Day 2 seemed to go WAY better than the first day...
... there were significantly fewer students asking if they could draw and the students spent more time writing in their journals than talking to their neighbor. NOT that I don't encourage conversation, but Day 1 seemed to involve more talking about non-related writing than actual writing.
.
.
.
The SUPER positive news of the day... my little boy who sat there yesterday and wrote nothing? Yah, he actually wrote today. It wasn't quite on the topic of narrative writing but he wrote.
Did I reprimand him for not writing on the correct genre of writing? No. Should I have? I thought that just getting him to write was victory enough and once we build his confidence as a writer, then I can start steering him toward something more specific..
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Narrative Writing: Day 1
Day 1
I was nervous. For the last 3 weeks, I have been thinking about how this writing workshop was going to look like in my classroom. I had seen pictures and videos of other writing workshops. I had read books, articles, and blogs about writing workshops. But I wanted to make this my own. I think I kept thinking about writing. Author's make writing their own; they add their own voice. I wanted my writing workshop to have it's own voice.
We begun the lesson with meeting at the carpet in front of a mostly blank piece of chart paper.
(I say mostly blank because I had lightly sketched the narrative anchor chart on it. This was a tip I learned from a professor in my Master's program so then you can make it look sort-of neat while you are making it...)
We had a brief discussion about there being different types of writing. I explained that we were going to start narrative writing. When I ask what narrative writing was, most of the responses were
"Where you write something light and then trace it?"
I guess I didn't write the anchor chart lite enough because the kids could obviously see my pencil marks... oh well
I explained that narrative writing was where you tell about an event (like 4th of July), tell about a personal experience (having fun with my newborn, baby E) or telling a story.
Each narrative needs three parts, the beginning, the middle and the end.
Next, I gave the students an example of telling about an event. It went something like this:
I went to a party. There was food. I went home. The end.
I know, great huh?
I asked the kids what they thought and they all decided they didn't like it, even thought it had a beginning, middle, end. They came to the conclusion it needed more details.
We then had a brief discussion about what kind of details we can add. I did not write the "words create pictures" part on day 1. I wanted to save it for day 2 and allow the kids some time to write.
SO we begun to write.
Again, I was nervous. Would they want to write? Would they complain? Would they stage a coo? (Ok, a little dramatic).
And I'm happy to say, it went fairly well. Most of the kids wanted to write and they wrote. I had two red (well maybe yellow) flags that I say:
(1) One little boy stared at his paper for the full 15 minutes and couldn't write
(2) A few wrote two sentences and then wanted to draw a picture. When asking if they could go and add some more details, they said no they just wanted to draw the picture..... (eekkk.. did my long term sub have them draw more than write??)
I was nervous. For the last 3 weeks, I have been thinking about how this writing workshop was going to look like in my classroom. I had seen pictures and videos of other writing workshops. I had read books, articles, and blogs about writing workshops. But I wanted to make this my own. I think I kept thinking about writing. Author's make writing their own; they add their own voice. I wanted my writing workshop to have it's own voice.
We begun the lesson with meeting at the carpet in front of a mostly blank piece of chart paper.
(I say mostly blank because I had lightly sketched the narrative anchor chart on it. This was a tip I learned from a professor in my Master's program so then you can make it look sort-of neat while you are making it...)
We had a brief discussion about there being different types of writing. I explained that we were going to start narrative writing. When I ask what narrative writing was, most of the responses were
"Where you write something light and then trace it?"
I guess I didn't write the anchor chart lite enough because the kids could obviously see my pencil marks... oh well
I explained that narrative writing was where you tell about an event (like 4th of July), tell about a personal experience (having fun with my newborn, baby E) or telling a story.
Each narrative needs three parts, the beginning, the middle and the end.
Next, I gave the students an example of telling about an event. It went something like this:
I went to a party. There was food. I went home. The end.
I know, great huh?
I asked the kids what they thought and they all decided they didn't like it, even thought it had a beginning, middle, end. They came to the conclusion it needed more details.
We then had a brief discussion about what kind of details we can add. I did not write the "words create pictures" part on day 1. I wanted to save it for day 2 and allow the kids some time to write.
SO we begun to write.
Again, I was nervous. Would they want to write? Would they complain? Would they stage a coo? (Ok, a little dramatic).
And I'm happy to say, it went fairly well. Most of the kids wanted to write and they wrote. I had two red (well maybe yellow) flags that I say:
(1) One little boy stared at his paper for the full 15 minutes and couldn't write
(2) A few wrote two sentences and then wanted to draw a picture. When asking if they could go and add some more details, they said no they just wanted to draw the picture..... (eekkk.. did my long term sub have them draw more than write??)
Friday, October 4, 2013
Narrative Writing begins..
For the first unit I wanted to start with my kids was narrative writing.
Why did I choose this genre?
1. Kids have the most experience with this genre, most of the time not knowing that's what it's called.
2. That's the first genre my reading curriculum addresses
3. I want the end writing piece to be a Halloween story
Here are the steps I took to plan the unit.
(Side note, I give my self permission to change, tweak, and revise this unit as much or as little as possible. I think this is important because in writing, we revise and edit our pieces to fit our needs, just as we should revise and edit our plans to meet our students needs :)
1. I decided on the two days I wanted to have my students share their Halloween stories (October 29 and 30)
2. I looked at what day I was returning back to the class (if you didn't read my first post, I was on maternity leave for the first 3 weeks of school)
3. I counted the days to discover I have about 20 days for this unit.
4. I then created a template for a Narrative Writing Anchor Chart. It included the key information about narrative writing (look for the picture of it on my next post)
5. I begun to search through some of my trusty teacher professional development books to help with the mini lessons I would be doing. Some of the resources I used are:
Why did I choose this genre?
1. Kids have the most experience with this genre, most of the time not knowing that's what it's called.
2. That's the first genre my reading curriculum addresses
3. I want the end writing piece to be a Halloween story
Here are the steps I took to plan the unit.
(Side note, I give my self permission to change, tweak, and revise this unit as much or as little as possible. I think this is important because in writing, we revise and edit our pieces to fit our needs, just as we should revise and edit our plans to meet our students needs :)
1. I decided on the two days I wanted to have my students share their Halloween stories (October 29 and 30)
2. I looked at what day I was returning back to the class (if you didn't read my first post, I was on maternity leave for the first 3 weeks of school)
3. I counted the days to discover I have about 20 days for this unit.
4. I then created a template for a Narrative Writing Anchor Chart. It included the key information about narrative writing (look for the picture of it on my next post)
5. I begun to search through some of my trusty teacher professional development books to help with the mini lessons I would be doing. Some of the resources I used are:
The 6 +1 Traits of Writing
Grade 3 Writing Curriculum Week by Week Lessons
100 Writing Lessons
And some other crazy ideas I came up with in my mind! (and Pinterest always helps as well..)
So here is the unit, it's very simple because I want these units to be able to flow with the needs of the students.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
The planning begins..
So as I began to think about tackling the planning of year long writing for 3rd graders, I started to look for resources.
Resources.
Resources.
Resources.
.
.
.
.
.AHHHH!
Let me tell you, I got overwhelmed, super quick! There are many many books about writing, the writing process, writing traits, writing prompts, writing assessment, in case you didn't know. There are 172 when you search for writing instructional books on Amazon. Like I said, OVERWHELMED.
So what's a second year, new grade level, new mommy teacher to do?
.
.
.
Restart the planning. :)
I decided to start with the end in mind. I recently read the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. You can find it here. One of the habits is Begin With The End in Mind. Instead of trying to plan all the daily activities, I needed to decide what I wanted the kids to get out in the end. What were the big goals I had?
So what did I come up with? (I think I use the word so a lot...)
I chose 5 writing genres that I wanted the kids to put in a writing portfolio.
1. Narrative
2. Persuasive
3. Expository
4. Descriptive
5. Personal
So (there I do again...) I had my goals but I needed a little more... a little more something.
The next list isn't organized, it isn't pretty and neat. But is writing ever that way? Nah.. it's a messy process.
*understand the flexibility of the writing process
*develop skills using the writing traits
*appreciate conferencing with peers
*positive attitude toward writing
*positive experience toward sharing their writing
These are goals that I think will help my kids appreciate writing more, which is the BIG BIG GOAL in the end, right.
So (okay, I totally typed this, then erased it, then decided to leave it...) there's the beginning of the planning process.
As writing has the prewriting step, I think planning a writing curriculum does as well... now on to working on the first unit... Narrative
Resources.
Resources.
Resources.
.
.
.
.
.AHHHH!
Let me tell you, I got overwhelmed, super quick! There are many many books about writing, the writing process, writing traits, writing prompts, writing assessment, in case you didn't know. There are 172 when you search for writing instructional books on Amazon. Like I said, OVERWHELMED.
So what's a second year, new grade level, new mommy teacher to do?
.
.
.
Restart the planning. :)
I decided to start with the end in mind. I recently read the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. You can find it here. One of the habits is Begin With The End in Mind. Instead of trying to plan all the daily activities, I needed to decide what I wanted the kids to get out in the end. What were the big goals I had?
So what did I come up with? (I think I use the word so a lot...)
I chose 5 writing genres that I wanted the kids to put in a writing portfolio.
1. Narrative
2. Persuasive
3. Expository
4. Descriptive
5. Personal
So (there I do again...) I had my goals but I needed a little more... a little more something.
The next list isn't organized, it isn't pretty and neat. But is writing ever that way? Nah.. it's a messy process.
*understand the flexibility of the writing process
*develop skills using the writing traits
*appreciate conferencing with peers
*positive attitude toward writing
*positive experience toward sharing their writing
These are goals that I think will help my kids appreciate writing more, which is the BIG BIG GOAL in the end, right.
So (okay, I totally typed this, then erased it, then decided to leave it...) there's the beginning of the planning process.
As writing has the prewriting step, I think planning a writing curriculum does as well... now on to working on the first unit... Narrative
Thursday, August 1, 2013
The journey begins...
I have always enjoyed writing. It has had a special place in my heart. A special place that often gets neglected. Life has seemed to get in the way. Teaching. Starting a family. Responsibilities. Commitments. Graduate school. Friends. Hobbies. The list goes on. So when brainstorming a project for my graduate capstone in literacy, I came back to the thing I love; writing.
I have had my undergraduate in elementary education for a couple years. This last year I was a 1st grade teacher. I was thrilled. The littles have always had my heart (not that I don't love the maturity of 5th and 6th graders). They always seem to get excited about the smallest things that make me really appreciate the little things in life. I mean, come on, who doesn't love a brand new box of crayons?! Anyone.. okay, maybe just me.. When I began the school year, I knew I wanted it to be special. 1st grade seems to be such an important year for the littles; their first desk, their own supplies, learning to read, developing those math skills. You see a lot of growth with six year olds. I was optimistic. I had many,many, many (Thank you, Pinterest) ideas on what I wanted to do with my firsies. But then reality (and the many requirements and expectations of a school/district) came in and I realized it might be a little more difficult to incorporate the 1,380 projects I had planned. Okay, maybe that is a slight exaggeration, but only slight :) Now believe me when I say, I REALLY tried to introduce as much writing as I could with them. But writing soon evolved into something else. Instead of encouraging the love of writing, the focus was always the conventions of writing.
"Every sentence starts with a....."
"What do we end a sentence with?"
"How big are your finger spaces...?"
Ugg... just typing it sounds so lame...
I understand that conventions are ONE writing trait but what about the many others? Word choice? Sentence fluency? Organization? Idea? Presentation? Voice?
Thus, back to the special place in my heart.. writing. I love it. I want my kids to love it. I want to instill a special place in their hearts to love writing like I do.
Sounds easy?
Hmm.. well, let's add that I have now switched grades (3rd grade!!), switched districts (wayyyy shorter commute), and am having my first child any day (a girl, named Emma :) ).
Yeah, no biggies, I have about 732 things on my plate, what's adding one more.
It's going to be hard. But I am anxious to see the outcome.
So here is the plan, the goal for me, the blog...
(1) Incorporate a Writing Workshop into my 3rd grade classroom
(2) Concentrate on the love of writing, the process, the traits (not just conventions, or standards)
(3) Write about the experience (using the blog, of course)
(4) Incorporate my students with the blog by having them share writings
(5) Keep my sanity.. very important
The journey begins...
I have had my undergraduate in elementary education for a couple years. This last year I was a 1st grade teacher. I was thrilled. The littles have always had my heart (not that I don't love the maturity of 5th and 6th graders). They always seem to get excited about the smallest things that make me really appreciate the little things in life. I mean, come on, who doesn't love a brand new box of crayons?! Anyone.. okay, maybe just me.. When I began the school year, I knew I wanted it to be special. 1st grade seems to be such an important year for the littles; their first desk, their own supplies, learning to read, developing those math skills. You see a lot of growth with six year olds. I was optimistic. I had many,many, many (Thank you, Pinterest) ideas on what I wanted to do with my firsies. But then reality (and the many requirements and expectations of a school/district) came in and I realized it might be a little more difficult to incorporate the 1,380 projects I had planned. Okay, maybe that is a slight exaggeration, but only slight :) Now believe me when I say, I REALLY tried to introduce as much writing as I could with them. But writing soon evolved into something else. Instead of encouraging the love of writing, the focus was always the conventions of writing.
"Every sentence starts with a....."
"What do we end a sentence with?"
"How big are your finger spaces...?"
Ugg... just typing it sounds so lame...
I understand that conventions are ONE writing trait but what about the many others? Word choice? Sentence fluency? Organization? Idea? Presentation? Voice?
Thus, back to the special place in my heart.. writing. I love it. I want my kids to love it. I want to instill a special place in their hearts to love writing like I do.
Sounds easy?
Hmm.. well, let's add that I have now switched grades (3rd grade!!), switched districts (wayyyy shorter commute), and am having my first child any day (a girl, named Emma :) ).
Yeah, no biggies, I have about 732 things on my plate, what's adding one more.
It's going to be hard. But I am anxious to see the outcome.
So here is the plan, the goal for me, the blog...
(1) Incorporate a Writing Workshop into my 3rd grade classroom
(2) Concentrate on the love of writing, the process, the traits (not just conventions, or standards)
(3) Write about the experience (using the blog, of course)
(4) Incorporate my students with the blog by having them share writings
(5) Keep my sanity.. very important
The journey begins...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)