Great Fun!

Had a lot of fun at the session yesterday and can't wait for the next session!

Day one

Day one of the Writers workshop. Off we go. Hope this turns out great.

Hello from Donna

This morning has been a great learning session, in order to get students fired up about writing.

Welcome to the Third Writer's Workshop Institute

I want to welcome you and tell you just how EXCITED I am for you to be a part of our Third Writer's Workshop Institute here at ESC Region 12. Writer's Workshop Institute is powerful and it can be transforming for your classroom writing instruction if you choose to let it!  Becoming a teacher of writers is a journey... and with Writer's Workshop Institute you are surrounded by others on the same path.  I challenge you to be willing to "not know" where you are going, but to forge ahead anyway. I will hold your compass, I will be your guide. It is my honor to be your teacher! Lace up your hiking boots... here we go!

A Visit to Academy ISD

I think the first thing that struck me upon entrance to Mrs. Jahns' classroom was the amount of "doing" on the part of her students. Now, keep in mind I am here the Friday before the last (all early release) 4 days of school.  Students were anxious to get ONE MORE THING published before the end of their third grade year. Unfortunately my camera does not want to cooperate with the upload so this is an image free posting session. Sorry Monica!


This a classroom full of tools for writers. A well stocked publishing center with fancy scissors, sharp crayons, several choices of paper, alphabet stencils, shape book patterns, staplers, drawing books, etc.  Students were coming and going, getting the supplies needed so that they could publish their writing properly. 

I watched the work for a bit and then I pulled in close to a few writers.

One writer was telling about her field trip to Pearson- yes- the place that makes the TAKS test! She had a detailed paper telling all about what they did and what they saw there. However, there were several places where I was confused.  After she read her story to me, I told her about how I had never been to Pearson and how it had been a long time since I went on a field trip. 
I asked her, "Do you think there are any parts in your story where you think I might get confused about what happened on the field trip?" She nodded her head yeah. I made her read it again to me and I told her I was going to stop her if I got confused. So we did just that.
I stopped her three times. Each time I asked her- "Why am I confused there?" She had great things to say- "You don't know who Rachel is!" or "You don't know where Pearson is!" or "You don't know who they are".
She of course then clarified those parts and I reminded her to always think about the people who will read what you've written, and ask yourself, "Will they know what I am saying or will they be confused?" 
It was a great conference.

Next I moved over to a gentleman writing a CHAPTER BOOK! Oh yes.. you heard right. He was on Chapter 5.  I didn't read all five chapters, I just started to talk with him about his book.
"Tell me about your book."
"It's about an octopus who gets lost from him mom and looks to find her."
"Wow, that sounds interesting. What has happened so far?"
He gave me a good synopsis.
"What is going to happen next?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I kind of figure it out at I write it."
Oh??!!! Oh no....no.. that is not how writers work is the thought that came through my head! I of course did not say it that way. Instead, I grabbed a chapter book (Romona and Beezus) from the (very well stocked I might add) Classroom Library. I showed him the chapters listed in that book.
I asked him, "Do you think Beverly Cleary just figured this book out as she wrote it?"
He shook his head no. I said, "How do you think she did it?"
"She had a plan for it."
"Maybe we need a plan for your book too. A plan can always change, but I do think writers like you and writers like Beverly Cleary have 'an idea' of a plan before and while they write." So together we made the plan and I left him the plan for his future chapters on a post-it note. Kids KNOW how writers work, sometimes they just need us to hold them accountable for doing what writers do!

This again was a classroom full of doing which is why I'm so sad that none of my pictures seem to want to upload. "Server rejected" is the message I am given.... well fooey!

It was a great day and a great visit with writers in 3rd grade at Academy. I also got to go give a hug to a former Kinder student now in 4th grade!  She had been in Mrs. Jahns' Classroom the year before! 
Thanks for inviting me to your classroom Monica. 

Everyone... have a GREAT SUMMER!

Welcomed with Open Arms in Clifton

Awww... Clifton! I have been there several times over the last few years to train staff and walking the halls I saw so many familiar faces. Before heading inside I watched a PK class have races out front. I had forgotten all about RACES! I used to do the same thing with my Kindergarten class at the start of recess beginning in the spring.  Kindergarten kids (and in this case PK) are so cute when they RUN!

I wasn't just there to watch recess however, first up on my schedule was Kindergarten! You know how much I love it down in Kindergarten. I showed up in time for some singing and dancing. "Who let the N out? N.. N...N..N...N"

I of course joined IN!  Then we all hunkered down on the rug for our mini-lesson.  Ms. Ripley was showing kids how to write MORE in their stories.  More in the middle than just one sentence.  We had a great time watching and helping her think about MORE to say in the middle about the class trip to the zoo.  The students were itching to get to their own writing. And WRITE THEY DID! Wow, Ms. Ripley, you have really taken these writers far this year! LOOK at the writing that Kindergarten kids are doing in Clifton!

I was with both of the writers whose stories are featured above and I made each of them talk through their story first.  They didn't want to, but I made them.  Talking it through it so important. That is how the part about the giraffes long blue tongue and how the elephants were eating the hay with their trunks became part of their story.  If they say it, most often they will write it in their story too! Thinking about an ending was something else we talked about. If this were my class if might be something I would do a few mini-lessons about.  How do you think of a sentence that ends a story- a sentence that doesn't sound like there is more story coming?  I think these two writers got it!

I was thoroughly enjoying my time in Kindergarten, but they left me and headed out of the room on their way to an afternoon activity class... bye Kindergarten... I hear 1st Grade calling my name! 

I walked into Jennifer Gauer's classroom and she sat me right down next to Zac. Evidently Zac was eager as a beaver to "publish" his writing, but didn't want to take the time and care it takes to get something to a publishing state. Jennifer had recently made some Writer's Checklists to help her 1st Graders think about all the things necessary during an editing or revising stage before publishing.  I asked her if she gave me liberty to go after this the way my writing heart was telling me to and she said "YES PLEASE!"

The first thing I knew I needed to do with this checklist was color code it. When kids edit/revise I want to see evidence of that work on their papers and I always did that using colored pencils or crayons.  In 3rd grade they used those four sided colored pens.  The first three things on the checklist were easy- Name, Date and Title. Check, Check, Check. The next ones were not so simple. And I actually would change the order on the checklist- something I didn't realize until I started using it with Zac.(See how it is reordered below).
Next We should have checked if all the sentences matched the title. We made that green. We read each sentences and asked "Is that about the seasons?" We found that a sentence about jumping in leaves all night long and playing at his cousin's house had nothing to do with the seasons and using a green crayon, Zac crossed them OFF!  This was a big deal! I really thought he might fight me to do this, but he went right along with it. 

Next we checked if there were at LEAST 3 sentences, yes, of course. But after crossing off parts, his story was not as long as he wanted it so we had to brainstorm other things about the seasons he could add to replace the unrelated sentences he had crossed off.

Next up were periods and capitals. I like that these went next to each other. We made periods orange and capitals blue.  We read each sentence checking that there was an end mark.  If there was he made it orange... we found ONE that was missing. His face was priceless. I resisted the urge to say "I told you so- that is why we edit."  Now we had orange periods, and after every orange period there should be a blue capital.  Again he found a place where he had forgotten to use a capital. "I told you so"!   :)

Finally came spaces. There was a spot that needed better spaces and he grabbed for his eraser. I explained that rather than erasing it, editors have marks they can use to show better spaces. I showed him how he could draw a line with his purple crayon to show where he knew better spaces should go. If he would have erased I would have lost my "evidence" of editing.  I left Zac to write more about the other three seasons- all he had mentioned were details he knew about fall so he needed to give the other three seasons equal justice within his story. When I came back I noticed he had continued the editing plan on his own with his newly added sentences! See below...
WOW! WOW! WOW!
I love my job!

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!