My students finished the NECAP Reading Test today. The sun also came out too. (I was on the verge of building an arc since there had been a lot of gray skies this past week.) Therefore, I took my students outside of the building with oil pastels and soft pastels to sketch the community, which… Continue reading Sketching the exterior of your school
Category: strategies
Strategy: Write Using A Photo
Whenever I want my students to bring in a photograph to help them write, I usually say NO PORTRAITS since there are rarely good stories that come from them. Hence, I put together this mosaic, which can be used in a demonstration prior to having the kids bring photos to school, so that I can… Continue reading Strategy: Write Using A Photo
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Memory Boxes are a big hit!
I modeled the golf glove piece to my class today during my demonstration. I partially wrote it out and partially wrote in the air. Then, I had the kids select one item from their memory box, during the active engagement, and had them write in the air about it, telling the story of the memory… Continue reading Memory Boxes are a big hit!
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Mapping Our Hearts
Heart Map Display Originally uploaded by teachergal My demo was too long. And because of that, the entire day ran late. HOWEVER, we had an amazing Writing Workshop where my students crafted maps of their hearts (Thanks to Georgia Heard!), which visually illustrate the most important things to them. Here's a photo of them all… Continue reading Mapping Our Hearts
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Gimmicks
I've been known to use lots of gimmicky things to get kids to write in their notebooks. For instance, I'll create mini-charts (aka: cheat sheets) of the large strategy charts I have hanging in the classroom. Then, I'll have the kids tape them into their writer's notebook to help them get started or to assist… Continue reading Gimmicks
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Gearing up for tomorrow’s Workshop
Here's my chart for tomorrow's LOOKING AT YOUR PLACE Activity. I've been contemplating modeling for them, but I'm leaning more towards a guided practice where I take them through the entire exercise step-by-step, revealing each new step every couple of minutes just like George Ella Lyon did for us at the WLU Conference.
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more on generating writing ideas.
Like Stacey, I think it's imperative that kids have lists in their notebooks about writing ideas. I think one of the most powerful lessons we can give students in regards to finding writing ideas is to help them find topics they can mine. What I mean by this, is finding topics that have many topics inside of them. For… Continue reading more on generating writing ideas.
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They can never say that they don’t know what to write about anymore!
Sample List Originally uploaded by teachergal Encourage your students to keep a list of things they can write about in their writer's notebooks (an idea I took from The No-Nonsense Guide to Teaching Writing by Judy Davis and Sharon E. Hill). Here's a page out of a former student's notebook. You can see the specificity… Continue reading They can never say that they don’t know what to write about anymore!
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WN Entry: Making A List
I got inspired by Reflections from the Rockies' Post entitled "My Favorite Things About Colorado So Far." Since a good deal of my students' first couple weeks of Writing Workshos will revolve around the creation of lists (and then the development of a list item into an entry in their writer's notebook), I thought, "Why… Continue reading WN Entry: Making A List
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WN Entry: Words of Wisdom (W.O.W.)
Ruth and I collect quotations, which is why we have an entire page devoted to quotes. However, I also like Words of Wisdom. In fact, I have had my two previous classes create "Words of Wisdom" Signs for use in my next classroom. (This is a space where each child has the opportunity to give… Continue reading WN Entry: Words of Wisdom (W.O.W.)
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WN Entry: Writing About My First Visit to Narragansett Beach
Narragansett Beach, RI Narragansett Originally uploaded by teachergal STRATEGY: Write about the first time you did something. ENTRY: This past weekend was full of firsts. We had our first Shabbat Dinner in the apartment together. We also had our first house guests (Adam and Jenn). Finally, we went to the beach in Rhode Island for… Continue reading WN Entry: Writing About My First Visit to Narragansett Beach
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“Sketching” the Place Where You Live
I've told my students so many times to sketch a memory and then draw it. I'm a little tired of that strategy for I feel that too often kids try to make their sketches perfect pictures and then they lose the essence of the exercise, which was to sketch and then write about their sketch.… Continue reading “Sketching” the Place Where You Live
