Literacy Minute

Sunday, April 22, 2012

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

Follow me for more freebies and fun!

Saturday, April 21, 2012

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!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Literacy Ideas for the Titanic

This month marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. I don''t know about you, but this event in history casts its spell over me. I find the glory of the ship compared to the enormous tragedy of loss so compelling. From my experience, students feel the same way. To encourage engagement, add some books about the Titanic to your classroom library. Here are a few ideas for teaching about this moment in history.

Thinkquest-You'll discover all kinds of things you never knew about the Titanic.

Tonight on the Titanic, by Mary Pope Osborne, resources

Titanic Lesson Page-many ideas in one place!

The Teacher'sGuide- A wonderful collection of ideas!

Kids Discover Titanic.

National Geographic has a great website with videos!

Books