Today I was able to take a baseline assessment and begin my anecdotal notes. Tomorrow I will introduce the Writer's Notebook and begin to decorate!!
I was also able to share what I learned at the WW Institute with the 1st and 2nd grade teams today. They had some great questions that I thought I would get your feedback on a couple because I frankly do not know the answer to them.
1. During mini lessons, are we suppose to teach grammar? Or should we devote another time during the day to spend on that part of writing? (5-10 minutes seems like crunch time for these lessons! Yikes!)
2. Is it just a teacher preference to allow your students to draw before they write, or is there an age appropriate answer?
I would love to know your thoughts!
1) YES! Mini-Lessons are the BEST place to teach grammar- in the CONTEXT of writing. One might still have other lessons- but when taught IN writing that is when they stand to have the most impact.
ReplyDelete2) I let kids draw all through elementary school- however there are certainly more appropriate and more beneficial brainstorming methods as students progress through the grades. Once you start teaching ways to organize/brainstorm (in mini-lessons) different ways- drawing/webbing/listing etc. students can have choice. If a child is still drawing when there may be a better way to organize ideas- I will certainly talk about this with them in a conference.
Keep the questions COMING! And keep burning- see- they are coming from miles! Just wait till they see what YOU have at the end of the year! Whew! You have no idea what is about to happen in your classroom this year! I love it...