Good Times with Tyler Tigers

My travels this week took me to Belton ISD and Tyler Elementary. Let me first mention that before I had moved here to Texas, I would visit Jeff as much as possible down in Texas. I came over Spring Break in Michigan to pound the pavement and find a teaching job.  Tyler Elementary was the FIRST elementary school I knew about in the area and I used to watch the students coming and going in the morning and after school from our front porch.  This week I got to go inside for the first time- not before driving by our old farmhouse first though!

First, I went to Ms. Sarinana's room. She is the first grade bilingual teacher at Tyler. I have never been in a bilingual classroom. I first noticed a little girl who did not come to the carpet with everyone else and was just choking back tears at her desk.  Come to find out she only speaks Spanish and was a little overwhelmed to say the least. What a blessing that Ms. Sarinana was able to talk to her in Spanish about her assignment when the class got started. WOW! That was a wonderful experience for me to witness firsthand.

Today was a day for poetry in first grade. They were working on a poem using their five senses.  Sensory details! The mini-lesson started with Ms. Sarinana modeling her own thinking and brainstorming of a poem using her five senses about the BIG storm that had just ripped through the town! The one that had me up the night before when I should have been fast asleep checking the weather and calming my dogs down myself. 

The students would be doing the brainstorming of the poem today and Ms. Sarinana was showing them how to think about the things they could see, touch, smell, hear, and taste about a certain event or experience.  The students watched her and then they were off to work at their desks on their own graphic organizer. I will be honest, I was not sure how they would handle this task. It seemed HARD! These kids knocked it out of the park! Several wrote about the storm, but many came up with their own unique ideas... rollerskating... the carnival... etc.  This was great! I am hopeful that some "final" poems will come my way!    I would love to see them! Did you hear that Yolanda? Wink! Wink! Check out some of the ideas...

Way to go first grade! Thanks for sharing your classroom and your writing with me!

Down the hallway I traveled to THIRD GRADE!  Remember... third graders are bordering on scary to me! By THIS time in the year they are almost FOURTH GRADERS!  I am not funny or smart in the eyes of FOURTH GRADERS, but I walked in and put on a brave face! Don't let 'em see you sweat right?

 I was a little late, so I had missed the mini-lesson but anchor chart evidence showed me they were working on the Trait of Word Choice. I loved the feel of writing time in this classroom! There was a high expectation of on task behavior, but there was not an expectation that confined writers to their seats.  That was the first thing I noticed. Some students wrote at their desk, some were at a round table at the back of the room, some wrote and talked with others, some wrote privately and pensively.

I wish I could have recorded it. It was exactly the atmosphere of "Workshop".  There was movement, there was noise, there was flexibility, there was choice, but there was WRITING, and a LOT OF IT! Great job creating that culture Susie! I can't wait to use some of these photos in my PowerPoints as well! That is the "look" of Workshop.

Now on to the writers! I talked and conferenced with several, but a few stand out.  One gentleman I pulled up next to, was writing about a trip to Six Flags. He had nothing on the paper when I sat down. I asked him what he wanted his writing to be about and he said
"Six Flags".
I kept pushing, "But WHAT about Six Flags?" He looked at me funny.
 I kept going. "I have never been to Six Flags before." Now he laughed at me- that is not possible right?  "I don't know anything about going to Six Flags! I don't know about the rides. I don't know what you can do there. I don't know how far away it is. I don't know what kind of clothes to wear." 
That got him to talking. He started telling me the INS and OUTS of Six Flags.
"Maybe that is what your story could be about. Your story could tell someone who has NEVER been to Six Flags, like me, the things they need to know about the place."
He pushed his glasses up on his face, got his pencil and started his first sentence.... "I think you should learn things before you go to Six Flags."
YES! Writing success... an interesting topic with a unique voice. I think the importance of THINKING about what you want to say before you write it also bubbled up in this conference.

Next writer was Angelita. Angelita was writing a story titled My Favorite Sport.  I sat down and started my conference with one of those questions y'all learned about that GET THE WRITER TALKING... I said "What are you working on today as a writer?" Some kids read their story, but Angelita helped me zoom into what she needed as a writer that day.
"I'm working on picking good words to use in my story." She pointed to the word fantastic! (spelled ventastik) She knew that was a good word to use in her story. Problem was, I noticed she used it again in the next sentence, so it lost its pizazz!  I asked her to listen as I read her story out loud to her. I said listen for where you use that awesome word, fantastic. I read.  Her eyes got big after I read.
I said "what did you notice?"
"I kind of used it too many times."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I used it once, and then I used it again right away."
"So what do you think you should do?"
"I think I should find another word to use."
Hmmm.... interesting idea Angelita! :) Score one for me... and YOU!
The conference continued and we found other great words to use including the word excruciating- yes I spent time in a dictionary in 3rd grade.

Thank you Belton for opening your classroom doors to me! It was truly my pleasure!