Classroom SOLSC: 7 of 31

My ideas usually come not at my desk writing but in the midst of living. –Anais Nin

Earlier this week, Slicer Joanne Toft blogged about pushing the writing muscle. At the beginning of her slice she wrote about some of the slicers in her class. She noticed, “It was interesting to see who really wrote with passion and who is just giving me words about anything in their heads.” You see, I started the SOLSC with my fourth graders in 2008 and I could tell which kids cared about the challenge and which ones were just “giving me words.” Those who were giving me words frustrated the writing teacher in me. Again and again I would wonder why they weren’t using the strategies they had been learning all year long and applying them to the challenge.

Do you feel like some of your students are simply giving you words rather than writing their slices with passion? Find out what’s happening. See if you can get somewhere by having a one-to-one conversation with the students whose slices lack voice (or meaning in general).

Details:

1. If your students are slicing from their personal blogs, then you should link their blog posts together using your classroom or personal blog. Then, share the unique URL to the location of the “round up” of student slices. (Click here to find out what a unique URL is.) Remember to post one unique URL and use the same username/email to log so your comments will appear instantly.
2. Only post the link to your students’ slices of life here. Do not post the link to your personal slice of life stories here. Post your personal slice of life story over at the daily call for individual slice of life stories.
3. Any questions, please contact one of our concierges. (Click here for more information on how to work with our concierges.)

Concierge for last names beginning with A – G: Linda Baie — lindab414[at]gmail[dot]com

Concierge for last names beginning with H – M: LeAnn Carpenter (aka: Elsie) — leannecarpenter[at]sbcglobal[dot]net

Concierge for last names beginning with N – S: Bonnie Kaplan — blkdrama[at]mac[dot]com

Concierge for last names beginning with T – Z: Carol Wilcox — carwilc[at]aol[dot]com

Useful Links:

• 31 Slices (ideas for topics)
• Essential Information (includes classroom materials, details on Twitter hashtags, and thoughts about commenting)