Karen Filewych

Karen has over twenty-five years of educational experience as a teacher, school administrator, and language arts consultant. She enjoys sharing her love of literacy with teachers and students. She is now booking professional development for teachers for the 2024-2025 school year. She is fully booked for residencies!

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Words Change Worlds

"When teaching grade one I noticed how language — specifically learning to read and write — empowered students. This idea has captivated me since. Join me in my quest to change the world through words."
-Karen Filewych


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This practical, comprehensive overview of literacy instruction equips teachers with the tools, understanding, and confidence to meet the literacy needs of students.



This week on the Words Change Worlds blog

I wish…

This is an interesting time of year to use “I wish…” as a freewriting prompt. Engage your class in this freewrite based on your regular routine and without a lot of talk beforehand.

Later that day (or even the next day), read students a book such as Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts, Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena, Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson, or The Big Umbrella by Amy June Bates and Juniper Bates. After reading, and again without discussion, freewrite with students using the prompt “I wish…” once more.

After writing, ask students to read the second freewrite to themselves, and then reread the first. Invite them to make observations about their two freewrites. Ask, “Was there a difference in content even though the prompt was the same? Why might this be?”

This activity is a reminder of how reading the words of others can affect us. After reading the book, we were likely thinking about its content, considering another point of view, and making connections to our own lives. After all, “Reading is an exercise in empathy; an exercise in walking in someone else’s shoes for a while.” Malorie Blackman

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