Tag: student writing
Emoji Story Starter September 10
Use these for a little boost to your story writing toolbox.
The Next Page Entry 21: 10-Minute Field Trips
So, here I sit at the end of a Monday.
New policy: Do something entirely new each Monday so I have something to look forward to on what used to be my least favorite day of the work week. Today, we took a 10-minute field trip.
Mrs. Nix is gone through Wednesday so I’m taking liberties with the schedule. It’s entirely possible she has a staff member [or three] keeping an eye out for scofflaws like me. Or am I just being paranoid?
No matter.
So, 10-minute field trips. Striking a blow for actual science experiences, as opposed to the current approach of ‘Hey, if what you’re reading for language arts mentions spiders or planets or the ocean, that counts as science!’.
We fanned out with our journals, rulers, and cameras and aimed to complete three mini-tasks:
- Find a ‘plant population’ within an area of three square feet.
- List five different colors in nature.
- Sketch one of the plants.
Goal: Build up their observational skills. Get them to sketch.
And so…I should have confined their ventures a bit. A fair amount of craziness. Decibel level higher than I’d expected, but we were out on the frontier, so not too worried. Got my exercise for the day. Haven’t seen the photos yet. Mr. Taylor and his kids took a break to watch us. A decent first step toward our trip to the park.
For the first 20 entries to this writing project, click here.
For writing teachers: a revision technique
- Photo by Harshal Desai on Unsplash
I posted this on my other blog, inventwithwords. It has just as much value for teachers of writing as it does for writers.
The Traffic Light Revision Technique
The Next Page Entry 20: Learning Elsewhere?
I like the way the kids are handling the outside time. They’re not perfect, of course, and ‘sources’ tell me bullying is rearing its ugly head, but I think overall this is a group that can handle learning beyond the school grounds.
Mrs. Nix will be gone a few days next week [thank you, Mr. Taylor, for that nugget], so it might be a good time to get some off-campus science going without immediate interrogation.
Next steps: 10-minute field trips at the school and parent permission slips for visits to the park.
The Next Page Entry 19: Six Words Only
I threw the kids a curve during journal time. A few are complaining about too much writing, so I zigged. [Or did I zag?]
Today, they could only use six words to describe their summer break. [I don’t want them to put their summer break in the past just yet.]
My hope: Squeeze their thinking, make them focus on the most helpful/descriptive nouns, verbs, or adjectives to recreate that time.
I gave them pieces of cash register tape for their final draft to be pinned on the graffiti bulletin board.
[Yep, there was a short discussion about hyphenated words being treated as single words. I officially broke my own six-word rule and the kids aren’t letting me forget it.]
A different kind of writing prompt for The 7 C’s Learning Expo
The latest addition to The 7 C’s Learning Expo…
With these fortunes as a springboard, try one or more of these activities:
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Have characters use two or more of the lines in an amusing conversation.
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Mix and match the various words in the fortunes to create new fortunes.
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Compose a story based on one or more of the messages.
** Here is a short tour of the Expo and its current collection of resources. [More are being added every week.]
Using online video as a prewriting tool…
I continue to add components of my prewriting course to my Sail the Seven C’s Teacher Expo…
Here is a link to a video suggesting ways to let
online video stir a writer’s imagination…
** Here is a short tour of the Expo and its current collection of resources. [More are being added every week.]
Ed Notions 