April Classroom SOLSC Week 3- Comments Build Community

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!

We are ten days into our Classroom SOLSC! We are one third of the way there!

This week, we are working on strengthening students’ comments. In a past post, Comments Make Community, I shared a quick formula for writing comments: compliment, question, and connection. I plan to share this with my students this week. So far, we’ve been working on building our writing stamina and I’ve encouraged them to comment on each other’s posts and on the Classroom SOLSC Padlet. How have you helped your students learn to write thoughtful comments

Be Inspired! 

There are so many fabulous mentor texts to share with students. I read Saturdays and Teacakes by Lester Laminack to my class at the start of our challenge. Many of the badges I award them for writing craft moves are featured in this book. There are golden last lines, repeating lines, onomatopoeia, and dialogue that advances the story. One of my students started writing his own version of the book this week, changing a few details but keeping many of Laminack’s craft moves. This was so exciting for me to see! What is a mentor text you shared with students that has stuck with them?

Let’s Have a Conversation! 

This week, I would love to know how you help your students write thoughtful comments and keep them motivated to comment on other people’s writing. I would also love to know what mentor texts have inspired your students! Please share your ideas in the comments!