Yesterday Lori Hickman and I launched a poetry unit of study in her kindergarten classroom. Since we wanted to see what they already knew about writing poetry, we decided to have them write a poem. This made me a little nervous. What if they just stared at the paper or chaos ensued because they had… Continue reading First Attempt at Poetry
Category: units of study
REVIEW Unit Launch
This week I launched a REVIEW UNIT in several third grade classrooms. On the first day I asked, "Have you ever heard of a review?" Heads shook. "Okay, then, let me show you some," I said. We spent time looking at some reviews I pulled up via the internet on the SmartBoard. We read reviews… Continue reading REVIEW Unit Launch
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Unit of Study Phases
In preparing to talk with teachers about planning a unit of study, I created this chart to help show how I encourage students to individualize the writing process instead of forcing a lockstep approach to the writing process throughout a unit of study. Here are a couple of slides from my presentation: Many units of… Continue reading Unit of Study Phases
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How much can you fit into one school year?
Many teachers are spending preparation periods working with colleagues to develop a curriculum map for the 2010-2011 school year. Developing a scope and sequence that is developmentally appropriate, interesting to children, and meets state standards is of crucial importance. However, it's not always easy to plan for the following school year. Rissa, of the Learn… Continue reading How much can you fit into one school year?
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Back to School Week: Workshop + Parents
Yesterday, Jen asked: As you are blogging about back to school, I wondered if you have any hints/tips for a parent presentation or handout to be use on Back to School Night? We are transitioning into Writer’s Workshop using Lucy Calkins’ Units of Study in the upper grades from a more activity driven 6-Traits based… Continue reading Back to School Week: Workshop + Parents
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Genres in My Upper Grade Classrooms
I’m plowing through the questions Katie asked, last week, methodically. Here are the two I’m going to answer today: Which genres do you teach during the year? Approximately how long do you spend in each genre and how many published pieces do you expect from them at the end of it? Here’s a list of… Continue reading Genres in My Upper Grade Classrooms
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The Home Stretch
Today is my last day of Spring Vacation. It has felt as though I've been away from school, and from blogging, for a long time! Thanks to Ruth's understanding about my need to take a vacation without my computer, I've really had some time to unwind, contemplate, and relax. I'm ready for the final 47… Continue reading The Home Stretch
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Goals Restated
A reader, Sara, suggested, a few weeks ago, that I restate the students' goals for the upcoming Writer's Notebook Unit of Study as "I Can..." Statements, which I did for the two most recent units I taught in Reading and Writing Workshops. Therefore, I tweaked what I had and turned it into the following: Goals… Continue reading Goals Restated
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What’s Next?
I received a question earlier this evening about what's next in my Writing Workshop: What do you usually do next in writing workshop? I just finished persuasive writing, and this is the first time I have done it so early in the year. I am trying to figure out the next logical step. I feel… Continue reading What’s Next?
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Revisiting
My colleagues and I are going to revisit writer's notebooks with our students right after the winter recess. We haven't written the teaching points yet, but our homework, over the holiday, was to come up with goals for the upcoming mini-unit of study. I came up with five goals for the unit -- what I… Continue reading Revisiting
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This is the only kind of jogging you’re going to see me do!
Kevin, Creator of Day in a Sentence, used a new technology, Jog the Web, to showcase everyone's posts this week. I was fascinated with the ease at which I was able to navigate through the websites of the Day in a Sentence Contributors. In fact, I liked Kevin's Jog so much that I created a… Continue reading This is the only kind of jogging you’re going to see me do!
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Blog Carnival: Exchanging Units of Study
Something strange happened last night... Ruth and I, who live 872 miles apart, were sitting at our respective computers writing about the same thing: units of study. Then, Patricia left a comment stating that she'd like to share her personal essay unit of study with other teachers. Ruth and I began emailing back and forth… Continue reading Blog Carnival: Exchanging Units of Study
