Touchstone Texts Helped

Thursday December 11, 2008Thursday December 11, 2008 Stacey Shubitz2 Comments

11 out of the 17 students who were present yesterday turned-in their drafts. Nine of them will be getting customized letterhead. Good number, right? I found that the packet of touchstone texts (letters) I gave the students on the immersion day of our unit really helped to lift the level of their writing. I could… Continue reading Touchstone Texts Helped

Letterhead

Sunday December 7, 2008Sunday December 7, 2008 Stacey Shubitz2 Comments

Tuesday's News & Announcements Chart Originally uploaded by teachergal As you know, Sunday's are for chart-making in my home. I just finished creating this week's News & Announcements Charts (for Morning Meeting) as well as a few strategy charts for Writing Workshop. Feels good to be finished! For the past couple of years, I've created… Continue reading Letterhead

letter writing · persuasive writing · professional books · writer's notebook

Two Exceptional Professional Books

Wednesday December 3, 2008Wednesday December 3, 2008 Stacey Shubitz2 Comments

In the past week, I've managed to squeeze-in some time to read through two professional books, both of which I picked up while I was at NCTE. Writing to Persuade: Minilessons to Help Students Plan, Draft, and Revise, Grades 3-8, written by Karen Caine, is a resource I wish I had four years ago when… Continue reading Two Exceptional Professional Books

letter writing · persuasive writing · reading workshop · strategies · writing about reading · writing workshop

Sundays are for chart-making.

Sunday November 30, 2008Sunday November 30, 2008 Stacey Shubitz3 Comments

Prompts for Writing About Reading Originally uploaded by teachergal I've been cranking-out charts for the past hour or so: News & Announcements Charts, as well as strategy charts. Just thought I'd post a few of the strategy charts, for reading and writing, in this forum. Make sure you click through to the Flickr Pages (just… Continue reading Sundays are for chart-making.

immersion · letter writing · personal essay · persuasive writing · writing workshop

It’s going to be a busy week!

Saturday November 29, 2008Saturday November 29, 2008 Stacey Shubitz3 Comments

Week of December 1st, 2008 Originally uploaded by teachergal I just finished planning out the upcoming week and wow... there's a lot going on! However, when I realized my kids were publishing and starting a new unit of study this week, I realized I had to create some additional sheets to get them to reflect… Continue reading It’s going to be a busy week!

art · creativity · Election 2008 · persuasive writing

A Little Copywriting

Thursday October 23, 2008Thursday October 23, 2008 Stacey Shubitz3 Comments

This afternoon, I'm going to teach a Social Studies Lesson about voting I found on Scholastic.com. It's a lesson about having kids persuade adults to vote in a non-partisan way. I created a PowerPoint to go along with the lesson. Feel free to use it if you're interested in teaching the same lesson before November… Continue reading A Little Copywriting

conventions · news and announcements · persuasive writing · publishing

Wow!

Tuesday October 14, 2008Tuesday October 14, 2008 Ruth Ayres6 Comments

Check out this Providence Journal article about a student who wrote a persuasive letter to Lowe's and was granted a response bigger than he ever imagined. Bernardo Garcia wanted mulch for their outside play area, so he wrote a persuasive letter to the executive vice president of store operations for Lowe's, Michael K. Brown. Brown, upon returning… Continue reading Wow!

letter writing · persuasive writing · photograph · yearbook

A Labor of Love: Because My Students’ Lives and Experiences Matter

Thursday June 12, 2008Thursday June 12, 2008 Stacey Shubitz3 Comments

Here's what I'm working on now... Originally uploaded by teachergal Last year one of my fifth graders, Lauren, wrote a persuasive letter to a very large yearbook company's CEO asking him to give our class yearbooks. She successfully persuaded him to discount the price of a full-color yearbook for the entire class (the kids paid… Continue reading A Labor of Love: Because My Students’ Lives and Experiences Matter

books · letter writing · persuasive writing · reading · slice of life · Slice of Life Story Challenge

Stacey’s Slice of Life Story: Day #30

Sunday March 30, 2008Sunday March 30, 2008 Stacey Shubitz4 Comments

This afternoon I met up with A & her mom at the Barnes & Noble on Bald Hill Road in Warwick. They spotted me getting a "Tall, skim, no-whip, white mocha," when they came in. Once my coffee was ready, we sauntered over to the children's section where we got to work using the $100… Continue reading Stacey’s Slice of Life Story: Day #30

persuasive writing · publishing

Hooray! Hooray! My students are publishing tomorrow!

Thursday January 24, 2008Thursday January 24, 2008 Stacey Shubitz1 Comment

I baked two kinds of cupcakes in honor of my students' achievement. If this doesn't say "I'm proud of your accomplishment," then I don't know what does! Dotted Decorations Tiny Sprinkles Waiting patiently to be taken to school

letter writing · persuasive writing · writing workshop

Persuasive Letter Lessons

Wednesday January 16, 2008Wednesday January 16, 2008 Stacey Shubitz1 Comment

Here's a great link to some persuasive letter lessons, complete with a business letter template, which I've used with my students since I started teaching, over at Scholastic.com. True, it's written for high schoolers, but you can adapt some of these sheets, as well as the lesson, for an elementary school Writing Workshop.