Kate and I were creating charts after school this afternoon for tomorrow's big memoir drafting lesson. (Though I previewed it for my kids today.) Calkins & Chiarella's Book makes reference to three kinds of structures for memoir: 1. Hybrid texts which combine exposition and narrative. (I likened this to a hybrid car and drew a… Continue reading What Do Hybrid Cars, Windows, and Pearl Necklaces Have to Do with Memoir?
Category: mentor texts
Memoir Stuff On-Tap for This-Coming Week
This week I'm going to pull-out a bunch of texts that are memoir-ish: When the Relatives Came, What You Know First, The House on Mango Street, and maybe even Marshfield Dreams if I can find it in-time. However, I'm unsure as to whether or not I want to share the memoir I wrote about my… Continue reading Memoir Stuff On-Tap for This-Coming Week
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Poetry Portfolio Guidelines
My colleagues and I met during our Common Planning Time today and solidified this year's Poetry Portfolio Guidelines, which is an adaptation of what my fifth graders did last year. We're going to have three sections: mentor poems/texts, original poetry writing, and responses to poems that the kids love. I'm pretty happy with it and… Continue reading Poetry Portfolio Guidelines
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In Their Words
Today's Workshop, in my classroom, was spent immersing my students in the memoir genre (or is it genre of memoir... both sound funny to me!). The kids realized that most memoirs are a combination of exposition and narrative. (I compared memoir to a hybrid car. That definitely helped!) After my kids listened to four of… Continue reading In Their Words
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Inspired to Create a Book List at OceanCliff
The view of the water from the back of OceanCliff Originally uploaded by teachergal We got all of our writing and reading teaching points solidified for the rest of the school year when we were at OceanCliff yesterday. However, we went a step farther and did something we didn't expect to do. We started a… Continue reading Inspired to Create a Book List at OceanCliff
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WE’RE PRESENTING AT NCTE IN NOVEMBER!!!!
I just got off of the phone with Ruth, with whom I shared the great news. Our conversation session proposal, "INSPIRING CHILDREN TO WRITE: TEACHING WRITING WORKSHOP WITH OUR NOTEBOOKS WIDE OPEN" was accepted for the 2008 NCTE Annual Convention in San Antonio, Texas. My speech title is "Teaching With My Notebook Wide-Open," while Ruth's… Continue reading WE’RE PRESENTING AT NCTE IN NOVEMBER!!!!
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Immersing them in the memoir genre
Deb asked me which texts I'll be using on day one of the memoir unit. Well, the answer is that I will be reading When the Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant or rereading What You Know First by Patricia MacLachlan. That being said, I'm actually having the kids spend their independent writing time reading three… Continue reading Immersing them in the memoir genre
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Stacey’s Seventh of Eight Poems
Even if you're a few days behind, don't fret. C'mon in and join JOY: Five Senses Poem Originally uploaded by teachergal I chose to write a poem about the emotion joy. I'm not quite sure if I captured it. I think this poem is still a draft/a work in progress! As I near the end… Continue reading Stacey’s Seventh of Eight Poems
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POETRY CHALLENGE
I like challenging myself and my students with their writing. So... in honor of National Poetry Month, I thought about creating a week-long poetry challenge since I'd like to create more poetry of my own to share with my students during minilesson demonstrations. Hence... I was thinking about starting this Challenge on Saturday, 4/12 and… Continue reading POETRY CHALLENGE
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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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Literary Essay Texts
During our common planning time today, my colleagues and I brainstormed a list of texts we're going to have students select from for their literary essays. Many people think that kids should pick whatever book they're reading, I've come to believe that having children select from a pre-selected set of short texts is better. A… Continue reading Literary Essay Texts
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Revision: Dialogue
The active engagement of today's minilesson ran a little longer than usual since my students felt as though they needed to help me revise my dialogue after studying the way another author used powerful dialogue in another text. I think that their suggestions helped me write something more believable that just needs to be folded… Continue reading Revision: Dialogue
