Someone once told me that an experienced teacher asks, "How are the kids doing?" rather than asking "How am I doing?" I've found that to be more and more true of myself as each year passes. I'm not as worried about how I'm doing... I think I know what I'm doing. I'm more concerned about… Continue reading Reflections: Growth
Category: expository
Confessions of a Writing Teacher
I didn't teach the literary essay unit of study until last year. Why? I WAS SCARED TO DEATH TO TEACH IT! It seemed so complicated and so important... what if I messed up? Well, I bit the bullet last year since my rationale for not teaching it was not acceptable in my mind. I taught… Continue reading Confessions of a Writing Teacher
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Literary Essay Rubric
I was debating whether or not I should create a Literary Essay Rubric before I got to work this morning or once I was there. I opted for creating it at home and getting into work a little later. This is what I came up with:
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Citing the Text
My 4th grade students did a unit of study in Reading Workshop entitled "Writing About Reading" this past fall. Therefore, they've become pretty adept at citing the text. However, I think that citing the text goes to a whole new level when you write literary essays. Therefore, I created yet another chart for this unit… Continue reading Citing the Text
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Draft Plans for Literary Essays
My students are going to be drafting while I'm out of the room doing reading assessments this-coming Thursday. Hence, I'm a little bit panicked since I don't like being out of the room on days when kids are selecting a seed idea or when they start drafting. (I have an amazing guest teacher... so it's… Continue reading Draft Plans for Literary Essays
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Conferring
It's true what Lucy always said about speaking loud enough so other students hear you while you confer... they do learn by listening in! I've known this for awhile, but was reminded of it yesterday when I brought six of my students up to my classroom at lunchtime to further assist them with creating solid… Continue reading Conferring
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Thinking About Thesis Statements
I've been doing a lot of thinking about the thesis statements my students are going to start crafting for their literary essays lately. Therefore, in addition to the graphic organizer I produced for tomorrow's lesson, I also put together a thesis revision template/writer's plans worksheet for my students to use on Tuesday that looks like… Continue reading Thinking About Thesis Statements
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Thesis Statement Creation
Kate mentioned that some of our students might need assistance with developing their thesis statements. Therefore, I created a graphic organizer for students to use to help them develop a meaty thesis statement. Click on the link below if you'd like to take a look. Literary Essay Thesis Statement Starters
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Immersion Begins Tomorrow
I'll begin immersing my students in the literary essay genre tomorrow. I'm fortunate to have had some wonderful students last year who graciously allowed me to share their essays with future students to-come. Hence, I have quite a few literary essays copied, ready-to-go for my students to possibly use as mentor texts tomorrow. I realized… Continue reading Immersion Begins Tomorrow
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Guidelines for a Publishing Party
This was the first time in four years that I ever put together a readers' and listeners' responsibilities list for a Publishing Party. However, I think it helped my students get focused on what their job was at this Publishing Party, for which all of the writing was done OUTSIDE of Writing Workshop during our… Continue reading Guidelines for a Publishing Party
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Drafting a Solar System Book
Tomorrow afternoon in Science Class I'm going to start teaching my kids how to transfer their note cards into details they can use in paragraphs for their Solar System Planet Book. Hence, I needed a model to demonstrate with. Therefore, I spent a bit of time this evening drafting my own report on Planet Earth,… Continue reading Drafting a Solar System Book
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Getting Organized for a “Report” Writing
Th entire fourth grade is going to be doing a report writing within science class (separate from our Writing Workshop). (It's not actually a report since the final form will be an illustrated 10 page non-fiction picture book.) They're also reading nonfiction books about the Solar System in Science Class. Hence, we needed to teach… Continue reading Getting Organized for a “Report” Writing
