Of the many ways I gain an understanding of my writers, my favorite and most valuable is gathering up all the writing and diving into reading ALL the students’ work.
Category: academic choice
Haiku Writing Station
Earlier this month I shared an idea about a writing station (aka: center) for older students. Another product from Chronicle Books has crossed my desk and has piqued my interest as something that can be used in the classroom. This time, it's a poetry-related writing station using Haikubes, which are 63 word cubes that can… Continue reading Haiku Writing Station
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(Writing) Center Time for Older Students
Whenever I used to hear the words "Center Time" I immediately thought about early childhood classrooms. However, that notion changed in 2008 when I created a Poetry Station for my fourth graders. The Poetry Station was created for students to use during the "morning work" period of the school day. It was a choice, not… Continue reading (Writing) Center Time for Older Students
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Creating Comics from a Real Life Experience
We were fortunate to cross paths into Kevin Hodgson when we were walking through the Convention Center at NCTE this afternoon. He was leading a Tech on-the-Go Presentation about creating digital comics with students. When Kevin asked for a volunteer to make a comic, we stepped up to the plate, creating a comic about our… Continue reading Creating Comics from a Real Life Experience
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April 2009 Poetry Challenge Gifts
April 2009 Poetry Challenge Gifts Originally uploaded by teachergal One-third of my students attempted the April 2009 Poetry Challenge, which I gave them as an optional, independent activity during the month of April to celebrate National Poetry Month. It was a lot of work in a month that included over a week off from school.… Continue reading April 2009 Poetry Challenge Gifts
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Choice in Writing Workshop: Is it possible even though it’s necessary?
Another thing people's comments on Ruth's Post got me thinking about was the idea of CHOICE in Writing Workshop. I wrote about it on this blog in 2007 after attending a session at NCTE with Fletcher, Johnston, and Ray. However, I never posted my raw notes from the session. However, in light of what's on… Continue reading Choice in Writing Workshop: Is it possible even though it’s necessary?
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Enthusiasm
I had, what felt like every kid in my class, so many students who wanted to share after yesterday's Writing Workshop, which was comprised of four strategy lessons. I was pretty surprised that so many students wanted to share. My kids know that I pre-select the sharers, but regardless, still came up to me in… Continue reading Enthusiasm
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Strategy Lessons for Writer’s Block
I'm giving my students the choice to sign-up for one of four strategy lessons after the minilesson is over tomorrow morning in Writing Workshop. You'll find a Scribd Document below which contains the text, not the writing samples I'm using, for tomorrow's strategy lessons. (Note: The hyperlinks got wedged-into other words. Pardon their appearance!)
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The Big Picture Series: Freedom in Topic Choice
"Write what makes you happy." -- O. Henry What wise words from O. Henry! So often we try to inspire our students to write by giving them topics we think will interest them. I know for me, relinquishing topic choice was one of the harder things to do when I transitioned into teaching according to… Continue reading The Big Picture Series: Freedom in Topic Choice
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Sign-Up to Confer With Me!
My kids were getting ready to publish their personal essays yesterday. However, I knew they were all in different places. Therefore, I allowed them to sign-up for strategy lessons today based on their needs. Here's what the sign-up "sheet" looked like:
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Mini-Course: Handmade Card Making
Our school is having mini-courses for the kids on three Mondays in May. I signed-up to do handmade card making mini-course with second, third, and fourth graders who are interested. I started creating samples over the weekend: I'm debating how to structure the classes. Part of me wants the kids to just write their own… Continue reading Mini-Course: Handmade Card Making
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Writing About Reading: It’s Time to Kick It Up A Notch (or two)
Jacquie McTaggart published an article in Reading Today's April/May 2008 Issue entitled "Appeal to Students' Pride with Online Book Reviews." This was a timely article for me since I just put together the May newsletter for my students' parents stating that I'd like to see my students doing more reading responses (i.e., each and every… Continue reading Writing About Reading: It’s Time to Kick It Up A Notch (or two)
