SOLSC Classroom Challenge

April Classroom SOLSC Week 2- Developing the Habit

Kathleen Neagle Sokolowski

Welcome to the April 2022 Classroom Slice of Life Story Challenge! 

If you haven’t signed up yet, please share your class’ blog information on the Padlet.

Click here for more information on what the Classroom Slice of Life Challenge is all about!

The April Classroom SOLSC began on Friday, April 1 and will run through Saturday, April 30th. I’ve loved reading the student slices so far! Please try to read and comment on some slices each day and encourage your students to comment on other slices too!

This week, let’s help our students develop that writing habit we established for ourselves during the March 2022 SOLSC! Many of us found that the expectation to write each day led us to live more like a writer- really looking for possibilities and stories in our days. Be sure to share some of your slices with your students and help them see where you found inspiration. I shared this post I wrote from the March SOLSC with my students and it inspired one of my writers to write his own post, which he entitled “In My Eyes”, using a repeating line.

Be Inspired! 

April is also Poetry Month and many of our student bloggers will be inspired by all the different styles and types of poetry they can read and write! Jama Rattigan has a fabulous blog entitled “Jama’s Alphabet Soup” and she has included a thorough round-up of poetry activities and events, geared for students, coming up in April that might inspire your bloggers!

Let’s Have a Conversation! 

How did it go launching the Classroom SOLSC? What lessons do you anticipate your writers will need to grow this month? What are you most excited to teach them from your own experiences blogging for 31 days? Please leave your ideas in the comments so we can have a conversation!

Published by Kathleen Neagle Sokolowski

7 thoughts on “April Classroom SOLSC Week 2- Developing the Habit”

  1. In preparation for our challenge, we spent the last two weeks of March listing ideas for slices. On Friday we made our first slice in class and then practiced leaving comments also.
    Kathleen, the only thing showing up for me on your fanschool is your two posts. Maybe your students haven’t posted yet? I’m just checking in because my students usually start strong on their comments and then they drop off and mostly just comment on the posts of their friends. I would really love to direct my writers to your students, also.
    Thank you so much for hosting this. I even had some fourth graders come back and ask if they could join again so I added them to my class fanschool.

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    1. Shelly. thanks for letting me know. My students are posting- I’m having issues with Fanschool. Settings aren’t available for me and it’s almost like I’m a student in the group with no teacher moderation functions. I’ve emailed them and am trying to resolve it. I appreciate you letting me know it looks that way for everyone! I hope it gets resolved soon so my students can have comments too! It’s so cool that you have fourth graders joining in! What a testament to the great job you did building enthusiasm and love for writing! Thanks for being here.

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  2. My students (they’re seventh and eighth graders) are enjoying writing everyday. We’ve been doing some kind of daily journaling since after winter break, but the excitement of writing along with a whole community of budding writers is something else.
    I have showed them some comments, pointing to specific moves, how to refer to specific moves or word choice or content when commenting, rather than the usual “Great lead” they were used to doing. They’re at https://padlet.com/ashra_s_01/moyzdexm4oxq90zk and https://padlet.com/ashra_s_01/c4r35iny4ewvqdei

    I’ve had my nine-year old daughter also join in. She loves to write stories, but has never tried blogging or daily writing. This is her first foray into something like this, but the two comments she received on her first post have boosted her morale more than anything I could’ve told her! She’s on https://wordpress.com/home/littlesisternumber3.wordpress.com

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  3. I appreciate the question you’re posing, Kathleen. It allowed me to think about what’s next for working with Isabelle who started a blog (https://talesbyabigsister.weebly.com/) last week.
    Last week, we worked with staying on-topic (I.e., writing about sibling-related things rather than anything that comes to mind) since she initially decided to angle her blog towards being a big sister. Also, we started talking about when to start a new paragraph.

    Some things I anticipate us tackling this week are:
    — Commenting on other Classroom SOLSC blogs (e.g., what makes a thoughtful comment).
    — Being the first reader of your writing (I’m Isabelle’s editor, but too often she comes to me without having read her writing aloud first.)
    — Unfolding a slice bit-by-bit
    — Using a variety of elaboration techniques

    Finally, just a quick shout-out to Co:Writer, which Isabelle has been using to draft all of her slice of life stories. While it’s a program for people with Dyslexia, I think it can be helpful for all kids who struggle with spelling. (I’m linking to the post I wrote on Co-Writer, https://twowritingteachers.org/2021/11/29/cowriter/, in case other people whose students are taking part in the Classroom SOLSC are interested.)

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    1. Thanks for commenting, Stacey, and sharing your thoughts around your next steps with Isabelle! I’ve been enjoying her writing! My class is just starting a personal narrative unit so this week I plan to really go through the elements of a personal narrative and share mentor texts as well as student posts. I give students badges for craft moves like hooking the reader, ending with golden last lines, creating voice with punctuation and using sound words to make the writing come alive. These are all lessons I need to teach! I also need to go over commenting with them as well.

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