Saturday Sayings!

Happy Saturday!  Welcome to Saturday Sayings!

I have joined Tammy at Forever in First, Julie at Lighting a Fire in Third Grade, and Lori at Conversations in Literacy, during the month of April to share our favorite quotes and reflections. This is the final post for our April series.  It has been a great experience.  Thank you ladies for such a great exchange of ideas!  

Please visit all of our blogs and join the discussion.  We would love to hear from you!

My quote today is from Ralph Fletcher...

"I am not a big believer in story starters.  I believe that the best ideas are living inside you.  Your challenge is to dig them out."

I really like Ralph Fletcher's approach to the question, "What should I write about?"  Rather than giving students a topic to write about, he gives ideas to jump-start imaginations.  You can find the ideas HERE.  

We can use his ideas to have conversations with our students that will lead to authentic writing.  Every writer gets stuck and needs a little help to get those creative juices flowing again!

I want to share a video clip that I found this week.  It is a great example of how Writing Workshop can work in a primary classroom.  I hope you enjoy it!

Sandi

Welcome The Go To Teacher! Guest Blogger!

Today is my birthday and I thought it would be nice to have a friend over!  So, welcome Jen, The Go To Teacher!  She is my first blogger buddy to come for a visit, so welcome her with lots of comments and bloggy love!  

Hello Literacy Minute followers!

My name is Jennifer Willis from The Go to Teacher blog.  I was so excited when Sandi emailed me to guest blog.  It is my first time doing so and I think it is her first guest blogger!  An added bonus is that I love this blog!

I knew immediately what I wanted to blog about because it has been on my mind way too often these past couple weeks…the end of the school year!  I always get panicked when I think of only weeks left.  There is always something more to teach!  This year I have decided to take a different approach, it’s called confidently believing in my students {genius, huh?}!

 We have gathered as a class on the carpet close to 140 days to discuss favorite books, learn new ways to think, giggle at the funny things characters do, share our schema on a topic,   make connections, listen to our friends’ thoughts and so much more.  I want to give the opportunity to each student to show what they learned and take pride in the fact that it is SO MUCH! I created the freebie below in the hopes that their knowledge of reading will impress them as much as it has me. 

There are 30 reading questions for the last 30 days of school.  Just print them out and stick them in a dog bowl.  There are journal pages as well. 

It's Been a Dog-Gone Terrrrrrific Year!

My hope is that your students will impress you but even more that they will impress themselves! 

Persuasive Writing Freebie

This past week I heard Katherine Bomer as part of our local consortium.  She offered ideas for teaching persuasive writing.  I took my notes and turned it into a PowerPoint that I hope you can use. Just print out the pages where the student writes a response.  I would love to hear from you if you use it with your students!

Download here!

Sandi

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Saturday Sayings

Happy Saturday!  Welcome to Saturday Sayings!

I am happy to join Tammy at Forever in First, Julie at Lighting a Fire in Third Grade, and Lori at Conversations in Literacy, as we share our favorite quotes and reflections! Tammy has allowed us to link with her during the month of April!  Please visit all of our blogs and join the discussion!  We would love to hear from you!

"You don't get true, fire-in-the-belly energy for writing because you fear getting a bad grade but because you have something to say and your own way of saying it." 

Katherine Bomer

taken from Hidden Gems, Naming and Teaching from the Brilliance in Every Student's Writing

I had the opportunity to hear Katherine Bomer for the first time this week. She was a breath of fresh air.  She reminded me to think about why writers write. This also made me think about why they might not want to write! 

I thought about our kiddos and the opportunities that they have to "just write" and express themselves.  Are we focused on their expressions or just the final product?  Do we look at their writing in a deficit-only approach?  What lens do we use when reading their writing?  Do we find the beauty on the page, or do we just see the words?  

Are you familiar with Katherine's work?  If not, you can read an excerpt from her book, Hidden Gems, found here.  If it makes you think about student writing in a different light, please share your thoughts!  I know that you will be changed in some way. 

I was.

Check back next week and I will share what Katherine told us about persuasive writing!