It’s March 31st! Congratulations to all of the slicers who wrote every day in March. I’ve been writing alongside you, and telling my students about my experiences along the way. They’re so excited that tomorrow, it’ll finally be THEIR turn. The April Classroom Challenge begins in one day!
If you need more information about the challenge and signing up, please visit this overview post. Click here to sign up, and click here to view our Classroom SOLSC Homepage, where you’ll find links to classroom blogs so you can read and comment on student work.
Today’s kickoff post shares tips for getting started with students. You’ll see posts about the classroom challenge every Sunday in April on TWTBlog.
Include Families
Since the April challenge requires students to write every day (even on the weekends!) it’s important to include students’ at-home support. Click here to see the family letter I’ll send home before the challenge begins. Feel free to copy or edit for your own use!
Tracking Progress and Celebrating
How will you help students keep track of their progress in the challenge? I printed off a large poster with each student’s name. Kids will add a sticker to mark each day they write in April. I hung this chart in the classroom in mid-March, and students started goal-setting right away, telling their peers how far they hoped to make it on the chart!
On the poster, I’ve highlighted the number of days students need to write to win a prize. (I offer a prize for writing every school day, in addition to a prize for writing every day). I encourage you to consider different prize benchmarks to make the challenge attainable for kids. For more ideas related to prizes, celebrations, and even digital badges, check out this post by Kathleen Neagle Sokolowski. (And get your own editable copy of my chart here.)
Inspired by Erika Victor’s guest post, this year I will host a few “Slicer Lunches.” Kids can use this optional opportunity to eat, write, and share in the classroom. Make sure “Slicer Lunches” don’t overflow into critical recess time.
Generating Ideas
To help the inevitable student who will say “I don’t have anything to write about,” we started a class idea chart early in March. Whenever something funny or surprising happened, we added it to our list. When our challenge begins, we will continue to add to our list, but we’ll also reference it for writing ideas when we’re stuck.
New this year, I’ve also created a “Daily Prompt Board.” I’ll choose a student each day to write an optional prompt for stuck writers, like “write about something scary that happened to you,” or “write a slice that happened on the playground.”
Audience
How will your class connect with other writers to get feedback during the challenge? Make sure to visit the homepage often to see other students’ progress and leave comments. You can also find readers closer to home. My class will participate in weekly meet-ups where we’ll connect with a different grade level at school to get comments on our writing. I’ve also encouraged families to leave comments for their children.
I am excited to see what your students craft this month. Don’t forget to share their progress with the TWT community!
Do you have a tip to share with other teachers participating in the challenge? Something new you’re trying this year? Please share in the comments below:
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