relational, social activity that teaches generosity, idea making, and the nature of beauty.

Once upon a time there was no such thing as email, text messages, and social media. Back then there was mail. The art of letter writing began way before Pony Express.  I love watching movies where fancy-dressed people are sitting together after a lovely meal sharing news from friends and relatives living in far reaches of the wide world. Letters. They called them letters.

Ephemera is a wonderful word. Say it aloud. Ephemera.

But ephemera is something that is not meant to be preserved. I would argue that letters, the thoughtfully crafted kind, are not ephemera but rather lasting gifts!

  1. Letter writing, like all writing, begins with an idea. It’s November. And November is the season of gratitude. So why not write an idea tied to the theme of gratitude? Starting with a list is always a good idea. Brainstorm! What are you thankful for?
  2. Hone in: Once there is some fodder on the page, focus in on a specific topic that you can develop. Encourage student writers to keep ideas simple, being grateful for finding that favorite lost sock,  watching the goldfish swimming in the backyard pond, or accomplishing a difficult task like mastering a new math concept. Brainstorm some more.
  3. With a topic nailed down, begin crafting the rough draft. Time to pick up the pencil and tell the story—yes the story! Narrative writing (a story of gratitude is no exception) is an opportunity to share. Write a first draft.
  4. Lay down the pencil when all the ideas are on the page. Set the writing aside for up to 24 hours. Let the story simmer.
  5. Re-read what was written. Now is the time to make edits, to re-arrange, to add wonderful words and phrases and to read again! Once satisfied, copy the gratitude narrative into the card you have chosen. You can certainly add some “pleasantries” to introduce the purpose of your gratitude narrative (’tis the season, after all), and you can share a bit of personal news after your narrative, but however you shape your letter, don’t forget to mark it with a date, create a salutation, and a friendly closing.

Check out our FREE letter writing worksheet here.

Well-told stories encourage people to see things in new ways.

Snail Mail is not archaic!

To write a letter is to offer a generosity.

To receive a letter is a gift.

Heres to a month of letter writing! Let’s put a stamp on it!

“A letter always seemed to me like immortality because it is the mind alone without corporeal friend.” ~Emily Dickinson