Picture Prompt "Scoot" in Writing Workshop

I have a fun writing workshop lesson to share today!  We just wrapped up a never-ending persuasive/argument writing unit in my classroom, and since then, I've noticed my kids have been a little stuck when it comes to writing.  They are burned out and out of ideas!  To help them get their writing spark back, I've been doing some fun "Ideas" mini-lessons.  These are always my favorite kind--the ones that get the kids super excited about writing and that may lead to a published piece...or maybe not.  Last week I pulled out my file folder of writing pictures.  I gathered a bunch of magazine pictures last summer and laminated them.  Early on in the year, I modeled how to write from a picture, and it was a hit.  But they've been in the cabinet since September, so it was time to dust them off!

This time, though, we used them to play "Scoot."  You know, when you have the kids scoot from desk to desk and complete a short task at each one?  This time, I put a picture on each desk and had the kids scoot from desk to desk, completing a quick write at each one based on the picture.  (Word to the wise: If you do decide to use Scoot in your classroom, make sure you practice the scoot rotation at least 3 times before actually starting!!  Will save you a ton of headache...)  Anyways, once we'd practiced the rotation, I set a timer on the screen for a minute and we got started!

My kids completed 4 or 5 quick writes before we ran out of time.  They had a blast, and the next day, I had them choose one of the stories they'd started to continue writing about.  If my goal was to reignite our writing enthusiasm, I'd say this activity was a success!

Five things Friday: New Computers, Anchor Charts, and KT Tape

1. I have to be honest:  I've been putting off blogging because I have had it up to HERE with my computer.  It is sooo slow, and I think I have upgraded and reupgraded the system as many times as I can to prolong its life.  The cherry on top was when I tried to Skype with Older Brother and Adorable Niece last weekend, only to have my video completely not work.  Then, I tried to download Skype on my work laptop, only to have audio not work!  Terrible.  The good news is that I decided to use my tutoring $$ to buy a pretty new laptop!  (And then of course went into cardiac arrest at the fact that I just spent a month's rent and decided to start tracking my spending for October and actually get around to me perpetual new year's resolution of budgeting...)

2. Yesterday was a marathon day of parent conferences.  I had one before school, had kids from 8:40-11:40, then had...wait for it...TWENTY MORE, wrapping up the night at 8pm.  Dear god.  District gives the kids the day off today so we can use it to finish conferences, but we don't have to schedule any for today if we don't want to.  We just have to go in for at least 2 hours (any time) either way.  At my old school, most teachers scheduled all of their conferences for Thursday and used Friday to just get some work done, so that's what I did again this year.  Yes, 21 conferences in one day (plus teaching all morning, woo) is quite the marathon, but it was pretty awesome to sleep in until 8am this morning, head to school in jeans and TOMS, and work in a quiet, dark classroom listening to Iron & Wine.  Afterwards I treated myself to soup and some reading time at Panera--in other news, it's officially chilly and fall!  Soup season!

3. While working at school today, I spent about a half hour prepping chart paper for next week.  I LOVE my easel, chart paper, and Mr. Sketch markers something fierce.  The thing is, in order to not have to spend excessive time with my back to the kids writing on a chart during teaching, I have to spend time "prepping" the paper, aka drawing the bare bones of whatever anchor chart we'll be using so that I can just fill in the necessary parts during my lesson.  Does anyone else spend huge chunks of time doing this??  Even though it takes time, I love my chart paper and Mr. Sketch markers, so it's time I don't mind taking. :)  In other news, I got a new easel!!  Wooo!!  Sad how exciting this is.  Here is is, along with the focus chart we're filling out during our read aloud, Wonder (The best. book. ever.  Full post after we finish it.).

Mr. Sketch = best markers ever.  Perfect for anchor charts...

and coloring new clothespins for my clip chart clips!

4. We are finishing up our first writing project--a fictional narrative.  Here are pictures of some of the anchor charts we made together during mini-lessons:

Publishing

Strong Titles

My favorite mini-lesson ever: Power of 3

The Run-On Police

5. I have a 8-9 mi run on the schedule for tomorrow.  My IT bands have been in the best state they have been in a year, but I'm still using KT tape to get them through long runs:

The big pain though is that the samll pieces of tape always peel off from around my knees, especially when I get sweaty.  KT tape sticks great, especially KT tape pro, but the problem is just the placement of these small pieces and the fact that they are mostly sticking against another piece of tape, not the skin.  KT tape pro comes in pre-cut strips, and for IT band taping, you're supposed to cut one piece in half to make the two small X pieces.  Buuut the half size ends up not being big enough to stick to enough of the skin!  And the tape is just two darn expensive to use a bigger amount for these pieces--as it is, I have to use 4 strips to tape both of my IT bands, which roughly equals $4...that adds up, yo!

Anyways, after some excessive google searching for another kinesio tape option, I settled on Rocktape H2O.  It sounds ULTRA sticky and even waterproof, plus I can cut strips in whatever size I want.  We'll see if it does the trick!

What are your weekend plans?

"Ideas Lessons"--Getting Started in Writing Workshop

One of my favorite things to do at the beginning of the year is lay the foundation for Writing Workshop in my classroom.  I always spend the first weeks of school doing a bunch of fun "Ideas" lessons--lessons that are designed to spark an idea for writing.  The kids start a bunch of different pieces in their Writing Workshop journals, add a ton of things to their "ideas list," and basically get bitten by the writing bug.  Taking the time to build the writing community is so important--it helps get the kids excited about writing, but equally as importantly, it gives the kids so many ideas that they can never say, "But I don't have anything to write about!" later in the year during Daily 3 or Writing Workshop.

One of our first Writing Workshop lessons was the "Narrative Heart," which I *think* is from one of Ralph Fletcher's books, but I can't remember where I first heard of this one.  I model writing all of the things that are in my heart on chart paper and the kids do the same in their journals.  Then, they can write a story about any of those ideas when they are stuck and don't know what to write about!  My narrative heart:

Some highlights of my heart: my niece Olivia, my old and new schools, memories from going to Michigan every winter with my dad to cut down a Christmas tree, eating dessert, my high school friend Alex (all of my friends, of course, but I picked one for an example!), and of course my childhood teddy bear Fred. :)

4th grade narrative heart :)

We also read the adorable book Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox, a perfect mentor text for writing about memories using artifacts.  The kids all brought in artifacts, and I brought in my first half marathon medal.  I told them my "memory story," then we all wrote about our artifacts.  Last, the kids shared their writing with partners.  

Another favorite lesson I do every year is using Desert Voices by Byrd Baylor, a book of poems written from the points of views of desert animals.  After reading the book, the kiddos brainstormed animals that they would like to write from the point of view of... 

This lesson usually gets some fun results!

Because I love both Patricia Polacco and my "rotten" older brothers, I always love reading aloud My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother at the beginning of the year.  This year I used it in literacy to introduce character traits and story elements, but then I hit it again in writing workshop.  I read the book and then tell the kids a story about the most rotten thing my older brother ever did--I was about 8, and he was yelling and screaming and generally making my life miserable while in charge one night when my parents were out.  He decided to steal my teddy bear, put him on top of our ceiling fan, and threaten to turn the fan on and chop him to bits unless I stopped crying.  Sibiling love. :)  Anyways, after I share my "rotten sibling story," I challenge the kids to write theirs...

The last "ideas" lesson I want to share was a new one for me this year, an idea I got from the Being a Writer 4th grade curriculum.  I read the beginning of the picture book Gorky Rises aloud to the class.  It's not a favorite book of mine, but the premise is that the kid mixes a ton of different things together and makes a potion that makes him fly.  I only read the first few pages, then brainstormed with the kids what ingredients they could mix in a potion and what the potion would do.  They absolutely LOVED this lesson, and many of them worked on that story all week long!  

 All in all, after two weeks my kiddos are already hooked on Writing Workshop and ask to do it multiple times during the day.  Score!  (Now I just have to teach some writing conventions...god help us all!!!)

Writing Workshop: The Recurring Line

This is a lesson I borrowed from CRAFT by Ralph Fletcher, my favorite go-to writing mini-lesson book.  When I was first learning about Writing Workshop at a seminar, the presenter said that initially, teaching good mini-lessons is more important than making sure the kids are using what you've just taught in their writing right away.  Gradually, over time, she said, you'll start seeing the techniques you've taught pop up in their projects and drafts.  This concept is different than what I'd initially thought about teaching writing, but after two solid years of using the Writing Workshop model, I have to say that I agree.  There are some lessons I teach, like good beginnings and endings or transition words, that I make sure the kids are practicing right away.  Those lessons have an important purpose in the context of a writing project that we are all working on.  But other times, I just want to teach a lesson on a quality technique that isn't essential, but will help elevate their writing to the next level.  When I'm looking for something like that, I turn to CRAFT.

This lesson is called "The Recurring Line."  To teach it, I used three mentor texts: The Doorbell Rang, The Giving Tree, and Chicken Sunday.  After each story, we identified the recurring line and the author's purpose for including it.  In The Doorbell Rang, a preschool book, the recurring lines just add a pattern to the story, making it easy for little kids to pick it up.  Simple.  In The Giving Tree, the recurring line ("And the tree was happy.") embodies the story's theme--the tree is happy when he is helping the boy and when he is a part of the boy's life.  In Chicken Sunday, the recurring line ("A voice like slow thunder and sweet rain") describes an important, memorable quality about an important character.  After reading that story, we talked about how the author wanted to leave a lasting impression of that character in our minds, and how her voice was something special about her.

The kids loved the lesson (they love any lesson with picture books!), and even though I didn't see recurring lines pop up in their writing much, I'm confident that if I taught it again next year and extended it with modeling using a recurring line in my own writing, some of my little writers will catch on.  It doesn't have to be every single student, but if one of my little writers picks up a quality writing technique from a mini-lesson, I consider it a success. :)

Writing Workshop: Conflict + Resolution

I love teaching all of the writing genres through Writing Workshop, but my favorite part of the year is Story Writing.  My kiddos write stories all year long when we aren't focusing on one of the Big Three genres (exp, narr, pers), but I like to take a few weeks in winter or sprint and spend some time working on writing quality stories--you know, that actually have a plot and don't end with "to be continued..."!  In reading some of the kiddos' writing this year, I decided that the most important thing for us to nail down in our stories was that they needed a clear conflict and resolution.  Sounds obvious, but I can't tell you how many stories I've read in my short time as a teacher that have neither.

During Day 1, I reviewed the term "conflict" with my students and pulled out a bunch of picture books and novels we'd already read together this school year.  Quickly, I held them up one at a time and had the kids identify what the main conflict had been in the book.  We also differentiated the difference between the "Big Conflict" that guides the plot, and smaller conflicts that make up the rising action.  For example, in My Rotten Red Headed Older Brother by Patricia Polacco, although during the story Tricia eats a bunch of sour rhubarb and falls off a merry go round, the main conflict is that she and her brother do not get along.  The kids did great with this, and we recorded several of the conflicts on an anchor chart.  Next, we brainstormed some possible conflicts to include in their writing.  I reiterated to them that a conflict isn't always a fight--it might be a big problem, it might be a little problem, or it might just be a goal.  Then, during Writing Workshop, I went around to each student and briefly (I mean BRIEFLY) checked in with them to ensure that their story had a clear conflict.  I recorded the title of their project and the conflict in my notebook.

On Day 2, we went back to those stories and the anchor chart and briefly identified how each conflict was resolved.  We added the resolutions to the anchor charts, and I checked in with students again to see if they had a plan to resolve their conflict.  If they did, I recorded it, and if not, I starred their name in my notebook to remind myself to check in again in a few days.  I always do writing conferences during Writing Workshop, but I always seem to "miss" a student or two...what I mean is, I completely forget to check in with them, either because they are writing in some weird corner of the room or because my hands are full with ultra needy students, until the end of the project only to find that they are completely off track.  This was so helpful for me, and by the end of the drafting stage, all of the kids had stories with a clear plot, including conflict and resolution.

Next time I do these lessons, I will also include a day on climax.  It's something we've discussed at length in shared and guided reading, but I never taught the kids to build a "hot spot" into their writing... #keepsinmindfornextyear...

Writing in the Content Areas: Social Studies (oh, and vote for me!)

You want to know what one of my absolute favorite things is?  When you are teaching a lesson and the students get SO excited about the topic/concept/whatever that it evolves into something much bigger than you'd planned.  Our pacing/plans are so regimented in my building that I have very little flexibility to change things up in response to students' interests and questions, but I managed to do a little of that in social studies last month.  Let me tell you, it was SO WORTH IT.

Let me back up...awhile back we were reading about the first colonial settlements in our social studies text (Roanoke, Jamestown, and Plymouth), and my kiddos were absolutely FASCINATED by Roanoke and the mysterious disappearance of the early settlers.  To tell you the truth, I was pretty fascinated along with them and was quick to indulge when the kiddos begged to hear more about the settlement.  Since no one is breathing down my neck about pacing and scope/sequence of my social studies instruction, I figured if the kids were at least showing a PULSE about a topic, why not stretch it out and explore it a little deeper?  (Who can resist when kiddos get excited about learning...)

On our second day, I introduced the words "speculations" and "evidence" to the kids.  We talked about how there is SOME evidence from Roanoke, and many speculations, but not even historians know for sure what happened to the settlers.  (This seriously baffled them.  At first they seemed to think I was hiding the truth from them.  They thought it was pretty cool that they were thinking of answers to a question that even historians hadn't solved!)  We watched a short United Streaming video clip, then I read aloud this awesome book:

source

While I was reading and during the video clip, students took notes in a T-Chart in their learning logs.  The left column was to record evidence we know for sure, and the right their own speculations. After reading and taking notes (with plenty of discussion throughout!), students got into groups and shared their Roanoke theories, adding to their T-Charts.  We then came back together as a full class and created a class anchor chart with our evidence and theories.  I told the kiddos that their theories could be as realistic or bizarre as they wanted, but they all had to be based on SOME evidence.  Needless to say, some of my 5th graders got REALLY creative...

Then comes my favorite part.  Each kiddo chose a theory that they liked best and wrote a story to explain it.  A few chose to explain in an expository format, but several wrote completely awesome journal entries from the points of view of Roanoke settlers.

They turned out fabulously!  Some theories were completely crazy, including bands of pirates and underground settlements, others went so far as to explain how the carving of the word "CROATOAN" was really an anagram for the settlers' TRUE location...all in all, super creative and amazing.  And even though the stories were fictional, all of the students included true facts about Roanoke, so it was a great learning opportunity.  I absolutely loved this assignment and would have dragged out Roanoke even more if I could have, but eventually I figured that I should probably try to squeeze in other important history topics before the end of the year...you know, like slavery or the American Revolution or something like that... :)  But what can I say, kids' getting excited about learning is like crack for this teacher.  LOVE IT!

Are you able to connect your content areas to literacy?  With our structured literacy series, it's tough, but every now and them I try to bridge social studies and writing workshop.  Sometimes it works better than others though!! :)

Oh, and I just found out my blog was nominated for a Fascination Award!  Stop by and vote for me by clicking on the emblem on the side of my blog!  I'll be your best friend... ;)

Teaching Figurative Language in Writing Workshop

As state testing time is RAPIDLY approaching (T minus 5 school days until THE TEST!), I've been trying to hit test material/strategies in all content areas, not just during test prep time.  Writing Workshop has been a great place to review skills like author's purpose, text genre and style, and most recently figurative language.  We talk about figurative language all year long during shared reading, but most times that just involves pointing out examples when we happen to come across them in the shared text.  That's okay, but I wanted to go a little further.  On our 5th grade state test, most figurative language questions tend to be about similes, so I wanted to spend most of our time focusing on writing and identifying similes, but also wanted to go over metaphor and personification again.

Last year, I did a series of lessons on writing poems using similes that I got from Read Write Think.  The lessons involve reading the poem "Willow and Ginkgo" by Eve Merriam.  and identifying the similes in the poem.  After that, the kids begin to write their own simile poems.  I decided to do this same lesson again this year, and it was just as successful.  Since we worked on our poems the week of Valentines Day, all of the kiddos chose a person or thing that they loved to describe using similes.  Read more about the lesson I did last year here.

After spending about a week reading and writing similes, this week we explored metaphors.  I had a hard time finding a kid-friendly poem with great examples of metaphors, so I "borrowed" a poem I found about books that used a lot of similes, and changed them to metaphors...I don't want to get in trouble for copyright infringement, so I'm not going to share it here... :)  If you know of a good poem with tons of metaphors, please let me know!  As another activity, we listened to the song, "The World's Greatest" by R Kelly.  Are you familiar with the song?  It is ALL metaphors.  While we listened to it, I had the kiddos jot down some of the things R. Kelly compared himself to in the song.  Afterwards, we discussed the metaphors and talked about what they might mean.  For example, "I am a lion" might mean that he feels he is brave and strong.

Once we'd learned about metaphors, the kids had an opportunity to write poems about their families comparing each member to something through metaphor.  Here's my sample:

As another fun review of the difference between similes and metaphors, we listened to "Firework" by Katy Perry.  Before listening, I had the kids write the words "Simile" and "Metaphor" on a large index card.  During the song, every time they heard one of the two, they held up their card to indicate which one it was.  So much fun.  Finally, I haven't taught it to my kids yet, but one of my teammates shared this little song she made up to help with simile and metaphor.  (To the tune of "Oh Christmas Tree")

A simile, a simile

A comparison using like or as

A simile, a simile

A comparison using like or as

A metaphor is a comparison

That doesn't use like or as

A simile, a simile
A comparison using like or as

I will be starting off our week Monday by using this song to review the two techniques.  :)  This week, I am also planning on revisiting personification, which we worked with more closely earlier this year.  When I introduced it, we read the books Brave Irene and Rosebud and Red Flannel, both of which are great.  Then we wrote stories personifying object in pictures, like bowling pins, buildings, etc.  After we've reviewed personification, I plan to read a few picture book mentor texts and have the kids hold up cards when they hear examples of similes, metaphors, and personification.  So far I've picked out Owl Moon (great similes!) and Under the Quilt of the Night.  Both are so beautiful.  

What are your favorite ways to teach figurative language?


Do you have any favorite mentor texts for figurative language?

Persuasive Writing Boot Camp

It's been awhile since I did a post about Writing Workshop!  My kiddos and I spent the month of January knee-deep in persuasive writing.  I am incredibly pleased with their improvement over the course of the month, and happy to report that they have turned out some fabulous final products!  

To start off the unit and hook them in, I gathered the class on the carpet, adopted a very serious tone, and said,

5th graders, I have some very sad news to share with you.  Mr. Principal has been thinking about canceling lunch recess.  He thinks you guys need more learning time in your school day and that we don't have time to go outside for lunch recess.  However, he is still considering the decision.  I was thinking that maybe we could write him a letter to convince him how important lunch recess is.  What do you think?

Needless to say, the kiddos were outraged.  To give you a little back story, our principal no longer allows us to take our class out for 5-10 minute "classroom recess" in addition to the lunch recess, so this was both especially terrible and especially believable news.  We started out with brainstorming the different reasons that lunch recess was important.  After the kids brainstormed with partners and shared with the class, I discussed the importance of appealing to one's audience in writing.  If our audience was Mr. Principal, then we would need to choose reasons that Mr. Principal would think were valid.  (i.e. not "it's fun" and "we like kickball.")  The kids settled on three strong reasons, and we began to fill out a graphic organizer together on chart paper.

One of my big goals for this unit has been to get the kiddos to use second order support as well as strong, detailed examples to support their main points.  So, during this shared activity I really pushed them to elaborate on their reasons.  Why does lunch recess help us learn?  Why is social time at recess important?  Why will Mr. Principal think that's important??  After spending a day or two planning our shared letter, I modeled using the graphic organizer to write a letter.  I used to do this on chart paper, but this year have been hooking up my laptop to the LCD projector and typing.  So much faster and easier.

Anyways, after we finished the letter, I shared with the kiddos that lunch recess was not really going to be cancelled.  We talked about the purpose behind persuasive writing (connecting it back to our Author's Purpose lessons), and began to brainstorm different things we would all like to have that we could write our own letters asking for.  The kids came up with topics like their own bedroom, a cell phone, a pet, lockers, hot lunches at school, and a later start time to the school day.  Then, we used this graphic organizer from Read Write Think to start planning.

Over the next few days, the kids worked on their graphic organizers and rough drafts.  I taught mini-lessons on topics including second order support, persuasive transitions, strong conclusions, and varied sentences.  Here are some of the anchor charts we made and used.

To help with varied sentences, I also had students go through their writing and underline the first word in each sentence.  Then, we worked on restructuring sentences to change up the starting words.  

After the kiddos finished their letters, I gave them a choice of 4 or so other topics to write an essay about.  We talked about how essays are different from letters, and worked on writing strong introductions, reviewing the "hooks" we learned earlier this year.  Again, the kids wrote about similar things, including hot lunches, fast food for school lunch, school uniforms, kids having the right to vote, and lockers at school.  The essays are turning out great too!  All in all, a successful writing unit.

Anchors Away Linky Party: Language Arts Anchor Charts

Thanks to Frogs & Cupcakes for hosting a great linky party!  I love me some anchor charts. :)  I had been planning on sharing these anchor charts anyways, so I was excited to see this linky party!  Here's a reading anchor chart/graphic organizer we used for making inferences...

The rest of these are for Writing Workshop.  Because I always find myself lacking enough wall space to display my charts, this year I devoted a bulletin board just to writing workshop, and have thumbtacked the charts one on top of another onto it.  Then, I taught the kids to go to the board and page through them when they need to reference one.  They are really good about it, too!  Here are a few of our recent ones, most of which were made during a unit on narrative writing... 

Sorry for the messy writing. :)  I still haven't mastered the art of leaning sideways and writing on my chart from my teacher chair!  One of the many reasons I don't teach first grade... ;)

Trying Out the Tablet!

I posted awhile back about the super snazzy new tablet computer that replaced my old school computer--an ancient laptop that moaned and groaned anytime I tried to do two things at once...ugh.  The tablet is awesome! I've had a lot of fun trying it out with the kids.  While it is infinitely better for day to day computer activity than the old computer, hands down the best part about it is using the tablet during math.  I used to feel chained to the overhead projector or the board when introducing math concepts.  Now, I turn on the projector and open up Word or Windows Journal.  I can write problems and take notes right on my tablet while walking around the room and checking in with kids.  The kids love writing answers on the tablet, too!

Last week, one of our lessons focused on understanding that the angles in a triangle add up to 180 degrees and finding the measurement of an angle given the other two angles.  Because engagement (or lack thereof...) has been something of an issue during math class lately, I gathered the kids on the carpet with their notebooks, sat on a little stool by the screen, and showed triangles and problems right there.  The kids used colored markers to copy the work into their notes (colored markers are pretty AND using color stimulates the brain!  Who knew?!), and I used different color "pens" on the tablet.  They were SO engaged, loved all of the color, and I loved that I could teach the whole lesson facing them almost at eye level without needing to turn my back to the board or hover by the overhead projector.  

I've also loved using the tablet in Writing Workshop.  Usually I do my mini-lessons on chart paper by my easel, but any time I'm planning on modeling revising or editing text, it's a BIG PAIN to write whole paragraphs on chart paper.  BLEH!  A few weeks ago, I typed up one of my students' first drafts of a narrative we're working on.  His work was GREAT, but it was all one paragraph!  I projected the typed version on the screen, and we worked together to edit it (using editing marks) on my tablet.  This week I wanted to work on basic editing, so I typed a quick letter to the kids about my weekend, and again we edited it together.  I've used transparencies in the past for editing practice, but I HATE making them, and again I reeeeally hate being chained to the overhead.

I. love. my. tablet.  I'm sure there are many more possibilities for using it in my classroom, and I can't wait to figure them out!

Easy Writing Workshop Mini-Lessons!

Have you entered my giveaway for Chocolate #9 energy gel?  Go! Go! Go!


It's been awhile since I professed my love for Writing Workshop, so I think it's about time for a post!  I'll admit that Writing Workshop isn't going as smoothly in my class this year as last year, but I know every group of kiddos is different so I am trying to find a balance between patiently reteaching and in some cases adjusting my expectations.  This year I have a squirrely group, but I also have the IEP inclusion cluster--in other words, several of my kiddos either cannot focus long enough for 20 minutes of independent writing or just plain don't have the skills to write for 20 minutes without 1 on 1 assistance!  All of that aside, we have been making progress and working hard the past few weeks to lay that foundation that is critical for Writing Workshop.  I've been doing "ideas" lessons like crazy to get my kiddos writing about things they're interested in. Here are two that I especially love...

Quick Writes
This mini-lesson is perfect for when you're pressed for time and only have a few minutes to spend on the lesson portion of the writing block.  I start by setting the expectations for Quick Writes: Everybody writing as a group, 1-2 minutes, write the whole time without stopping.  I tell the kids that no matter what, we keep our pencils moving on our papers--the ideas will come if we keep going!  Then I give a few different prompts 1 at a time.  In the past, I've shown one and then immediately had the kids write about it, then shown another and followed with another quick write, etc.  At the end, I'd tell the kids to choose one of their quick writes to continue working on.  Last week I showed the prompts one at a time (slowly, pausing in between) and then told the kids to pick one to write about during our quick write.  <--I think this was a better fit for my current group of kids, as they would have been overwhelmed by several quick writes in a row whereas last year's group did great with it.

During the quick write, I ALWAYS write too.  I'll talk with the kids after about my own quick write experience, and ask them to reflect.  I'll ask, "How did it feel to write without stopping?  Did anyone get stuck?  Did anyone have ideas come to them when they just kept writing?" etc.  After the mini-lesson portion is over, I'll send the kids to their spots for the "writing time," and tell them to continue their quick write or work on another piece.  I use quick writes periodically throughout the year.  Sometimes I'll pause during a mentor text read aloud and do a quick write asking the kids to finish the story with what they think will happen.  Other times I'll give more free-thinking questions similar to those shown above.  I love how versatile this mini-lesson is!

Mentor Text: Thank You, Mr. Falker

If you haven't read Patricia Polacco's Thank You, Mr. Falker yet, drop everything and get yourself to your nearest bookstore.  You may need kleenex.  This is seriously one of my all-time favorite books, and it makes a perfect writing workshop mentor text for early in the year. 

In this beautiful book, main character Tricia (based on the author's own experiences!) struggles her entire childhood with reading and math.  Every year in school she watches the other kids advance in their readers and yet she still cannot make sense of the letters and numbers on the page.  Tricia is terribly bullied and just plain miserable.  I get choked up every time I read it aloud.

Don't worry, the story has a happy ending, but as part of a mini-lesson, I pause on a particularly intense page that shows Tricia crying with the cruel words of bullies hanging in the air around her.  I get really serious and talk with the kids about how they think Tricia feels and how this page makes them feel.  Then I tell them about how when I was young math was really hard for me.  I tell them that sometimes I even thought I was dumb or that I could never learn math.  Then I talk about how we all have had times where we felt like Tricia.  Maybe we struggled in school and were embarrassed.  Maybe we weren't good at something in sports and were teased.  Maybe we didn't fit in because of our clothes.  I ask them to write about a time they felt like Tricia.  Some of the stories they tell are beautiful.

Do you have any favorite Writing Workshop Mini-Lessons?

Missed some of my other Writing Workshop Mini-Lesson posts?

The Power of 3

Here Lies Said

I Wanna...(Persuasive Letter)

Simile Poems

Fairy Tale Quick Writes

Story Surgery

Desert Voices

Looping Stories

Rotten Siblings

Summer Memories

Book Review: Your Child’s Writing Life by Pam Allyn

“No matter the age, people are fascinated, preoccupied, consumed, fearful, enchanted, and delighted by the power of the written word.  But children especially love, love the power of words and stories.  And they are, so naturally, living a writer’s life.  A life of observation, of wondering, of memory and imagination” (pg. 2).

I feel as though I have always been a reader and a writer.  Reading and writing are so much a part of who I am and always have been—in fact, it is difficult for me to remember a time when reading and writing were not an important part of my identity.  While I have had many wonderful teachers who have inspired me and pushed me to grow as a reader and writer, I know that my passion for words started before I ever entered a classroom.  I recently saw a bookmark with this quote:

This quote is so true, especially for my own life.  My parents made me a reader with so many of their actions.  But also, children are made writers first in their own homes.  I wholeheartedly believe this, so when I was given the opportunity to read and review Pam Allyn’s new book Your Child’s Writing Life, I absolutely said yes.  Earlier this summer I read Allyn’s book Best Books for Boys—read my review here.

While I am not a parent, I think that Your Child’s Writing Life would be immensely helpful to parents who wish to help their children grow as writers but aren’t sure how.  We all know the "secret" to raising a successful reader: read to them, read with them, read, read, and read some more.  I don’t think early writing gets as much attention, both from parents and teachers.  We already know that kids who grow up in text rich homes and who listen to stories and “read” with parents from a very early age are at a huge advantage academically over peers who do not share the same intense exposure.  Early writing offers this same advantage.  Urging readers to see that writing is not something that needs to wait until intermediate grades to be taught, Allyn cites a research study from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Research.  Allyn writes, “The researchers asserted that when we practice writing with our children from their first year onward, our little ones will do better in school, enjoy self-expression more, and be more self-reliant” (pgs. 3-4).

While I already believed in the importance of early writing before opening this book, Allyn made me even more convinced--if that’s possible!  In the first chapter, she gives three main reasons why writing matters for even the littlest ones:

1.  “Writing fosters a child’s emotional growth.” Children are empowered when they have the opportunity to own their experiences, both positive and negative, through writing.
2. “Writing helps develop critical thinking skills."  Children can learn about differing perspectives when they write and tell their own stories and compare them to the stories of others.
3. “Writing leads to guaranteed improvement in academic achievement." There are enormous amounts of writing on standardized tests!  Students who are not practiced writers do not have the stamina to perform up to their potential on the writing sections of tests.

Allyn urges parents to let go of any preconceived notions from their own schooling that writing should always be structured, grammatically correct, and have a certain format.  In fact, when we are writing for the pure JOY of it, it can be so much more powerful if it is unstructured!  Writing does not always have to be essays.  (In fact, how often in our own adult lives are we writing "essays" anyways?!?)  Often in the classroom, we feel limited to teaching the standard narrative, expository, and persuasive genres with our students.  Last year I made a concentrated effort to foster a love of creative writing in my students as I implemented a Writing Workshop structure for the first time, and I am not exaggerating when I say I saw magic happen.  My students became WRITERS, and more importantly, at least 90% of them grew to love writing, many for the first time.  They were writing meaningful stories about topics they cared about.  They were writing things they WANTED to write, and because they WANTED to write, they were practicing and thus getting better.  It’s not complicated.  Sometimes I did worry that I wasn’t doing enough of the basic expository, narrative, persuasive genres, worry that I was “wasting my time” on creative writing.  But is helping my students grow to love writing really wasting time?  In my heart, I know it isn't even in the slightest. 

Similarly at home, parents can easily foster a love of writing by making writing a part of a child’s life from the very beginning.  If it becomes a natural part of the everyday (more importantly, a joyous part of the everyday!), writing will never be a chore for children.  Allyn writes, “As parents, our biggest job is to teach our children to fall in love with the things that will transform them, make them better students and give them the skills they need to be successful” (pg 10).  As I mentioned earlier, I know that I would not be the reader and writer I am today if my parents had not fostered an early love for reading and writing in me.  From my first years, I knew that these things were fun, and I read and wrote for hours upon hours.  It makes sense, then, that when I started school I was already a strong reader and writer, and that I continued to grow. (Now, if only my parents had also helped me fall in love with math!!)

Once she has you convinced that encouraging a writing life for even the youngest children is of the utmost importance, Allyn then goes on to give parents a guide for how to do this in the home.  She offers and explains 5 “Writing Pillars” (Stamina, Creativity, Fluency, Phonemic Awareness, and Organization), areas that we can continuously work on and develop with children.  Most helpful (in my non-parent opinion!) were Allyn’s 5 Keys to “Set the Stage for Forever Writers.”  These 5 Keys follow the acronym WRITE: Word Power (creating a rich vocabulary), Reading Life (reading as a means of writing coaching), Identity (personal writing style and preferences), Time (making time for writing in children’s lives), Environment (creating a writing place with your child in your home).

The chapter in which these keys are explained and those that follow are packed with simple (beautiful) ideas for “setting the stage” for your child’s writing life, including suggestions for each year from birth to age 10+.  I loved these tips because they are so simple, yet can make a big difference.  For example, Allyn suggests that parents create a “word jar” in which they can “collect” and store their favorite words, offer to email stories to grandma after children have finished as a means of “publishing,” taking “writing walks,” and journaling together about the school day instead of just discussing it.  Additionally, towards the end of the book Allyn provides helpful suggestions for what to do when your child (as most do at some point) resists writing.  I know many parents who have fought those writing homework battles (I have fought some myself while tutoring!) that would greatly appreciate this gem of a chapter!

There is so much more in this book, but I think I’ve already gotten a bit carried away!  As I’ve said, I am not a parent, but I know in talking to students’ parents on a daily basis that while they may feel confident in reading with their child or drilling math facts, many parents aren’t sure where to begin when it comes to helping their child grow as a writer.  This book is the perfect starting place, and I so enjoyed reading it and feeling Allyn’s own passion for literacy and writing literally dripping from every word.  I plan to recommend it to my friends and family members who are new moms! 

Disclaimer: I was not compensated in any way for this book review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own. :)

The Power of 3

I guess running right before bed maybe isn't the best idea for me--I can't sleep!!!  Even though tomorrow is only a 2 hour day at school, I certainly wasn't planning on staying up past 1am!  Oh well...  I thought I would make use of this extra time to blog about one of last week's writing workshop lessons.

source

Last year I attended a fabulous professional development that introduced me to the WONDERS of the Writing Workshop, with which I immediately fell in love.  We received a great booklet of mini-lesson ideas that I flip through from time to time when I need some inspiration.  Last week I happened to stumble across the Power of 3 mini-lesson.  Are you familiar with the Rule of 3 in reading and writing?  After a bit of googling I discovered that this is a HUGE thing!  I even saw links to articles on comedic acting and professional fiction writing.  Needless to say, this is a pretty valuable writing skill!

The Rule of 3 is pretty simple: to make your writing more interesting and memorable, sprinkle some "3s" throughout.  This might mean repeating a word or phrase 3 times, including sets of 3s throughout (characters, etc.), or listing 3 things using commas in a series.

Examples:

• The baby cried. --> The baby cried and cried and cried.
• We ran errands --> We went to the post office and to the grocery store and to the library.
• Mary was intelligent --> Mary was smart, wise, intelligent.

You get the idea.  Because I LOVE using Mentor Texts in Writing Workshop, I introduced the Rule of 3 to the kiddos by telling them I was going to share a SECRET of great writing with them.  I told them that this is something that great writers know to do in their writing, and because all of THEM are great writers, they should be let in on the secret.  I explained the Rule of 3, calling it the "Power of 3" for a little extra fun. (Because 5th graders aren't so big on rules...) :)  I shared the examples with them and made a quick anchor chart on the easel.  Then, I challenged them to be on the lookout for the 3s during a short read aloud.  

Our mentor text?  Kindergarten classic, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes.  One thing I've learned this year in my Writing Workshop pilot has been that sometimes little kids' books do a GREAT job of demonstrating a specific skill.  In this case, Lilly is a perfect book to model the rule of 3.  I had the kids pay close attention and count on their fingers (holding hands up in the air) all of the times they heard a set of 3.  We stopped and discussed, then I challenged them to try to use the Rule of 3 in their writing project.

I liked this lesson and think that it presents a SIMPLE, QUICK way to really elevate writing.  Another Writing Workshop win!

Interested in reading about some of my other Writing Workshop mini-lessons?

• Here Lies Said
• "I Wanna ______": Persuasive Letters 
• Simile Poems
• Story Surgery
• Pourquoi Tales
• Looping Stories
• Rotten Siblings