I worked on the Reading-Writing Connections Document for Those Shoes until 12:30 a.m. Here are two examples of the way I set it up: Craft MovePage Number(s)Why the Author Might Be Doing This…Varied Sentence LengthsPgs. 2, 15 & 30One thing writers do is vary the lengths of their sentences when they write. If an author… Continue reading Those Shoes: The Mentor Text Teaching Document
Category: mentor texts
The Makings of a TRUE Mentor Text
I realize I'm a bit late to the "Those Shoes Party," which is a touching text written by Maribeth Boelts and illustrated by Noah Z. Jones. Those Shoes was published in 2007 and is the story of a little boy who desperately wants the shoes that nearly everyone else in school has. The catch? His… Continue reading The Makings of a TRUE Mentor Text
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Teaching Craft to Kids
I was perusing the Heinemann and Stenhouse Websites today looking for new books about the teaching of writing. I came across a text by Elizabeth Hale entitled Crafting Writers K-6. Like other new Stenhouse titles, they preview the entire text online. After I perused the Table of Contents, I decided to download chapter three, which… Continue reading Teaching Craft to Kids
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READING/WRITING CONNECTIONS: If you want to teach writing really well, know a few picture books really well and use them when you confer.
On the final day of the Writing Institute, both Carl and Lucy spent some time reiterating the importance of knowing a few texts REALLY WELL so you can use the same book with many students (rather than needing several books for each unit of study). That is, figuring out how a text, such as a… Continue reading READING/WRITING CONNECTIONS: If you want to teach writing really well, know a few picture books really well and use them when you confer.
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It teaches precise details… AND it’s missing!
My copy of When It's the Last Day of School by Maribeth Boelts is missing. With the end of the school year being tomorrow, I'm a bit frantic about finding it. I'm sure it's at school, in my picture book bookshelf filed under "B" for "Boelts," however, I'm not 100% sure. Last year, when I… Continue reading It teaches precise details… AND it’s missing!
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SOLSC: The Perfect “Gift”
Last week, on the day I taught my students how to write letter poems by showing them Brod Bagert's Poem "The Poem on My Pillow," one of my students came up to me with a letter poem… to me. I was touched by her words and found myself holding back tears. She brought it to… Continue reading SOLSC: The Perfect “Gift”
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Preparing for Tomorrow’s Mentor Poems Lesson
Starting My Poetry Craft Table Originally uploaded by teachergal Tomorrow, I'm doing some explicit instruction on identifying poetic tools in poems we admire and then trying to use those tools in our own poetry. Hence, I'll be using this Poetry Craft Table, which I either adapted from Pat Werner or from Davis & Hill's Book… Continue reading Preparing for Tomorrow’s Mentor Poems Lesson
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Picture Book-Palooza
On Thursday afternoon my students counted the photocopies of the book covers that I have hanging on clotheslines all around our classroom. Nearly every book I've read (save a few whose covers I never hung) to my students has it's cover posted around the room (laminated on mounted construction paper). They counted, with the ones… Continue reading Picture Book-Palooza
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Making Mentor Poems Accessible At Any Time
Mentor Poems Bulletin Board, originally uploaded by teachergal. I realized the other day that it was unfair to only provide extra mentor poems, from my mentor poems binder, to kids when I conferred with them. Hence, in addition to handing out a packet of mentor poems after each minilesson, I also put together this new… Continue reading Making Mentor Poems Accessible At Any Time
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Read Alouds That Support the Writing Curriculum, IRA Books, & Touchstone Texts
I've been working on updating the list of books I've read to my kids this year since I think it's good to keep a list, of sorts. I have the book covers photocopied and hanging from the clotheslines in my classroom, but there's no substitute for a good list. Here's a preview of what "the… Continue reading Read Alouds That Support the Writing Curriculum, IRA Books, & Touchstone Texts
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What do you notice about this poem?
Brainstorming About "Pencils" by Barbara Esbensen Originally uploaded by teachergal Since I came back today, my kids only had one day's worth of formal poetry instruction. Hence, I wanted to spend some time doing some noticing of the tools one poet used in their poem (in this case, Barbara Esbensen's Poem "Pencils," which I've used… Continue reading What do you notice about this poem?
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Decisions, Decisions, Decisions…
Draft II: A Letter Back to a Student Originally uploaded by teachergal This note is a response to a student who turned-in her second draft yesterday. She did a phenomenal job mentoring herself after Cynthia Rylant's Book When I Was Young in the Mountains, changing it to "When I was four on Lonsdale Avenue." She… Continue reading Decisions, Decisions, Decisions…
