Students As Authors: Writers' Workshop Part IV

It’s always a lifesaver to have extra writing activities on hand that are ready any time! Here are some fun ideas that I use for students who finish first:

Whole-Class Journals

Whole-class journals are community journals with open ended prompts. Click the link for my free whole-class journal labels! 

Story Starter Cubes and Scholastic Story Starter Machine

Scholastic's Story Starter Machine is SO FUN. Just click the link and you'll see! 

Blogging

In the past I've had my students use Kidblog but this year I created a blog group on Edmodo. Every year I always have a group of students who take off with blogging and even do it at home...they are the writers who don't usually compose much on paper but when you give them a keyboard, they go on and on! The students also like having an audience and being able to write to each other. 

Drop Everything and Write

Just like Drop Everything and Read, we do Drop Everything and Write! I got this idea from my mentor teacher during student teaching and use it every year. The students love to interview each other and have conversations through writing. 

Have I convinced you? Isn’t writing the best? ;) 

Blended Learning in Readers’ Workshop

What if I told you that every one of my 27 2nd graders were on-task (yes, EVEN the student who is usually bouncing around the room and can usually only focus for about two seconds), actively engaged, and exclaiming “This is so fun!”. What would you think I’m describing? Recess, maybe? I’m talking about reading! My readers’ workshop has been transformed with the implementation of 1:1 Chromebooks (a laptop with only Internet). 

Before the use of Chromebooks, I always felt like I was having to rearrange our reading block every six weeks…the kids would get antsy, more off-task behaviors would be happening…some kind of oomph was missing. Have you ever had the feeling? I needed and wanted readers’ workshop to be a time of the day that my students and I looked forward to and were excited about. I was constantly trying to find a way to make readers’ workshop work for us, for it to be worthwhile. Then our administration and PTA granted us a class set of Chromebooks. I knew that if I could find a way to have the students use the Chromebooks during readers’ workshop, the workshop that I imagined may come to life! 

After some trial and error, I now have the beginnings of a blended learning environment for readers’ workshop and my students and I LOVE it! I still do mini-lessons and model with read alouds but now when my students are working on using strategies in their leveled book, they are doing it on the Internet. Thanks to Edmodo (a free facebook-like platform for education), Reading A-Z, and other e-book sources, my students are collaborating with one another, reading for extended periods of time, actively responding to their reading, receiving immediate feedback, and having fun! 

What does this look like in the classroom? What exactly are my students doing?

Take a peek at this tutorial I created for my students and you’ll see how they use Edmodo and Reading A-Z:

The following are screenshots of the work they produced on Edmodo for generating questions before reading with a nonfiction text. 

As for me, I’m doing mostly the same things that I did before…pulling small groups, meeting with individual students, observing, etc. However, I can now give immediate feedback to the students who remain at their seat…through my teacher account view, I can approve their posts, rate it with a range of smiley faces, and even pull impromptu groups based on what I see them posting at that moment. Isn’t that fabulous?! What do you think?!

Students As Authors: Writers' Workshop Part III

What do writers write?! Each quarter we focus on a different type of writing (narrative, persuasive/opinion, informational, and back to narrative), and I pick a topic that is related to one of our current units of study in science or social studies for their writing pieces. Integration = Connections = DEEP LEARNING! Then when all is said and done, I offer the students activities that extend upon their writing, which often involves technology or art. 

My ultimate favorite writing unit we have done is Who Should be Mayor of Pickle City? for persuasive writing. During this writing unit, the students are simultaneously learning about the elected leaders and responsibilities of local government in social studies. To hook the students, I created two fictional mayoral candidates of the fictional Pickle City. 

Meet…Kate Ketchup and Pete Pizza! 

I presented each candidate’s platform to the students with Voki (a free tech tool used to make talking avatars). They loved it and thought it was hilarious. Then we summarized each candidate’s platform and discussed pros and cons for each point. Following this overview of the candidates, students decided who they wanted to side with. Who would make the best mayor for Pickle City? 

During the Planning stage, they used a flow map from Read, Write, Think (I printed the blank map) and brainstormed introductions and recorded the main points of their candidate’s platform. Then they caucused with their like-minded group through an inner/outer circle format to develop arguments for each of their points. This worked out so fabulously! They collaborated with many different people and gained great information from each other. 

After they had developed a strong argument for their candidate, they developed counterclaims. We started by having a VERY guided debate (debate inspiration from professional development by our county’s language arts supervisor). I asked the students, “Why do you think Kate Ketchup or Pete Pizza should be mayor?” A student would offer an opinion about Kate Ketchup’s platform and then another student would offer their thoughts about Pete Pizza. I continued switching between both sides recording their arguments on chart paper. 

Caucus with Like-Minded Group                                                                                                                  Guided Debate

THEN came the counterclaim. I explained that it’s important to see both sides. and that politely refuting another’s idea can make for a stronger argument. I proceeded by asking the students to look at the arguments documented on the chart paper for the opposition and think of a reason as to why it’s not a good idea and what your candidate could do that would be better. Following this direction, the students developed at least one counterclaim with the following sentence frame: 

"Some may argue that…however… "

What the students wrote was unbelievable! They had become expert persuaders! I wish I had a student example to share with you but from what I can remember, they wrote things like, "Some may argue that more cars equals more pollution however Pete Pizza will offer cars that run on electricity."

After our debate, students completed their planning by adding a conclusion. They wrote things like, "Obviously Kate Ketchup is the best choice for mayor," and, "In my opinion you should vote for Pete Pizza." Then they proceeded through the stages of the writing process. When they reached the Publishing stage, they composed their final draft as a letter to the citizens of Pickle City. And when all was said and done, our classroom was covered with campaign posters, voting booths, and ticket ballots. 

Students as Authors: Writers' Workshop Part II

Most of our writers’ workshop is spent writing, of course! Planning > First Draft > Edit/Revise > Publishing. These are the stages my students follow for each writing piece. They keep their work in a writing folder and move it from magazine box to magazine box based on each stage of the writing process (idea source from The Superlative Six). Nearly all of my Writing Process Labels have become detached from our boxes but if you're interested in seeing the labels, they are available for FREE in my TpT store. The students usually do two to three pieces each quarter. We spend A LOT of time on each piece to really make it quality. I am a big fan of Thinking Maps and have the students use them for the Planning stage. Sometimes I create my own Thinking Maps templates and sometimes I find JUST what I'm looking for from Lisa Lizak and Beth Wright or Read, Write, Think (click links for free Thinking Maps!). 

During the First Draft stage, students use their Thinking Map to compose their writing on special draft paper. If students need me, they sign up for a writing reservation (made with Google Forms) on the computer. I will also pull small groups based on what I see. 

Writing reservations also come in handy for the Edit/Revise stage. I love the writing reservations because it gives me a record of what students need and who I’ve met with but the best part is, the students do all the work! They love going to the computer and completing the writing reservation form. It makes them feel so fancy! I keep my iPad at my fingertips and have the results of the writing reservation form up on the screen and it updates in real time as the students submit a reservation. 

Student View of Writing Reservation                          Student in Action                      Teacher View of Writing Reservations

One of the most overwhelming parts of writing for me used to be editing student work so I then I got smarter and started having the students do most of it. It's a win-win for both the students and I because they become master editors with all the practice (I also like to think that maybe they put more effort into their first drafts so then they don’t have to correct as much, wishful thinking?) and I don’t have to spend hours after school editing every single error. 

During the Edit/Revise stage, I’ll pull a small group based on the reservations. They bring a marker, clipboard, and their first draft to the carpet. I keep a dry-erase board with me to do brief lessons based on their errors. I will instruct the students to check every sentence for a capital letter, punctuation, etc. and they use editing marks to make the corrections. As the year progresses, I add additional steps during the Edit/Revise stage, such as pick a word to find a jazzy synonym for, check for contractions, etc. During the final part of this stage, I pair the students up and they read their writing aloud to one another while I rotate around and listen in. The purpose of the partner read aloud is for them to give each other compliments and suggestions. Two brains are better than one, right?! They also catch a lot of errors once they hear how their writing sounds out loud.

Finally, the students move to their final draft! They write their story on loose-leaf notebook paper (it takes them forever to remember what side the holes go on! Does anyone have any tricks for that?) and sometimes they make it into a book! Every other month I organize an event called Quill and Scroll with my colleagues where five students from each class are invited to share a "published" piece of writing one evening after school. Families are invited, the kids dress up...it's real special! Every student in the school gets invited to at least one Quill and Scroll during the year. Stay tuned for a more detailed post on how to organize your own Quill and Scroll!  

Students As Authors: Writers' Workshop Part I

What’s your favorite subject? I would absolutely say writing. Mostly because I LOVE what my students come up with…their adorable writers’ voice and creative ideas. I also like it because it’s the one subject I have to plan the least for…once we get started on a writing piece, the students do most of the work! I also have become super comfortable with managing writer’s workshop. Not comfortable in the I’m-in-a-rut kind of way but instead comfortable in the sense that everything is just as it should be, smooth and peaceful. Who doesn’t love that? The funny thing is our routine for writers’ workshop stays the same all year yet my students nor I have ever gotten antsy with our routine compared to readers’ workshop that I have to revise at certain times of the year. Want to know what I’m talking about? Here’s an overview of writers’ workshop in my classroom that will be shared over a series of posts:

Characteristics of My Writers’ Workshop

My three favorite things about Writers’ Workshop: read alouds, sharing, and music. Some days we start our workshop with a read aloud to focus on a type of writing, text structure, topic sentences, etc. There are so many fabulous mentor texts available! Other days we start with a student or two sharing their writing. The students continue to have opportunities to share during and at the end of our workshop. Throughout the year they learn how to compliment each other and offer suggestions. Many a time a student will write something that is unbelievably amazing, something better than I could have ever planned…these moments are significant for igniting the fire in others. Lightbulbs go off in students and I hear words like “Oh I could include that in my story by…!” and “Look! I just added…just like Ashley did!” 

Isn’t that the best? Meanwhile The Piano Guys are playing on Pandora in the background and I think that nothing could be better than this. If you haven't listened to The Piano Guys Station on Pandora, you must go there right now. You'll be glad you did. ;)

Visit Hippo Hooray for Second Grade for more on Pandora in the classroom. 

The School Potato is Here!

Hello, World!

I’ve been thinking about you and have many good things coming your way to make up for all of the time that I’ve been gone. 

Stay tuned! 

You're Hired!: Classroom Jobs

Classroom Jobs

I have 27 students (that's a lot of seven year olds!). They each have a role in managing our classroom by holding a job (that's a lot of jobs!). During the first week of school, after I've introduced the jobs, the students complete a job application. This is the application I used last year from Mrs. Kincaid's First Grade.

Click the image to grab this FREEBIE.

Then I assign them their jobs, which they keep for six to eight weeks (or until they get antsy and are ready for a change). This may sound like a long time for them to keep the same job and they don't have an opportunity to hold every job. However this extended time allows them to become experts in their field, especially the jobs that require mostly speaking, like the Calendar Leaders and Lunch Counters, for my ESOL students. The students also truly take ownership for their responsibility. It's also one less thing (the job rotations) for me to manage every week.

Here are all of the jobs that are used in my classroom:
Caboose (1)
Calendar Leaders (2)
Class Assistant (2)
Computer Assistants (1)
DJ (1)
Door Holder (1)
Electrician (1)
Greeters (2)
Librarians (2)
Line Leader (1)
Lunch Counters (2)
Lunch Helpers (2)
Mail Carriers (2)
Messengers (2)
Secretary (1)
Timer (1)
Water Bottle Crew (3)

All of the jobs are important and most are used on an everyday, if not weekly, basis. My three favorite jobs are the Greeters, Librarians, and Secretary. I'll elaborate on them as they may not be as common.

My Three Favorite Jobs

Try them out in your classroom!

1. Greeters

 

Having Greeters in each classroom is a tradition at my school. I work at a specialty school so we sometimes have visitors/parents who are interested in having their child attend our school. The Greeters welcome guests to our classroom.Two of my students will open the door for the guest(s), introduce themselves, and share what we're doing/learning. I love this job because it involves having the students practice an important social skill, makes our guest(s) feel welcomed, and allows the rest of the class and I to continue with what we're doing.

2. Librarians

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I keep a leveled classroom library. How do I keep the books organized and in the correct bins all year? With Librarians! When my students are ready to return a book to our classroom library, they put their book in the Re-shelve Basket, just like you would at a public library. When my librarians notice there are books in the Re-Shelve Basket, they re-shelve, or re-bin them. Easy peasy!

3. Secretary

Doesn't it just stink when your classroom phone rings and you have to sprint across the classroom and hurdle over kids to reach it? or You just got settled into reading The Duckling Gets a Cookie?! to the class when, BRRRIINNGGG, the phone rings? This is where having a secretary comes in handy! The students die to have this job! When the phone rings, one of my students answers it, and I have a handy-dandy script for them to read too (a great social skill to practice!). Most of the time I continue with what I'm doing with the rest of the class and my secretary will relay the message in my ear. Occasionally the phone call is not for little ears though so I sometimes do have to stop instruction to speak with the caller.

Happy Hiring! Thanks for visiting!