Narrative Writing Celebration

As you can see, I am WAY behind on my posting.  Here is some video from our narrative writing celebration that happened early in November.  Instead of having each child share his or her piece aloud, we had more of a "museum walk."  Parents and other students were able to roam around the room and hear different authors share their work.  Post-it notes were available on every table so we could respond to the author's writing.  Our parents were an incredible audience - each child felt celebrated. 

And please don't worry - that's not blood, cuts, or bruises that you see on our kids.  Since we are an arts magnet school, students participate in drama study once a week.  This week's lesson dealt with theater paint.  So everyone was able to paint their own "wounds" (which the kids loved!). 

Peer Revision

Peer revision is a tricky thing.  Often times, kids will read a friend's writing and just say, "It's good."  And that's the end of it.  So I spent a day modeling how to give effective feedback to a fellow writer.  We learned how to be specific in our praise.  We learned to use "writerly language" to identify and celebrate the strategies and word choice we see our fellow authors use.  We also learned to be honest when we notice the writer's meaning breaking down.  As writers, we want our readers to see the same "movie" we see - we want our readers to be able to experience the moment fully.  If our meaning breaks down, we want to make it clearer.  We learned to give specific, critical feedback and help our fellow writers improve their writing. 

I was incredibly pleased with our kids.  They took their work very seriously, and their writing was greatly improved due to the feedback they received from their friends.  Here is a video of our students revising their personal narratives together...

Author Circles

Writing is all about taking risks. This definitely comes into play when writers conference with each other to make improvements on their work. You make yourself vulnerable when you solicit feedback - it may not always be easy to hear another writer's perspective. But in Room 241, we've created a culture where feedback is a natural part of the writing process. In the video below, you'll see kids conferencing with each other about their poetry. You'll hear them talk about the things they love about each other's work, but you'll also hear them share suggestions that will make the writing stronger. Our students are extremely serious about their craft, and I couldn't be prouder.

Writer's Workshop

My blogging was sub-par during the month of January. I really do apologize. I'm going to try and get back in the habit of sitting down and blogging at least once a week. So if you've tuned out during the last month, try to tune back in! During January, we finished up our poetry unit. Here are a few pictures of the kids having conferences with each other.

Video Clips from our Writing Celebration

I was able to capture a few video clips from our Narrative and Word Play Writing Celebration. I especially enjoyed watching the songs and chants...

Self-Portrait Poem - Caitlin

Last week, we spent a lot of time immersing ourselves in the language of poetry. I asked each student to find a Self-Portrait Poem - one poem that spoke about who they were as a person. I thought Caitlin picked a great poem for herself. Here's the poem:

Waterfall
by Jane Yolen

Waterfall.
Waterfall.
Leaves, sticks, twigs and all.
A rumbling, tumbling cataracting fool, falling over and over and over and over.
Into it's own quiet
Pool.

Here's what Caitlin wrote about the poem:
My poem "Waterfall" connects to me because I love waterfalls. Also, when it says "Waterfall, Waterfall," it makes me calm. Then "rumbling, tumbling, cataracting fool" makes me think of noise and movement. That is the true me. At school I am quiet, but at home I am a crazy person. "Waterfall" paints my portrait.

Isn't that incredible? I love how Caitlin connected this poem to herself. Have you ever found a self-portrait poem? If you haven't, give it a try. It's a fun challenge!

Narrative and Word Play Celebration

We had a wonderful time sharing our writing during last week's celebration! The kids loved hearing your comments and reactions to their work. Here are some pictures from our time together...

The Braces Blues

On the day we learned about song writing, Madison and Lizzie took a shot at writing their own "blues." Since they both recently had braces put on, they decided to let braces be the subject of their song. They did an incredible job - so creative (and you'll love the motions)...

Jada and Sloan - Chant Fanatics!

We're wrapping up our unit on Word Play. The kids have had a wonderful time during this study - we've written jokes, chants, songs, riddles, and even idioms. Each day I would teach strategies for these types of wordplay, and then students would have a "menu" of options to choose from as they worked in writer's workshop. Jada and Sloan really took to chant writing. Chant writing is fun - it has rhythm, rhyme, and is really silly (things kids love). I was proud of the effort and hard work these two students put toward their craft. Here are Jada and Sloan sharing a few of the chants they created...