Last week I described how I approach this activity. I started the process this week and I will now describe how it's going.
Day I.
We created a list of problems for a story with a winter holiday theme. The kids seemed to be in a particularly inspired frame of mind, which led to a lively session. It’s necessary for you, the teacher, to maneuver the discussion in such a way that you get a variety of suggestions. Don’t be afraid to distil out weak ideas. With a little tact you can encourage your students to think hard, and to be original. If they get hung up on some basic idea, tell them we need to change to a new idea. An important part of the process is for you to suggest examples too. Every so often, especially when the kids offer timid ideas, I model more adventurous ways to approach story problems. For example: Santa’s reindeer were on vacation in Hawaii and refuse to go to the North Pole in December.
When I throw out some crazy ideas, it sparks excitement in the kids, and gets them thinking more creatively.
First, they came up with ideas about Santa and various problems with the presents. Examples: All the elves had flu; there was a shortage of toy-making materials; Santa’s sleigh had a mechanical problem; etc. The best one was the following: Because of Global Warming, the ice on which Santa’s workshop sits, melted and fell into the Arctic days before Christmas!
It was time to steer them in a different direction. Let’s think about kids and people. What would make someone unhappy or worried at this time of the year? I managed to get ideas like these: A family lost their home and had live in a shelter; all the Christmas trees were sold out .
Time to move on to something new. I said, “What are some other problems we can think of to do with winter? What do you think about when you of winter?” Someone said “snow”. Can you think of problems to do with snow? First I got the usual type of response, like getting caught in a snowstorm. Then someone said: Scientists were in Antarctica and they encountered aliens. This led to another student suggesting: A group of snowdragons wanted to destroy Earth.
By the end of the session I had a list of twelve pretty decent problems and a class of kids eager to get started!
Day 2. The kids selected a problem, then did a quickwrite of a story. I told them it was a pre first draft, just to get the basic idea of a story down on paper. I gave them half an hour for this.
Day 3. They made a picture of the most important setting in the story, then wrote a paragraph describing the setting.
Day 4. In a paragraph, they wrote a description of either the main character, or, if the story was in first person, of an important character in the story.
Day 5. The problem – frame-by-frame. I had not taught this skill before, so I needed a full hour for this lesson. Because this is an advanced skill, I felt the best way to teach it would be to model the process using a student’s problem.
Me: Who would like to tell me their problem?
Student: Santa’s reindeer had disappeared.
Me: I am going to draw 6 frames on the board and we are going to write down exactly what went on in sequence. So, what happened first? Who discovered the reindeer were missing?
Student: An elf.
Me: What was his name? And tell me exactly how he made the discovery.
Student: His name was Gorgy. Gorgy went to the stables and the reindeer weren’t there.
Me: Okay, let’s back up and picture the whole thing. Class, we are all going to help Sara with this, so please give us your ideas. Gorgy leaves his cottage, or Santa’s workshop and is walking toward the stables. Does he notice anything before he reaches the stables? Can anyone tell me?
Second Student: He sees hoof-prints in the snow.
Me: Great. Let’s fill out our first two frames. Gorgy steps out of the workshop and walks toward the reindeer’s stables. He notices hoof-prints in the snow. What is he thinking now?
Third Student: He is puzzled and races to the stables.
Me: Good. Let’s write that down in our third frame. What’s the next thing he sees? Pretend you are Gorgy. What are you seeing? How are you feeling?
Fourth Student: The stable door is open. Gorgy panics.
Me: Excellent. You guys are getting the idea. Let’s put that in our fourth frame and fill out the rest of the frames.
With student help I wrote: When Gorgy got to the stables he saw hay scattered all over, but no reindeer. In shock he ran to tell Santa what happened.
We have just taken the most important part of the story and we wrote details to help the reader understand the story and the problem better. Now it’s your turn to do a frame by frame description of your problem. Picture it. Imagine you are there experiencing it.
I have to say, about half the class got grumpy about this task. I quickly realized that this was not an easy skill for third graders. I worry when I push my students too hard. As I walked around the classroom helping kids, I got the impression that they understood what to do in theory. This was great. Obviously not everyone is going to get it the first time. But the next time we do a story they will be more receptive to this part of the writing process. On a positive note, I have a significant number of strong writers who embraced the frame-by-frame exercise.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Winter Holiday Story
I have just started the following writing activity this week, and wanted to share how I execute the project. In this task I go into plot development in more detail. In writing this narrative my students use all the skills I have taught thus far, as well as a more complex plot structure.
The process takes about two weeks, maybe even three, from start to the final drafts. It’s very important to keep up the excitement level, and not to make them feel stressed ore overwhelmed. Pace these steps as it works for you. I start with a series of workshops before they write out their first draft.
Prepare kids first by reading a selection of picture books related to the winter holidays.
1. Remind kids that every story has a problem that the main character tries to solve. Brainstorm problems with a winter holiday theme. List the problems on chart paper.
2. Now ask the kids to write a story. This should be a stress-free exercise intended to help germinate an idea. This will not be their first draft!!
3. Hand kids a story map in which they write down who the characters are, what the setting is, and what the problem is.
4. Main character. Write a paragraph describing the main character or an important character in your story. Tell what they look like and what their personalities are like.
5. Setting. What’s the most important setting in your story? Illustrate this on white paper. Then make a table with four squares labeled: Sights, Sounds, Smells, Feel. The kids then complete the table, using their picture to help them.
6. Write a paragraph of this setting
7. Now focus on the problem. On white paper use a frame by frame graphic to sketch out the problem in detail. How does it start? How does the main character react? How does the problem affect the character?
8. Plotting. Explain how writers develop plot in a story. The main character thinks about how to solve the problem. Usually he/she fails at the first two attempts, but learns from the experience, which helps him/her solve it at the third attempt. This is the magic of 3. Refer back to the stories you read aloud as examples.
Now have the kids complete the following plot diagram.
First Try Second Try Solution
The kids are now ready to write their story plugging in the descriptions of their character and setting in the appropriate places. These could in fact be their first two paragraphs if you want to make the process easier.
As they begin writing, I like to put up a list of words that they are not allowed to use. I call them “banned” words. These are: good, nice, great, cool, bad, stuff, things.
They may use a thesaurus if they are stuck for a synonym of these words.
When they are done with their first draft, they should do some revising and editing on their own.
First, look at the opening sentence. I do not allow them to start with “One day …”, or “Once upon a time …”, or “Once.” Just cross off those words and the sentence would be a whole lot stronger.
Do not use the word “and” more than once in a sentence. (Learn the rule first before you can break it!).
Avoid starting a sentence with the word “Then”.
Fix spelling.
Put periods at the end of sentences.
Fix other punctuation.
Capitalize all proper nouns, etc.
After they’ve done their editing, it’s time for you to go through their stories and help them clean it up.
Time for publishing!!
The process takes about two weeks, maybe even three, from start to the final drafts. It’s very important to keep up the excitement level, and not to make them feel stressed ore overwhelmed. Pace these steps as it works for you. I start with a series of workshops before they write out their first draft.
Prepare kids first by reading a selection of picture books related to the winter holidays.
1. Remind kids that every story has a problem that the main character tries to solve. Brainstorm problems with a winter holiday theme. List the problems on chart paper.
2. Now ask the kids to write a story. This should be a stress-free exercise intended to help germinate an idea. This will not be their first draft!!
3. Hand kids a story map in which they write down who the characters are, what the setting is, and what the problem is.
4. Main character. Write a paragraph describing the main character or an important character in your story. Tell what they look like and what their personalities are like.
5. Setting. What’s the most important setting in your story? Illustrate this on white paper. Then make a table with four squares labeled: Sights, Sounds, Smells, Feel. The kids then complete the table, using their picture to help them.
6. Write a paragraph of this setting
7. Now focus on the problem. On white paper use a frame by frame graphic to sketch out the problem in detail. How does it start? How does the main character react? How does the problem affect the character?
8. Plotting. Explain how writers develop plot in a story. The main character thinks about how to solve the problem. Usually he/she fails at the first two attempts, but learns from the experience, which helps him/her solve it at the third attempt. This is the magic of 3. Refer back to the stories you read aloud as examples.
Now have the kids complete the following plot diagram.
First Try Second Try Solution
The kids are now ready to write their story plugging in the descriptions of their character and setting in the appropriate places. These could in fact be their first two paragraphs if you want to make the process easier.
As they begin writing, I like to put up a list of words that they are not allowed to use. I call them “banned” words. These are: good, nice, great, cool, bad, stuff, things.
They may use a thesaurus if they are stuck for a synonym of these words.
When they are done with their first draft, they should do some revising and editing on their own.
First, look at the opening sentence. I do not allow them to start with “One day …”, or “Once upon a time …”, or “Once.” Just cross off those words and the sentence would be a whole lot stronger.
Do not use the word “and” more than once in a sentence. (Learn the rule first before you can break it!).
Avoid starting a sentence with the word “Then”.
Fix spelling.
Put periods at the end of sentences.
Fix other punctuation.
Capitalize all proper nouns, etc.
After they’ve done their editing, it’s time for you to go through their stories and help them clean it up.
Time for publishing!!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Fall Poems
Task: Students write an acrostic poem about the fall season.
Step One: Read a few poems.
As I have said before, if you want kids to write well, they should be constantly exposed to high quality literature. Select a few fall themed poems for the kids to read aloud. Discuss the imagery and other literary features of the poems. Ask kids to circle all fall words.
Step Two: Create a word bank on the board of “fall” words. I like to categorize the vocabulary list that is generated.
This is what my class came up with:
FOOD: crops, pumpkins, squashes, corn, nuts, turkey, pies, apples, pears
COLORS: red, orange, yellow, brown, scarlet, golden
ACTIVITIES: basketball, football, Thanksgiving, Halloween, harvest, cooking, families celebrate
NATURE: hibernate, migrate, leaves change colors, leaves fall, shorter days, cooler weather, mist, breeze, squirrels gather nuts, seeds, acorns
OTHER: Autumn, season, changes, scarecrow, thank you
Step Three: The first draft.
I displayed a model of an acrostic poem I made up using the word AUTUMN. The poem was written with colored markers on a 12” x 18” sheet of white construction paper. Around the poem I made a border of leaves in the colors of fall.
You are now going to write the first draft of your poem. After that I’ll help you fix your mistakes and then you’ll do your final poem on construction paper which you’ll decorate with fall pictures.
It is extremely important for you to be proactive in order to get your students to produce high quality writing. Be specific about what you require of them before they begin.
Because I have a class of enthusiastic writers I tend to take more risks than I would if I were teaching predominantly English language learners.
My instructions were as follows:
Choose a fall word for your acrostic. Can you give me some examples?
I created a list of their responses: leaves, harvest, fall, pumpkin, autumn
You may use one of these words, or a different one if you prefer. For each letter, make up a line that tells something about fall. Would “Fall is fun?” be a good line?
They shook their heads. “Why?” I asked.
They couldn’t tell me, so I explained that it gave me no information about fall at all. It was too vague. Besides, it showed no thinking or use of imagination.
Another important thing to remember is that each line must have a different idea. If you mentioned leaves in one line, you cannot talk about leaves again. Do you all understand?
Before you get started let’s quickly look at our chart of “banned” words.
I asked the kids to suggest synonyms that they could use and displayed their responses on the board.
Banned Word Synonyms
Fun enjoyable, wonderful
Nice excellent, pleasant, helpful, kind
Great superb, extraordinary, splendid
Good
Bad unpleasant, awful, dreadful
I must point out that I’m not fond of adjectives that aren’t specific and helpful to the reader, but eight year olds are not ready to understand this. However, making them think harder about their words is an important step.
Note: If I had a class of kids that struggled with writing tasks, I would give them the word for the acrostic poem. I would probably also do the first two lines together with the whole group, then have them work independently on the rest.
Older students (4th and 5th grades) should focus on fine tuning details. For example, pin down the shape, color, texture of a specific leaf from a specific tree and write about it so that your words create a photo of the image in the reader’s mind. Make it more real. Hold a microscope to whatever it is you are writing about.
Step One: Read a few poems.
As I have said before, if you want kids to write well, they should be constantly exposed to high quality literature. Select a few fall themed poems for the kids to read aloud. Discuss the imagery and other literary features of the poems. Ask kids to circle all fall words.
Step Two: Create a word bank on the board of “fall” words. I like to categorize the vocabulary list that is generated.
This is what my class came up with:
FOOD: crops, pumpkins, squashes, corn, nuts, turkey, pies, apples, pears
COLORS: red, orange, yellow, brown, scarlet, golden
ACTIVITIES: basketball, football, Thanksgiving, Halloween, harvest, cooking, families celebrate
NATURE: hibernate, migrate, leaves change colors, leaves fall, shorter days, cooler weather, mist, breeze, squirrels gather nuts, seeds, acorns
OTHER: Autumn, season, changes, scarecrow, thank you
Step Three: The first draft.
I displayed a model of an acrostic poem I made up using the word AUTUMN. The poem was written with colored markers on a 12” x 18” sheet of white construction paper. Around the poem I made a border of leaves in the colors of fall.
You are now going to write the first draft of your poem. After that I’ll help you fix your mistakes and then you’ll do your final poem on construction paper which you’ll decorate with fall pictures.
It is extremely important for you to be proactive in order to get your students to produce high quality writing. Be specific about what you require of them before they begin.
Because I have a class of enthusiastic writers I tend to take more risks than I would if I were teaching predominantly English language learners.
My instructions were as follows:
Choose a fall word for your acrostic. Can you give me some examples?
I created a list of their responses: leaves, harvest, fall, pumpkin, autumn
You may use one of these words, or a different one if you prefer. For each letter, make up a line that tells something about fall. Would “Fall is fun?” be a good line?
They shook their heads. “Why?” I asked.
They couldn’t tell me, so I explained that it gave me no information about fall at all. It was too vague. Besides, it showed no thinking or use of imagination.
Another important thing to remember is that each line must have a different idea. If you mentioned leaves in one line, you cannot talk about leaves again. Do you all understand?
Before you get started let’s quickly look at our chart of “banned” words.
I asked the kids to suggest synonyms that they could use and displayed their responses on the board.
Banned Word Synonyms
Fun enjoyable, wonderful
Nice excellent, pleasant, helpful, kind
Great superb, extraordinary, splendid
Good
Bad unpleasant, awful, dreadful
I must point out that I’m not fond of adjectives that aren’t specific and helpful to the reader, but eight year olds are not ready to understand this. However, making them think harder about their words is an important step.
Note: If I had a class of kids that struggled with writing tasks, I would give them the word for the acrostic poem. I would probably also do the first two lines together with the whole group, then have them work independently on the rest.
Older students (4th and 5th grades) should focus on fine tuning details. For example, pin down the shape, color, texture of a specific leaf from a specific tree and write about it so that your words create a photo of the image in the reader’s mind. Make it more real. Hold a microscope to whatever it is you are writing about.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
A Haunted House Story
Task: Write a story set in a haunted house
Goals:
1. Vivid description of the setting, using sensory details, in story. Develop a vocabulary for describing sounds.
2. Writing a story with a plot that shows a problem and a solution.
3. Nurturing a joy for creative writing.
This writing activity needs to be done over 4 – 5 days. Use your judgement about combining steps into a single lesson.
1. Set the mood …
I started this task by taking the students on a virtual tour of a haunted house. I found a decent website by doing a Google search. As we entered the house and explored the various spooky rooms the desire to create a story shone in the faces of my students!
2. Make the setting come alive …
I played a Halloween soundtrack. The kids were instructed to listen and jot down all the sounds they could hear. After about five minutes of the soundtrack I asked them to share what they heard. I listed their responses on chart paper. Whenever they gave a vague response such as “I could hear an owl”, I would say, “How did you know it was an owl? What sound did it make?” They soon got the idea. We came up with an impressive list: cackling, screeching, rattling, groans, moans, howls, screaming, hooting, growling, yelps, creaking, evil laughter.
3. Get the picture …
I handed a picture of a haunted house and some writing paper to each of the kids.
Look at the picture. What can you see? What would you be able to smell? What would you hear? What would you feel on your skin?
I asked the kids to divide their writing paper into four squares. In each square they wrote down the following headings: Sights, Smells, Sounds, Feel. They then filled each square with as many sensory details as they could come with from examining the picture.
4. The first draft …
Think about a story set in that haunted house. Who would your main character/s be? You could put yourself in the story and write it in first person. What would the problem be? How would it be solved?
Now write your story.
I didn’t give too much guidance with plot development. They were already quite excited about the task. I wanted them to just let out their creativity. The one thing I emphasized is that the story should have no violence or blood and to remember our “banned” words which are displayed on a chart made visible during our writing sessions. My students understand very well by now that they are not allowed to use these words: nice, good, bad, stuff, things, cool, great.
5. The Setting – described in a powerful paragraph …
This lesson was devoted to writing a stellar paragraph describing the setting. I asked the kids to get out the paper with the four squares and look at what they wrote. On a separate paper they had to select from their list what would fit into their story. They had to write sentences to describe the setting, being sure not to start with “I saw … “; “I heard … “; etc. After they wrote their paragraph, I told them that this could be the first paragraph in their story, or if that didn’t work, they had to decide where it would fit. Because my students are third graders I felt a little unsure about this. Did they get what I was asking of them? To my delight, they were fine. They knew exactly what I was asking them to do.
6. Finish the story. The kids returned to their stories, plugged in the setting, and figured out ways to resolve the problem they had thought about. They had to proofread for spelling and punctuation.
7. Editing and Revising
This step applies to all writing tasks. Each student comes to me with their story and I help them fix their mistakes. I show them how to make their sentences short and succinct. We delete “so” and “then”, and clean up awkward words and phrases. Because I am a writer I can do this quite quickly. I realize that this phase of the task could be difficult to manage. This is a good time to solicit the help of a parent volunteer.
8. Final Draft
The stories are rewritten and the haunted house pictures are colored.
Below are excerpts of student stories showing their setting descriptions.
When they got to the haunted house they saw that it was as large as a school. It was musty and you could smell it a mile away. When it became dark they went in. It was dark. All of a sudden ghosts started hovering all over the house. When they flew away the three kids decided to sleep there. They could hear a wolf howling fearlessly in the moonlight. At about 1:30 A.M. they were awakened. They turned on their flashlights and what they saw was not pleasant!
Sara opened the door and they heard witches cackling. It was scary, but they went on. They felt a light breeze on their necks. They couldn't see what it was so they lit a candle. When they turned around they saw ghosts! "I thought was lost them," said Sofia. From the corner of their eyes they could see three witches.
Fhernand and Daniela were walking when they saw a haunted house. They could hear eveil laughter coming from inside. They could feel the cool wind. One of the wooden beams from the house fell. They could smell the old wood. Cackling witches were flying around on their broomsticks.
Here is a full story by one of my students:
A Haunted House
There was a boy in a cornfield, just walking along. After a while he came to an open space with a house in the middle. He walked to the house and up the steps. He knocked on the door. As he knocked the door just opened. He walked into the house slowly. About three feet in he heard a really loud noise. He turned around fast.
The door had closed and locked.
The boy, Indy, screamed for help. HELP! HELP! HELP! He walked toward a wall and put his back against it.
After an hour Indy heard slow footsteps. He said to himself, “How will I get out of here?” The footsteps came closer. There was barely any light where he was standing. Then he remembered what the haunted house looked like. It had broken windows, old, rotten pumpkins, rusted doorknobs, words written on walls, ripped clothes, a chair missing a leg, old and dirty books, a hole on the roof, and spider-webs everywhere.
Indy took a step forward and his foot hit something. He looked down and he saw a flashlight. He bent down and picked it up. He turned it on and looked for the steps going upstairs. When he found it he walked up three steps. A bat flew at him and knocked him down. He got back up and went upstairs with his flashlight.
There were five rooms upstairs. Indy walked into the middle one. It had a closet on the side, a bed in the middle, and a few windows on the side. He walked to the windows and tried to open them. He tried for about five aminutes. They finally opened. He looked down. Indy thought he could jump down but there were spikes. As he was looking down a skeleton jumped up and pushed Indy onto the bed. Indy kicked the skeleton out the window and into the spikes.
He got off the bed and walked to the window. He looked down and saw that the skeleton was gone. Then he looked up. He saw witches and he knew this was a haunted house. He looked at the witches for a while. But then a witch saw him. He ran out of the room and into another room and jumped out the window. He past all the spikes. He landed on his back in a pile of leaves right by the spikes. The witches couldn’t find him. After he got out of the haunted house he looked at his watch. The time was 12:51 P.M. He got out of the pile of leaves and ran back to his house.
Goals:
1. Vivid description of the setting, using sensory details, in story. Develop a vocabulary for describing sounds.
2. Writing a story with a plot that shows a problem and a solution.
3. Nurturing a joy for creative writing.
This writing activity needs to be done over 4 – 5 days. Use your judgement about combining steps into a single lesson.
1. Set the mood …
I started this task by taking the students on a virtual tour of a haunted house. I found a decent website by doing a Google search. As we entered the house and explored the various spooky rooms the desire to create a story shone in the faces of my students!
2. Make the setting come alive …
I played a Halloween soundtrack. The kids were instructed to listen and jot down all the sounds they could hear. After about five minutes of the soundtrack I asked them to share what they heard. I listed their responses on chart paper. Whenever they gave a vague response such as “I could hear an owl”, I would say, “How did you know it was an owl? What sound did it make?” They soon got the idea. We came up with an impressive list: cackling, screeching, rattling, groans, moans, howls, screaming, hooting, growling, yelps, creaking, evil laughter.
3. Get the picture …
I handed a picture of a haunted house and some writing paper to each of the kids.
Look at the picture. What can you see? What would you be able to smell? What would you hear? What would you feel on your skin?
I asked the kids to divide their writing paper into four squares. In each square they wrote down the following headings: Sights, Smells, Sounds, Feel. They then filled each square with as many sensory details as they could come with from examining the picture.
4. The first draft …
Think about a story set in that haunted house. Who would your main character/s be? You could put yourself in the story and write it in first person. What would the problem be? How would it be solved?
Now write your story.
I didn’t give too much guidance with plot development. They were already quite excited about the task. I wanted them to just let out their creativity. The one thing I emphasized is that the story should have no violence or blood and to remember our “banned” words which are displayed on a chart made visible during our writing sessions. My students understand very well by now that they are not allowed to use these words: nice, good, bad, stuff, things, cool, great.
5. The Setting – described in a powerful paragraph …
This lesson was devoted to writing a stellar paragraph describing the setting. I asked the kids to get out the paper with the four squares and look at what they wrote. On a separate paper they had to select from their list what would fit into their story. They had to write sentences to describe the setting, being sure not to start with “I saw … “; “I heard … “; etc. After they wrote their paragraph, I told them that this could be the first paragraph in their story, or if that didn’t work, they had to decide where it would fit. Because my students are third graders I felt a little unsure about this. Did they get what I was asking of them? To my delight, they were fine. They knew exactly what I was asking them to do.
6. Finish the story. The kids returned to their stories, plugged in the setting, and figured out ways to resolve the problem they had thought about. They had to proofread for spelling and punctuation.
7. Editing and Revising
This step applies to all writing tasks. Each student comes to me with their story and I help them fix their mistakes. I show them how to make their sentences short and succinct. We delete “so” and “then”, and clean up awkward words and phrases. Because I am a writer I can do this quite quickly. I realize that this phase of the task could be difficult to manage. This is a good time to solicit the help of a parent volunteer.
8. Final Draft
The stories are rewritten and the haunted house pictures are colored.
Below are excerpts of student stories showing their setting descriptions.
When they got to the haunted house they saw that it was as large as a school. It was musty and you could smell it a mile away. When it became dark they went in. It was dark. All of a sudden ghosts started hovering all over the house. When they flew away the three kids decided to sleep there. They could hear a wolf howling fearlessly in the moonlight. At about 1:30 A.M. they were awakened. They turned on their flashlights and what they saw was not pleasant!
Sara opened the door and they heard witches cackling. It was scary, but they went on. They felt a light breeze on their necks. They couldn't see what it was so they lit a candle. When they turned around they saw ghosts! "I thought was lost them," said Sofia. From the corner of their eyes they could see three witches.
Fhernand and Daniela were walking when they saw a haunted house. They could hear eveil laughter coming from inside. They could feel the cool wind. One of the wooden beams from the house fell. They could smell the old wood. Cackling witches were flying around on their broomsticks.
Here is a full story by one of my students:
A Haunted House
There was a boy in a cornfield, just walking along. After a while he came to an open space with a house in the middle. He walked to the house and up the steps. He knocked on the door. As he knocked the door just opened. He walked into the house slowly. About three feet in he heard a really loud noise. He turned around fast.
The door had closed and locked.
The boy, Indy, screamed for help. HELP! HELP! HELP! He walked toward a wall and put his back against it.
After an hour Indy heard slow footsteps. He said to himself, “How will I get out of here?” The footsteps came closer. There was barely any light where he was standing. Then he remembered what the haunted house looked like. It had broken windows, old, rotten pumpkins, rusted doorknobs, words written on walls, ripped clothes, a chair missing a leg, old and dirty books, a hole on the roof, and spider-webs everywhere.
Indy took a step forward and his foot hit something. He looked down and he saw a flashlight. He bent down and picked it up. He turned it on and looked for the steps going upstairs. When he found it he walked up three steps. A bat flew at him and knocked him down. He got back up and went upstairs with his flashlight.
There were five rooms upstairs. Indy walked into the middle one. It had a closet on the side, a bed in the middle, and a few windows on the side. He walked to the windows and tried to open them. He tried for about five aminutes. They finally opened. He looked down. Indy thought he could jump down but there were spikes. As he was looking down a skeleton jumped up and pushed Indy onto the bed. Indy kicked the skeleton out the window and into the spikes.
He got off the bed and walked to the window. He looked down and saw that the skeleton was gone. Then he looked up. He saw witches and he knew this was a haunted house. He looked at the witches for a while. But then a witch saw him. He ran out of the room and into another room and jumped out the window. He past all the spikes. He landed on his back in a pile of leaves right by the spikes. The witches couldn’t find him. After he got out of the haunted house he looked at his watch. The time was 12:51 P.M. He got out of the pile of leaves and ran back to his house.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Halloween Stories
The holidays provide excellent opportunities for creative writing. Kids love making up stories with their favorite holidays as subject matter. A few years ago I mentioned to a friend of mine who teaches writing at the university in town, the hang-ups my colleagues have when it comes to assigning writing topics in the classroom. One of these colleagues had said, “You can’t just put a topic on the board and tell the kids to write a story!” My friend found this remark astonishing. “Why not?” she responded.
It’s important to remember that you want kids to enjoy writing. To do that you need to make the process as stress-free as possible. Provide a prompt and a few guidelines and then let them use their imagination.
These days the kids are getting quite excited about Halloween. Every year I take advantage of this excitement by having them write Halloween stories.
For the assignment last week I gave each student a picture of a dancing scarecrow. They had to write a story about the scarecrow and why it was dancing.
These were my guidelines: The story should have a beginning, middle, and end.
The Beginning: Tell about the main character/s. It could be the scarecrow and somebody else. You could be in the story, or you could write it in third person. Give the characters names. Tell what the main character wants, or what problem they are experiencing.
The Middle: What does the main character do to try to get what he/she wants; or to solve the problem?
The End: How is the problem solved? Why is the scarecrow dancing?
I should mention that I would prefer to just put a topic on the board and have the kids write freely. However, I know my students well enough to know that only about half of them would be able to produce a solid narrative. The other half would flounder a bit. The guidelines help them come up with an actual story. My students bubbled with enthusiasm over this assignment. Their stories were rewardingly cute.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Describing the Setting
In my twenty years of being a classroom teacher there are a few students who stick out in my mind as being truly gifted writers. I had this third grade student about ten years ago at Adams School who had a natural ability to pull the reader into his story. He knew, without being taught, how to make a setting feel real by engaging the reader’s senses. He just put himself right where his story was happening and wrote the sort of details that remind you of a poet or an artist. Unfortunately, most students don’t come equipped with this gift!
Here, then, is my first lesson on teaching kids to describe a setting.
Goal: To get students to understand how to use sensory details to describe a setting.
Reminder to students: The three key elements in a story are:
1. Character
2. Setting
3. Plot
In order for a reader to fully engage with the characters in a story there needs to be a strong sense of place and time.
Step One: Picture the Setting
I asked the kids to name a place they would like to describe. Someone suggested a garden and everyone liked the idea. I asked them to close their eyes and think of a garden that they knew well and liked.
Picture this garden in your mind. What do you see? Look all over. Look to your left. What do you see? Look straight in front of you. What do you see? Look to your right.
Now take a deep breath. Breathe in the smells. What do you smell? What do the smells remind you of? Listen. Be very quiet and listen to all the sounds. Now take off your shoes. What do you feel under your feet? Touch something in the garden. How does it feel? Does it remind you of something? Okay, open your eyes now!
Step Two: Table It!
On the board I drew a table, which I cannot seem to reproduce here! It had 4 columns and 5 rows and each column was headed as follows:
Sights Sounds Smells Feel
Me: So tell me what you saw in your garden?
Student: Flowers.
Me: I want to make a picture of those flowers in my mind. Can you tell me more about these flowers.
Student: They were roses.
Me: Can you tell me some details about the roses so I can picture them?
Student: They were pink roses.
Me: Good. I wrote Pink roses in the table. What else did you see?
Each time a student gave me a vague response I pressed them to be as specific as possible. In the table under “sights” we had pink roses, small white daisies, plump, red tomatoes, a big, oak tree.
For sounds we had buzzing bees, the water fountain, and chirping birds.
Under “smells” they came up with: roses smelled like perfume, the smell of herbs
And what could they feel? Soft grass, smooth petals, dirt
Step Three: Time to Write
Since this was the first formal lesson on teaching kids to write about a setting, the writing part was a directed activity intended to model strong sentences.
Let’s look at the table and write sentences about the things we listed. We need to make sentences that are strong. Do not start with “I see ...”, “I hear … “, “I smell … “, or “I feel … “! First we need a topic sentence. Who has a good idea for one?
Student A: My grandparents have a beautiful garden.
Me: Wonderful. Anyone else with an idea?
Student B: I love the garden because it is peaceful.
A few other kids shared ideas. I went with Student A’s sentence, and wrote it on the board.
Me: Now we need sentences that give details. Who would like to make a sentence about the pink roses?
Student C: The first thing that you see are the pink roses.
Me: That’s a very good sentence. Where exactly would you see the roses?
After some prompting we decided that the roses were around a fountain.
I went through the items listed in the table and encouraged the students to think up creative sentences. For example, rather than “I hear bees buzzing” I asked them to think about where you would see the bees and what they would be doing. We ended up with the following paragraph:
My grandparents have a beautiful garden. The first thing you see are pink roses around a fountain. They give off a sweet perfume. Pretty white daisies grow near the tomato plants. Bees buzz in and out of the flowers. A hummingbird beats its wings and makes a whirring sound. The soft grass tickles my feet as I walk to the tomato plant to pick a juicy, red tomato. I lean against the big oak tree and the bark feels rough on my skin. I love this graden.
The final part of the lesson is having the kids copy down the paragraph they had generated. If time permits they could illustrate this setting.
Here, then, is my first lesson on teaching kids to describe a setting.
Goal: To get students to understand how to use sensory details to describe a setting.
Reminder to students: The three key elements in a story are:
1. Character
2. Setting
3. Plot
In order for a reader to fully engage with the characters in a story there needs to be a strong sense of place and time.
Step One: Picture the Setting
I asked the kids to name a place they would like to describe. Someone suggested a garden and everyone liked the idea. I asked them to close their eyes and think of a garden that they knew well and liked.
Picture this garden in your mind. What do you see? Look all over. Look to your left. What do you see? Look straight in front of you. What do you see? Look to your right.
Now take a deep breath. Breathe in the smells. What do you smell? What do the smells remind you of? Listen. Be very quiet and listen to all the sounds. Now take off your shoes. What do you feel under your feet? Touch something in the garden. How does it feel? Does it remind you of something? Okay, open your eyes now!
Step Two: Table It!
On the board I drew a table, which I cannot seem to reproduce here! It had 4 columns and 5 rows and each column was headed as follows:
Sights Sounds Smells Feel
Me: So tell me what you saw in your garden?
Student: Flowers.
Me: I want to make a picture of those flowers in my mind. Can you tell me more about these flowers.
Student: They were roses.
Me: Can you tell me some details about the roses so I can picture them?
Student: They were pink roses.
Me: Good. I wrote Pink roses in the table. What else did you see?
Each time a student gave me a vague response I pressed them to be as specific as possible. In the table under “sights” we had pink roses, small white daisies, plump, red tomatoes, a big, oak tree.
For sounds we had buzzing bees, the water fountain, and chirping birds.
Under “smells” they came up with: roses smelled like perfume, the smell of herbs
And what could they feel? Soft grass, smooth petals, dirt
Step Three: Time to Write
Since this was the first formal lesson on teaching kids to write about a setting, the writing part was a directed activity intended to model strong sentences.
Let’s look at the table and write sentences about the things we listed. We need to make sentences that are strong. Do not start with “I see ...”, “I hear … “, “I smell … “, or “I feel … “! First we need a topic sentence. Who has a good idea for one?
Student A: My grandparents have a beautiful garden.
Me: Wonderful. Anyone else with an idea?
Student B: I love the garden because it is peaceful.
A few other kids shared ideas. I went with Student A’s sentence, and wrote it on the board.
Me: Now we need sentences that give details. Who would like to make a sentence about the pink roses?
Student C: The first thing that you see are the pink roses.
Me: That’s a very good sentence. Where exactly would you see the roses?
After some prompting we decided that the roses were around a fountain.
I went through the items listed in the table and encouraged the students to think up creative sentences. For example, rather than “I hear bees buzzing” I asked them to think about where you would see the bees and what they would be doing. We ended up with the following paragraph:
My grandparents have a beautiful garden. The first thing you see are pink roses around a fountain. They give off a sweet perfume. Pretty white daisies grow near the tomato plants. Bees buzz in and out of the flowers. A hummingbird beats its wings and makes a whirring sound. The soft grass tickles my feet as I walk to the tomato plant to pick a juicy, red tomato. I lean against the big oak tree and the bark feels rough on my skin. I love this graden.
The final part of the lesson is having the kids copy down the paragraph they had generated. If time permits they could illustrate this setting.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Let's Write a Poem!
I cannot stress enough the importance of poetry in a child’s education. When I recall my own childhood school days the things I remember I most enjoyed were the poems we had to memorize and the songs we sang. So I make a concerted effort to introduce my students to poems that they would enjoy reciting. This usually leads to them writing their own poem with a similar rhythm, which was the writing task for the week.
My goals were:
1. Writing a poem;
2. Revising for better quality.
I accomplished this in four lessons.
Lesson One: Read, discuss, and enjoy the poem My Shadow by R. L. Stevenson.
Lesson Two: Memorize the first two verses (or more).
Lesson Three: Using a template, think of something you are attached to and write a poem about it/him/her.
Lesson Four: Revise each line to: 1. Make it sound more poetic;
2. Remove awkward sounding words and phrases;
3. Replace repeated words with more powerful words;
4. Make sure each line flows into the next.
Here’s the poem:
My Shadow
by Robert Louis Stevenson
I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.
The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow—
Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;
For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,
And he sometimes gets so little that there's none of him at all.
He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,
And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
He stays so close beside me, he's a coward you can see;
I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!
One morning, very early, before the sun was up,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
But my lazy little shadow, like an errant sleepy-head,
Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.
I selected this poem because I remember learning it as a kid. I never forgot it because of its enjoyable rhythm. Kids love rhyming poems too. It’s a great one for memorizing. On the first day we had several readings of the poem. We looked at the rhyming pattern and discussed the meaning of the poem.
On the second day I used my cookie bribe to get kids to memorize the first two verses. I didn’t actually need to bribe them because they loved reciting the lines. I told them to get out of their seats and look for a quiet space in the classroom where they could learn their lines. This worked beautifully!
For the third lesson I made up a template for the kids to use to write their poems. I started by asking them how a poem was different from a story and listed their responses on a chart. We came up with the following:
1. Poems are shorter and are usually not more than a page long.
2. Stories/narratives have sentences; poems have lines.
3. Poems have rhyming lines and are like songs because they have rhythm.
4. Poems have verses, narratives have paragraphs.
Even after this clarification, kids have trouble writing poems with lines that aren’t sentences. The template helps them stick to a format that resembles a poem. To make the template I blanked out all references to the shadow. The first verse looked like this:
I have a little ____________ that __________________________
And _________________________________________________
_ is very, very _________________________________________
And I see _____________________________________________
Before this lesson the kids had already been primed for the acitivity with their journal topic that morning. I asked them to think of something they were very attached to. These could be animate or inanimate things. We did a quick brainstorm which I listed on the board: a pet, a little brother/sister, a toy, a gadget, etc. (With older kids you could ask them to think of something imaginary, or something unusual that nobody else would come up with.) They had to make a list of ten special features about the object they selected.
Having memorized the first verse or two the kids had the rhythm in their heads. As they write they will naturally try to imitate a similar rhythm. I handed out the templates. Using my document camera we worked on each line together. I chose to write about my little brother (turning back the clock a few decades). I modeled thinking up unique aspects of my subject and how to include that in this poem. I told the students that each line had to have a different idea (they had their journals open to the list they had made earlier).
A very important aspect of writing tasks in my class is the banning of certain words!! All my students learn very quickly that they cannot use the following words in any of their writing pieces:
Nice, good, great, stuff, cool, and things.
I also made it clear that if any of the words on the template didn’t work for them they could cross them off and replace them with something more suitable. I modeled changes that worked for me.
The kids responded to this assignment quite enthusiastically. I had no trouble getting them to finish their poem in the 45 minutes we had for the class.
The last phase – Day 4 - for this task was to revise the entire poem. This can be tedious for kids, so it’s important to make the process as efficient as possible. I gave them all a sheet of lined paper and asked them to get out their poems. I got out my poem and using the document camera, I read out my first line:
I have a little brother who makes me laugh
It doesn’t sound right, I said. What should I do? A few kids immediately spotted the problem. A couple of suggestions were made:
I have a little brother who makes me laugh a lot
I have a little brother who always makes me laugh.
I rewrote the first line – the second suggestion - on my new sheet of paper, then instructed them to the same for their first lines. We completed the entire first verse in this manner. After that they didn’t need any more modeling. They went to work rewriting their poems. I worked with my two struggling students at this point.
After the kids revised their poems the natural thing would be for them to come to me for editing. But I felt that they had spent enough time on this project. I want kids to love writing. I couldn’t make them do another rewrite. I collected their poems and typed them out myself. Yes, it was time consuming, but worth it to see the pride on the faces of the kids.
My goals were:
1. Writing a poem;
2. Revising for better quality.
I accomplished this in four lessons.
Lesson One: Read, discuss, and enjoy the poem My Shadow by R. L. Stevenson.
Lesson Two: Memorize the first two verses (or more).
Lesson Three: Using a template, think of something you are attached to and write a poem about it/him/her.
Lesson Four: Revise each line to: 1. Make it sound more poetic;
2. Remove awkward sounding words and phrases;
3. Replace repeated words with more powerful words;
4. Make sure each line flows into the next.
Here’s the poem:
My Shadow
by Robert Louis Stevenson
I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.
The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow—
Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;
For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,
And he sometimes gets so little that there's none of him at all.
He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,
And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
He stays so close beside me, he's a coward you can see;
I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!
One morning, very early, before the sun was up,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
But my lazy little shadow, like an errant sleepy-head,
Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.
I selected this poem because I remember learning it as a kid. I never forgot it because of its enjoyable rhythm. Kids love rhyming poems too. It’s a great one for memorizing. On the first day we had several readings of the poem. We looked at the rhyming pattern and discussed the meaning of the poem.
On the second day I used my cookie bribe to get kids to memorize the first two verses. I didn’t actually need to bribe them because they loved reciting the lines. I told them to get out of their seats and look for a quiet space in the classroom where they could learn their lines. This worked beautifully!
For the third lesson I made up a template for the kids to use to write their poems. I started by asking them how a poem was different from a story and listed their responses on a chart. We came up with the following:
1. Poems are shorter and are usually not more than a page long.
2. Stories/narratives have sentences; poems have lines.
3. Poems have rhyming lines and are like songs because they have rhythm.
4. Poems have verses, narratives have paragraphs.
Even after this clarification, kids have trouble writing poems with lines that aren’t sentences. The template helps them stick to a format that resembles a poem. To make the template I blanked out all references to the shadow. The first verse looked like this:
I have a little ____________ that __________________________
And _________________________________________________
_ is very, very _________________________________________
And I see _____________________________________________
Before this lesson the kids had already been primed for the acitivity with their journal topic that morning. I asked them to think of something they were very attached to. These could be animate or inanimate things. We did a quick brainstorm which I listed on the board: a pet, a little brother/sister, a toy, a gadget, etc. (With older kids you could ask them to think of something imaginary, or something unusual that nobody else would come up with.) They had to make a list of ten special features about the object they selected.
Having memorized the first verse or two the kids had the rhythm in their heads. As they write they will naturally try to imitate a similar rhythm. I handed out the templates. Using my document camera we worked on each line together. I chose to write about my little brother (turning back the clock a few decades). I modeled thinking up unique aspects of my subject and how to include that in this poem. I told the students that each line had to have a different idea (they had their journals open to the list they had made earlier).
A very important aspect of writing tasks in my class is the banning of certain words!! All my students learn very quickly that they cannot use the following words in any of their writing pieces:
Nice, good, great, stuff, cool, and things.
I also made it clear that if any of the words on the template didn’t work for them they could cross them off and replace them with something more suitable. I modeled changes that worked for me.
The kids responded to this assignment quite enthusiastically. I had no trouble getting them to finish their poem in the 45 minutes we had for the class.
The last phase – Day 4 - for this task was to revise the entire poem. This can be tedious for kids, so it’s important to make the process as efficient as possible. I gave them all a sheet of lined paper and asked them to get out their poems. I got out my poem and using the document camera, I read out my first line:
I have a little brother who makes me laugh
It doesn’t sound right, I said. What should I do? A few kids immediately spotted the problem. A couple of suggestions were made:
I have a little brother who makes me laugh a lot
I have a little brother who always makes me laugh.
I rewrote the first line – the second suggestion - on my new sheet of paper, then instructed them to the same for their first lines. We completed the entire first verse in this manner. After that they didn’t need any more modeling. They went to work rewriting their poems. I worked with my two struggling students at this point.
After the kids revised their poems the natural thing would be for them to come to me for editing. But I felt that they had spent enough time on this project. I want kids to love writing. I couldn’t make them do another rewrite. I collected their poems and typed them out myself. Yes, it was time consuming, but worth it to see the pride on the faces of the kids.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
A Personal Narrative
A well written narrative is the result of clear thinking easily seen in good paragraphs. Kids need to develop an understanding of how to articulate their ideas in an organized way, especially when they are writing about real events. In a creative story paragraphs develop naturally with the plot. But in a personal narrative, it’s harder for kids to hone in on a few important points and expand on each of them. My goal for this week’s writing lesson, then, was to teach kids how to write a personal narrative in which their ideas were organized into traditional paragraphs. I did this lesson over two days.
The topic: My Best Friend
This tied into the Reading unit we just finished which focused on the theme of Friendship.
To start the lesson I handed each student a planning paper on which were four squares. Three of the squares were for drafting out paragraphs and the fourth was for a concluding sentence or two. In each square there was a line for the main idea. Below that there were bullets for the details to go with each main idea. I used my document camera for modeling the lesson. After explaining the writing assignment I asked the class for input. We are going to write three paragraphs in our narrative. What should our three main ideas be?
The kids responded with the following ideas:
1. Description of your friend
2. How we met
3. Activities we do together
We wrote these main ideas on each top line of our four square planning paper. Then I asked the kids to suggest details for each idea. I selected responses to model, but reminded them that they could use their own details. Once I put up an example or two they were able to figure out details that were appropriate for them.
Now that we had a plan for the narrative, it was time to write out the three paragraphs. I reminded them that we needed a topic sentence followed by details.
We need to start with a sentence that introduces our best friend and also leads to a description. Any suggestions?
Silence. Sure they were thinking, but I could tell that they were struggling. So, on my modeling paper, I wrote:
My best friend, Jessica, is beautiful in every way.
This led to a little more excitement and a few kids raised their hands. Here’s a sample of their responses: Ryan is a wonderful friend in every way. Alice is my fantastic, best friend. John is kindhearted every single second.
After more ideas were shared everyone was able to get their first topic sentence written. I told them to look at the planning sheet and write out sentences for the details.
The next two paragraphs were accomplished in pretty much the same fashion. When I wrote out a topic sentence for the second paragraph, and asked for their own suggestions, I got no response. Not good. My sentence was: I met Jessica at my grandma’s house when I was four years old..
I resorted to my time tested strategy: bribery. I keep a jar of cookies in a cabinet for flat times in the classroom, such as now!
Okay, I’m looking for someone who can come up with a topic sentence that is better than mine. The class will vote and if they think it is better, you’ll get a cookie.
I could see some serious thinking suddenly going on. In a minute or so hands shot up.
I was two years old when I met John at his house.
Ann and I met on the first day of kindergarten.
Brooke and I met in first grade and we’ve been best friends ever since.
Everyone who shared, got a cookie!
We worked through the paragraphs quite efficiently. I modeled a concluding sentence and then encouraged them to come up with their own to end the narrative.
Often, when a teacher models to the extent that I did on this assignment, it is tempting for kids to just copy what they see. In this particular case I found that some kids did indeed write most of what I had written, but made sufficient changes to make it appropriate for them. I think a topic like this, though not wildly exciting like writing a Greek myth, is an excellent way to get kids comfortable with some essential writing skills. Since they were writing about something that they could easily relate to, it was easy for them to take a model and work with it to apply to themselves.
I think it’s fine for developing writers to copy good writing. It lowers their anxiety, but trains their brain to think like a writer.
I always try to edit the first draft of each kid before they do their final draft. I was very fortunate this time to have the help of a mom who had a lot of editing experience. Another wonderful thing that happened was that one of my four struggling writers didn’t need me! I partnered her with one of my strongest writers and this partner pretty much played my role. I was quite impressed with the result. So, by the end of the second session, most kids had finished writing their final drafts.
The topic: My Best Friend
This tied into the Reading unit we just finished which focused on the theme of Friendship.
To start the lesson I handed each student a planning paper on which were four squares. Three of the squares were for drafting out paragraphs and the fourth was for a concluding sentence or two. In each square there was a line for the main idea. Below that there were bullets for the details to go with each main idea. I used my document camera for modeling the lesson. After explaining the writing assignment I asked the class for input. We are going to write three paragraphs in our narrative. What should our three main ideas be?
The kids responded with the following ideas:
1. Description of your friend
2. How we met
3. Activities we do together
We wrote these main ideas on each top line of our four square planning paper. Then I asked the kids to suggest details for each idea. I selected responses to model, but reminded them that they could use their own details. Once I put up an example or two they were able to figure out details that were appropriate for them.
Now that we had a plan for the narrative, it was time to write out the three paragraphs. I reminded them that we needed a topic sentence followed by details.
We need to start with a sentence that introduces our best friend and also leads to a description. Any suggestions?
Silence. Sure they were thinking, but I could tell that they were struggling. So, on my modeling paper, I wrote:
My best friend, Jessica, is beautiful in every way.
This led to a little more excitement and a few kids raised their hands. Here’s a sample of their responses: Ryan is a wonderful friend in every way. Alice is my fantastic, best friend. John is kindhearted every single second.
After more ideas were shared everyone was able to get their first topic sentence written. I told them to look at the planning sheet and write out sentences for the details.
The next two paragraphs were accomplished in pretty much the same fashion. When I wrote out a topic sentence for the second paragraph, and asked for their own suggestions, I got no response. Not good. My sentence was: I met Jessica at my grandma’s house when I was four years old..
I resorted to my time tested strategy: bribery. I keep a jar of cookies in a cabinet for flat times in the classroom, such as now!
Okay, I’m looking for someone who can come up with a topic sentence that is better than mine. The class will vote and if they think it is better, you’ll get a cookie.
I could see some serious thinking suddenly going on. In a minute or so hands shot up.
I was two years old when I met John at his house.
Ann and I met on the first day of kindergarten.
Brooke and I met in first grade and we’ve been best friends ever since.
Everyone who shared, got a cookie!
We worked through the paragraphs quite efficiently. I modeled a concluding sentence and then encouraged them to come up with their own to end the narrative.
Often, when a teacher models to the extent that I did on this assignment, it is tempting for kids to just copy what they see. In this particular case I found that some kids did indeed write most of what I had written, but made sufficient changes to make it appropriate for them. I think a topic like this, though not wildly exciting like writing a Greek myth, is an excellent way to get kids comfortable with some essential writing skills. Since they were writing about something that they could easily relate to, it was easy for them to take a model and work with it to apply to themselves.
I think it’s fine for developing writers to copy good writing. It lowers their anxiety, but trains their brain to think like a writer.
I always try to edit the first draft of each kid before they do their final draft. I was very fortunate this time to have the help of a mom who had a lot of editing experience. Another wonderful thing that happened was that one of my four struggling writers didn’t need me! I partnered her with one of my strongest writers and this partner pretty much played my role. I was quite impressed with the result. So, by the end of the second session, most kids had finished writing their final drafts.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
The Traditional Paragraph
This has been a pretty low key writing week. My current focus is on teaching some writing conventions. In particular, third graders are required to have a good understanding of what a paragraph is. They need to be able to distinguish between a main idea and supporting details. A traditional paragraph, I told them, has a topic sentence, which carries the main idea, followed by supporting sentences that expand on the main idea.
First, I explained the difference between a detail and a big idea. I wrote a variety of sentences on the board and asked if each was a big idea or a detail. When they said "big idea", I asked for supporting details. Together, we constructed a couple of clean, conventional paragraphs. In general, this concept seemed pretty easy for the kids to grasp. I don't teach them to include a concluding sentence, because most often this sentence is not needed in a paragraph. Kids would need to have a higher level of understanding before being able to decide whether to include a concluding sentence or not. So, no need to spoil their fun yet!
Next week I will have the kids write a short narrative using paragraphs that follow the traditional structure. Personally, I don’t like to get hung up on conventions. Eight year olds should be able to express their ideas and creativity in free form. However, it is important to guide their thinking so that their writing is coherent. Once they’ve had some practice with constructing good paragraphs, it will be easier later on to help them revise their creative writing. I'm not into using formulaic methods like the hand image (the thumb is the main idea, the fingers the supporting sentences, and the little finger the concluding sentence). An easily grasped concept doesn't need to be hammered into them! I should point out that even though kids get this, it doesn't translate into a) practice; b) being able to pick out the topic sentence from a group of sentences.
Now, a brief return to last week’s assignment and how I teach struggling writers.
While the class wrote out their final drafts of their Greek Myths, I worked with each of my four struggling writers individually. These four students had written first drafts that were pretty incomprehensible. A couple of these students knew what their story was, but couldn’t express it in writing.
This is what I do:
The student and I sit together at a table. He/she reads me their story. I rewrite it using simple sentences. I try to pare the story down to about six to eight sentences. If they have trouble reading their work (which may be a jumble of words lacking coherence)I ask them to tell me the story. With appropriate prompting I manage to get a story out, which I write down using their words. I learned this method of teaching writing (the Language Experience Approach) back when I was doing coursework for my teaching credential. I have found it to be very effective – especially for students who are still developing English fluency.
On Monday my session with one of my students went like this:
Me: Who is the hero in your story?
Student: Sandy.
Me: Tell me about Sandy in a sentence.
Student: Sandy was a hero, was a brave hero.
Me: Sandy was a brave hero. I wrote the sentence down. What happened to Sandy?
Student: There was a monster and the mother was crying.
Me: The monster’s mother was crying?
Student: No. The monster took her kid away.
Me: Oh, so that was the problem in your story. How about you make a sentence about the monster?
Student: A monster took a kid away.
I wrote down the sentence.
Me: Where did the monster live?
Student: In a hill, in a cave.
Me: Now tell it to me in a sentence.
Student: The monster lived in a cave.
Me: So what have written so far? Let’s read it.
Sandy was a brave hero. A monster took a kid away. The monster lived in a cave.
Then what happened?
Student: Sandy went to the cave with a club.
I wrote down her sentence.
Me: Uh-huh? And?
Student: He saw the monster and killed it.
Me: Is that the end? What about the kid?
Student: Sandy took her back to the mother.
Me: Sandy took the kid back to her mother.(I wrote).
With a pleased smile the student took her story and final draft paper to her desk to copy the sentences that she had dictated and I had written.
A session like this takes me about ten minutes. Time management is an issue. Most of my students are finishing up their final drafts while I’m working with individual students. I usually have them moving on to some other assignment that they can work on independently.
To end, here is a sample of a story written by a talented student who enthusiastically gave me permission to not only use his story, but his name too!
Schulz, The Greek Hero
By Wesley
Schulz, the Greek hero, was an amazing swordsman. He could split an arrow blindfolded. The king called Schulz to the castle. “What do you need, father?”
“I will have a feast tonight. All our soldiers are coming home.”
“Yes, Father. I will tell the cooks to prepare for the feast.”
“Wait.”
“Yes, Father?”
“Go practice with your sword.”
As Schulz was walking he heard a voice. “Who’s there?” he said in shock.
“It’s me, Poseidon.”
“I can only hear you.”
“I know.”
“I must warn you the feast will be shocking.”
“I must go now, but I have so much to ask you.”
“The time will come. You must be going now.”
In shock Schulz walked away. While he was walking he thought about what he would say to his father. He heard something in the bushes. “Who’s there?”
“It’s me, your father. Come on.”
When Schulz walked in he saw many people. He asked one of the soldiers how it was. “Amazing.”
Right after that the king was going to say something when the castle shook. Then Hades appeared in the middle of the room and said, “I will send the Titan in one week.”
As he was speaking, Schulz said, “I will leave tomorrow morning and I will bring back Medusa’s head and kill the Titan.” The next day Schulz set off. Six days later he came back and saw the Titan. A monster with a man’s body, the tail of a snake, the head of a lizard, and the arms of an octopus. Schulz ran and showed the head of Medusa. The Titan collapsed and smashed into the sea. The crowd cheered. That night they had a feast.
Then Schulz heard Poseidon. “Hello, I know something,” Poseideon said. “I am your father.”
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Writing a Greek Myth
I can’t get over how excited my students were this week over their writing assignment. Of course, it took two weeks of priming to attain this. I mentioned in my first entry that children need to be exposed to high quality, high interest literature in order to develop their writing skills. We have been reading about the Greek Heroes from Greek Mythology these last couple of weeks. The kids have been completely captivated by the great adventures of Hercules and Perseus and Theseus. So, when I announced on Tuesday morning that they would be writing their own Greek myth they exploded with excitement.
I began the assignment on Tuesday and on Friday the kids wrote out their final drafts. Before describing the lessons, I should mention what my goals were.
1. I wanted my students to use their imagination and let out their creativity. The mechanics of writing – paragraphing, punctuation, etc., - were not important. I didn’t want their creativity hampered.
2. I want to develop in my students a love and enthusiasm for writing.
My lesson on Tuesday focused on the attributes of the Greek Heroes.
Think about the three heroes we’ve been reading about. Hercules, Perseus, Theseus. What qualities did they have that enabled them to accomplish what they did?
I then reread relevant paragraphs from a few of the stories. Because my students are third graders they needed to hear the descriptions again!
On chart paper, I listed their responses.
1. Strong
2. Fearless, brave, courageous.
3. Kind and good
4. Tall
5. Never gave up
6. Resourceful – used their surroundings to help create weapons
7. Smart, intelligent
8. Planned ahead
9. Enjoyed challenges
10. Believed in themselves – had self-confidence
Having this vocabulary displayed allows the kids to access vocabulary in their own writing.
Wednesday’s Lesson: The kids began writing their story today. To ensure that their stories contained all the essential elements of a story, I needed to have a pattern available to them.
I started the lesson as follows:
Each of the stories about the Greek Heroes followed a pattern. A pattern is something that repeats itself. What was repeated in each of the stories? What did each of the stories have in common?
I listed their responses on a chart:
1. The main character was a hero with unusual abilities.
2. The problem always involved a monster
3. The hero went on a journey to find the monster
4. Along the journey the hero met other characters who helped him solve the problem.
5. Gods and goddesses appeared in most of the stories
6. At the end the hero returned with proof that he was successful.
Now, it’s time for you to start your story. First you will write a first draft. Have fun and don’t worry about spelling. I’ll help you fix your spelling when you are all done. Begin your story by describing your hero. I pointed to the chart we had created the day before with the descriptive vocabulary. Give your hero a name and use this chart to help you. After you have introduced your hero, the main character, write the rest of your story. You may use the pattern if you want, but you don’t have to.
Because I want kids to love writing I try to make the activity as stress free as possible. It was important to spend time discussing the pattern of the story. Many kids at this age haven’t written stories yet. For some kids it will all happen naturally. Others need concrete guidelines.
I definitely succeeded in instilling enthusiasm. The kids got right to work and I must say, it was a sight to behold.
On Thursday, at writing time, some kids were done with their first drafts and others needed more time. Each student took a turn to show me their completed story. I helped them fix their mistakes and praised them to no end. With pleased smiles they rewrote their story neatly, with correct spelling and punctuation.
It took me two mornings to get to every child. Having an individual conference with each student is quite challenging when you have a big class. It used to be so much easier when we had twenty kids back in the old days. Sigh! Sigh!
Anyway, at the end of the week I learned a whole lot more about my students. About fifteen of them wrote unbelievable stories, with sophisticated plotting and creative characterization. What impressed me most was their use of voice. I hadn’t mentioned it, or taught it to them. They got it – just by being exposed to excellent stories. Another 7 or 8 showed writing capability but pretty much copied the basic plot ideas from the stories we had read. I don’t have a problem with this. Not everyone is cut out to be a writer! As long as they can write coherent sentences and produce a beginning, middle, and end, there’s hope! Four or five of my students have quite a bit of difficulty creating coherent sentences. This isn’t unusual at all. At this age – 8 – some kids are developmentally behind their peers. Also, if a child’s first language isn’t English, writing can be a challenge. In my next blog I’ll let you know how I help the struggling writers. I’ll also discuss time management because that is a big issue too.
I began the assignment on Tuesday and on Friday the kids wrote out their final drafts. Before describing the lessons, I should mention what my goals were.
1. I wanted my students to use their imagination and let out their creativity. The mechanics of writing – paragraphing, punctuation, etc., - were not important. I didn’t want their creativity hampered.
2. I want to develop in my students a love and enthusiasm for writing.
My lesson on Tuesday focused on the attributes of the Greek Heroes.
Think about the three heroes we’ve been reading about. Hercules, Perseus, Theseus. What qualities did they have that enabled them to accomplish what they did?
I then reread relevant paragraphs from a few of the stories. Because my students are third graders they needed to hear the descriptions again!
On chart paper, I listed their responses.
1. Strong
2. Fearless, brave, courageous.
3. Kind and good
4. Tall
5. Never gave up
6. Resourceful – used their surroundings to help create weapons
7. Smart, intelligent
8. Planned ahead
9. Enjoyed challenges
10. Believed in themselves – had self-confidence
Having this vocabulary displayed allows the kids to access vocabulary in their own writing.
Wednesday’s Lesson: The kids began writing their story today. To ensure that their stories contained all the essential elements of a story, I needed to have a pattern available to them.
I started the lesson as follows:
Each of the stories about the Greek Heroes followed a pattern. A pattern is something that repeats itself. What was repeated in each of the stories? What did each of the stories have in common?
I listed their responses on a chart:
1. The main character was a hero with unusual abilities.
2. The problem always involved a monster
3. The hero went on a journey to find the monster
4. Along the journey the hero met other characters who helped him solve the problem.
5. Gods and goddesses appeared in most of the stories
6. At the end the hero returned with proof that he was successful.
Now, it’s time for you to start your story. First you will write a first draft. Have fun and don’t worry about spelling. I’ll help you fix your spelling when you are all done. Begin your story by describing your hero. I pointed to the chart we had created the day before with the descriptive vocabulary. Give your hero a name and use this chart to help you. After you have introduced your hero, the main character, write the rest of your story. You may use the pattern if you want, but you don’t have to.
Because I want kids to love writing I try to make the activity as stress free as possible. It was important to spend time discussing the pattern of the story. Many kids at this age haven’t written stories yet. For some kids it will all happen naturally. Others need concrete guidelines.
I definitely succeeded in instilling enthusiasm. The kids got right to work and I must say, it was a sight to behold.
On Thursday, at writing time, some kids were done with their first drafts and others needed more time. Each student took a turn to show me their completed story. I helped them fix their mistakes and praised them to no end. With pleased smiles they rewrote their story neatly, with correct spelling and punctuation.
It took me two mornings to get to every child. Having an individual conference with each student is quite challenging when you have a big class. It used to be so much easier when we had twenty kids back in the old days. Sigh! Sigh!
Anyway, at the end of the week I learned a whole lot more about my students. About fifteen of them wrote unbelievable stories, with sophisticated plotting and creative characterization. What impressed me most was their use of voice. I hadn’t mentioned it, or taught it to them. They got it – just by being exposed to excellent stories. Another 7 or 8 showed writing capability but pretty much copied the basic plot ideas from the stories we had read. I don’t have a problem with this. Not everyone is cut out to be a writer! As long as they can write coherent sentences and produce a beginning, middle, and end, there’s hope! Four or five of my students have quite a bit of difficulty creating coherent sentences. This isn’t unusual at all. At this age – 8 – some kids are developmentally behind their peers. Also, if a child’s first language isn’t English, writing can be a challenge. In my next blog I’ll let you know how I help the struggling writers. I’ll also discuss time management because that is a big issue too.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Journal Writing
It’s been a bit of a crazy week at school. Our district requires us to give benchmark assessments in the language arts and math at the start of the school year (and then two more times during the year). As a result my regular program was disrupted and I couldn’t do any formal writing activities. Once again this week I focused on journal writing. I must point out that in my class journal writing has quite a nontraditional meaning. Rather than being a personal record of the day’s activities, it’s more of an informal, creative writing exercise. I want kids to have the opportunity to write freely, without being hung up on correct spelling and how to structure their paragraphs the right way. I just want them to get used to the idea of capturing their free flowing thoughts on paper.
I teach third grade and they need a lot of guidance when it comes to writing. Sometimes I specify what their sentences should be about. At other times I leave it to them, but then I spend more time on discussion and modeling responses.
Journal writing for the week was as follows:
Monday: Describe what your weekend was like. Tell about:
- A place you went to;
- An activity you did;
- A meal you ate;
- A person or people you saw
I discussed the topic and clarified that a place was anywhere outside their house. The grocery store, the park, the beach, downtown, the shopping mall, a relative’s house, the pool, the movies, etc., were all places. This quickly eliminated the but, I didn’t go anywhere excuse! An activity meant reading, TV, movies, playing a game, shopping, etc. As was expected there were kids who had done particularly exciting things and wrote lots of detail. And others were able to at least write four sentences about their weekend.
A topic like this on a Monday morning is a great way to build a community spirit. Before I ask them to share their writing, I tell them about my weekend. They see me in more human terms and I get to know them better.
Tuesday: It’s the last day of August. In Santa Barbara, we are still very much in the middle of summer. What are some of your favorite summer activities?
After eight minutes I asked for volunteers to share. I give out stickers to kids who work seriously and share their ideas. After they earn ten stickers they get a treat. This acts as quite an incentive in a third grade classroom. As each child shared their favorite summer activity I wrote their idea on the board in a concise sentence that they articulated after creative prompting from me. When each new idea was presented I asked the student to vary the sentence.
Eg. I like going to the pool on hot days.
I enjoy walking my dog in the park.
Lemonade is a way for me to cool down.
After taking about six ideas I asked the kids to choose two ideas to copy in their journals. I am a firm believer that in copying good writing, kids develop their own writing skills.
Of course I exceeded my fifteen minutes of journal time, but given I wasn’t doing any other writing lessons, this was fine.
Wednesday: Qualities of a Good Friend
Think about what you like in a friend. For each quality that you come up with write a sentence.
As they wrote I walked around and tried to encourage kids who seemed a bit stuck. Eight minutes later it was time for them to share their ideas. Again I modeled sentences on the board, prompting them to vary each sentence.
Examples:
A good friend is someone you can trust.
I like a friend who cheers you up when you are sad.
A quality I like in a friend is kindness.
The kids came up with a number of suggestions. I was quite impressed. One student gave me this response: I don’t like it when someone laughs at me. I asked her to look at the topic and rephrase her idea so that it fit with the topic. She couldn’t do it, but another very enthusiastic girl said: A good friend respects you.
“How about A good friend doesn’t laugh at you? I said.
They nodded and so I added that to the list on the board.
To conclude the session I asked the class to choose two ideas from the board and copy them in their journals.
Thursday: Think about things people do to annoy you. Write down a few examples. Then, tell what you do when someone does something to you that you don’t like.
This topic came about because of a few complaints I’d been getting from kids. Issues arose on the playground and I needed to address this.
I’m used to kids coming up with excuses. I fully expected someone to claim that nobody ever annoyed them. But, amazingly, everybody got to work.
At sharing time I embarked on a discussion of handling problems by ourselves.
So, not much of a writing activity!!!
Friday: This Week
On Fridays I have the kids reflect on their week. I tell them to write in their journals about:
- Something they learned at school;
- Something they enjoyed – either at school or at home or wherever;
- Something they didn’t enjoy.
A discussion after they write helps them realize just how much they learned, and is a wonderful way to bring closure to the week.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
First Week of School - Journals, Good literature
Hello, and welcome to my blogspot. If you are an elementary school teacher in search of ideas to teach writing in the classroom, you have come to the right place. At the end of each week I will describe my writing lessons and provide tips, suggestions, and lesson ideas for you to try out.
Last week was the first week of the school year. I met my new third grade class of 29 students and was rather pleased to see that they were bursting with enthusiasm. I like to have a friendly, nonthreatening atmosphere at the start of school. So, I don't teach any formal writing lessons. Instead, I place emphasis on two activities.
1. Journal writing;
2. Exposure to stories that have strong characters and plots.
Daily journal writing is extremely important. It exercises the writing muscle. My students learn from Day 1 that the first thing they do when they enter the classroom is to get out their journals. There's a topic on the board with some directions to guide their writing. (I usually discuss the topic as well when everyone has settled in.) Each day I select a topic of a different genre. I think it's incredibly important to vary writing tasks to keep up the enthusiasm. These are the types of journal writing I assign:
1. Personal narrative
2. Fantasy, such as What If You Could Fly?
3. Expository, such as Describe How to Play Basketball
4. Persuasive, where they write their opinions on an issue
In the first week of school I have a pretty low key attitude toward journal writing. I want the kids to feel relaxed about the activity. The first week is also a learning experience for me. I want to see what my students can do without much guidance.
On Monday, my students wrote down their feelings about the first day of school.
Describe how you feel about being a third grader. What are some things you are looking forward to doing this year?
They seemed eager to put brand new pencil to clean white paper. A silence fell as 29 kids thought about how they were feeling and recorded it on paper. One student seemed confused. When I asked her if she knew what to do she shook her head. After a few exchanges with her I realized she was a struggling writer. So I placed a lined Post-it note on her desk and had her do an oral response to the topic. I wrote it down on the Post-it note and she copied it into her journal.
As I walked around the classroom I realized I had a very wide range of abilities. Some kids were churning out sentences and others were stuttering through their first sentence. I allow ten minutes for journal writing. A student wrote two sentences and then claimed to be done about five minutes later. I announced to the class that they were not allowed to be done until I asked them to stop writing.
After ten minutes I asked if anyone would like to share. More than half the class raised their hands. This made me happy. Clearly, they were an enthusiastic bunch.
Typically, journal time in my class lasts about 15 minutes. Two minutes to explain the topic, eight minutes of writing, and five minutes (or less) of discussion and sharing.
The rest of the week, I kept the topics pretty simple and limited them to narratives where they got to describe themselves, their families, friends, interests, etc.
A second activity I emphasize in the first week (weeks, actually) is high quality, high interest literature. This has a two fold purpose. First, it's a way to get kids excited about being back at school. And second, it forms the basis for teaching writing in future months. Every day this past week I read a story about the Greek heroes from Greek mythology. The kids were predictably utterly captivated by the stories. They hung onto every syllable. I could feel their eyes on me as I read. Every detail intrigued them. But the best part about these stories is that the characters are strong and complex and the plots follow a perfect arc. After I read the story, we do a story diagram together. Characters, setting, plot. The kids have absolutely no trouble describing the problem in the story and then summarizing the beginning, middle, and end.
If you want your students to become strong writers, You have to expose them to the best stories and writing that you can get your hands on.
I hope you found this entry helpful. Do visit again next week for more ideas.
Last week was the first week of the school year. I met my new third grade class of 29 students and was rather pleased to see that they were bursting with enthusiasm. I like to have a friendly, nonthreatening atmosphere at the start of school. So, I don't teach any formal writing lessons. Instead, I place emphasis on two activities.
1. Journal writing;
2. Exposure to stories that have strong characters and plots.
Daily journal writing is extremely important. It exercises the writing muscle. My students learn from Day 1 that the first thing they do when they enter the classroom is to get out their journals. There's a topic on the board with some directions to guide their writing. (I usually discuss the topic as well when everyone has settled in.) Each day I select a topic of a different genre. I think it's incredibly important to vary writing tasks to keep up the enthusiasm. These are the types of journal writing I assign:
1. Personal narrative
2. Fantasy, such as What If You Could Fly?
3. Expository, such as Describe How to Play Basketball
4. Persuasive, where they write their opinions on an issue
In the first week of school I have a pretty low key attitude toward journal writing. I want the kids to feel relaxed about the activity. The first week is also a learning experience for me. I want to see what my students can do without much guidance.
On Monday, my students wrote down their feelings about the first day of school.
Describe how you feel about being a third grader. What are some things you are looking forward to doing this year?
They seemed eager to put brand new pencil to clean white paper. A silence fell as 29 kids thought about how they were feeling and recorded it on paper. One student seemed confused. When I asked her if she knew what to do she shook her head. After a few exchanges with her I realized she was a struggling writer. So I placed a lined Post-it note on her desk and had her do an oral response to the topic. I wrote it down on the Post-it note and she copied it into her journal.
As I walked around the classroom I realized I had a very wide range of abilities. Some kids were churning out sentences and others were stuttering through their first sentence. I allow ten minutes for journal writing. A student wrote two sentences and then claimed to be done about five minutes later. I announced to the class that they were not allowed to be done until I asked them to stop writing.
After ten minutes I asked if anyone would like to share. More than half the class raised their hands. This made me happy. Clearly, they were an enthusiastic bunch.
Typically, journal time in my class lasts about 15 minutes. Two minutes to explain the topic, eight minutes of writing, and five minutes (or less) of discussion and sharing.
The rest of the week, I kept the topics pretty simple and limited them to narratives where they got to describe themselves, their families, friends, interests, etc.
A second activity I emphasize in the first week (weeks, actually) is high quality, high interest literature. This has a two fold purpose. First, it's a way to get kids excited about being back at school. And second, it forms the basis for teaching writing in future months. Every day this past week I read a story about the Greek heroes from Greek mythology. The kids were predictably utterly captivated by the stories. They hung onto every syllable. I could feel their eyes on me as I read. Every detail intrigued them. But the best part about these stories is that the characters are strong and complex and the plots follow a perfect arc. After I read the story, we do a story diagram together. Characters, setting, plot. The kids have absolutely no trouble describing the problem in the story and then summarizing the beginning, middle, and end.
If you want your students to become strong writers, You have to expose them to the best stories and writing that you can get your hands on.
I hope you found this entry helpful. Do visit again next week for more ideas.
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