Writing is a huge part of a fourth grader's school day. Over the course of this year, we will spend hours upon hours learning to become a better writer. We call this part of our day "Writing Workshop". For a better understanding of what occurs during this hour each day, check out the video below.
But your writer's day doesn't end there! Each night, fourth graders should be spending at least a few minutes in their writing notebook or working on a current piece. In class, we have many tools to help us as we write, revise, edit and publish. To help your young writer, we've prepared a second copy of these tool pages for them to keep at home and use as a resource as needed.
At the back of the packet, parents will find a few pages explaining the FCAT Writing test all fourth grades will take in February. It also includes samples of student writing and answers to frequently asked questions about the assessment.
These packets will come home in students' red take home folders on Monday. Please be sure to take time to review them thoroughly before putting them in a safe place at home for your writer to use in their at-home writing work.
Writers, what is your favorite part of writing workshop?
Grab your pencils, fetch your notebooks, and get ready to WRITE!
Writers, there's only one thing I love more than writing, and that's a good writing CHALLENGE! "What's a writing challenge?" you say. Well, just as we set goals to help ourselves become better readers, we should set goals to become better writers.
One year, I set the goal to publish one piece of writing a day -- every single day -- for a month. I did this by participating in a challenge called NaBloPoMo, which stands for National Blog Posting Month. It was TOUGH. There were plenty of days within that month when I was exhausted. I felt like I had nothing to write about. Many nights I sat at my computer in the hours approaching midnight, nodding and dozing off in the middle of a sentence. But, I didn't quit. I stuck to it and reached my goal!
That's not the only challenge I've accepted. I've also challenged myself (on multiple occasions) to write 750 words PER DAY for as many days in a row as possible. I even belong to a special website that helps me count my words & track my progress! This challenge is EXTREMELY difficult, but I keep trying to improve, over and over again.
For your first challenge, we'll start small. This week, you'll receive a special label in your planner each day. Complete all FIVE of the OPTIONAL writing assignments by next Tuesday, September 3rd, and you will be invited to an exclusive LUNCH BUNCH celebration in the classroom next week.
In order to participate, you need to:
Write one full page of text on the given topic.
Write in your writer's notebook. (Remember to head each page with the date and an "H" for "home".)
Make each piece the best writing you can produce.
Write neatly enough that someone else can read your writing. (Remember, these aren't published pieces, so they won't be perfect....but they need to be legible.)
Submit all five completed pieces to me on Tuesday, September 3rd. NO LATE ENTRIES WILL BE ACCEPTED.
Now I understand, writers, that sometimes we don't succeed the first time we try. For that reason, you can also earn TEN Behavior Bucks for every completed piece of writing you submit on Tuesday the 3rd. And I know all of you mathematicians are already thinking, "Cha-ching!" And you're right! That means FIFTY BEHAVIOR BUCKS if you complete them all!
So, what do you think? Are you up for the challenge???
This week, we kicked off our writing workshop with a few lessons from one of our favorite authors, Patricia Polacco. We began by reading an informational book she wrote, titled Firetalking.
In this book, Polacco tells us about her life, showing us how she gets ideas and inspiration from the people, pets, places, experiences, and stories from her real world to create books for us to enjoy. Her beloved pet cat, Tush, inspired the story Mrs. Katz and Tush. Her mother's childhood memory of a meteor crashing into her front yard inspired the story Meteor. The more we read her books, the more we learn about her. Summers with her father and his love of horses inspired Mrs. Mack. Her older brother Richie really is red-headed, as in My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother. As writers, we can draw a link between her sources of inspirations and our own.
If Patricia Polacco wrote about her cat Tush....then I could write about my pet, ____.
If Patricia Polacco wrote about her brother Richie....then I could write about my brother/sister.
If Patricia Polacco wrote about her mother's memory of a meteor...then I could write about my ____'s story of the time when they ____.
If Patricia Polacco wrote about her love of making pysanky eggs...then I could write about my hobby, ____.
But that's not all Polacco taught us. In Applemando's Dreams, Applemando "dreams up" amazing ideas, to his friends' delight, until the elders of the village tell him these dreams are bad. Once these negative voices are in his head, Applemando can no longer dream until his friends help him feel safe enough to try again. Similarly, in Junkyard Wonders, the students of room 206 feel like they're not as good as the other students in the school. In fact, they think they are junk!
Even the best of writers have struggled with feelings of self-doubt at times. Some writers might hear this voice of self-doubt so loudly that they, like Applemando, stop dreaming up stories and ideas to write about. But good writers know that their ideas are worth writing. We will never write something really good if we never START WRITING.
In order to squash those negative voices in our minds, we've learned a few strategies. First and foremost, we've given ourselves permission to write ANYTHING. Any idea is good enough. Just like Polacco said of her own art and stories in Firetalking, we might not get it right the first time. We might need to try that story again and again. But that's OK! That's what good writers do!
Another strategy to overcoming those feelings of self-doubt is to use "thinking prompts" as we write. For instance, perhaps when we sit down to write, the only idea in our head at the time is something we think doesn't sound "good enough". We can begin our writing with the words, "One idea is..." and continue with the "not good enough" idea we're thinking. Then, just let our minds keep rolling with it as we write. We can follow this "not good enough" idea until we feel better ideas brewing.
One idea is pink Converse. Pink Converse standing firmly in a row. Pink Converse, navy Converse, fancy, new high tops and shiny, black ballet flats, all standing at attention, watching as they raise the flag. Today was our first flag raising. Our school gathered in the bus loop to hear Mrs. Phillips speak. Flag raisings make our school special. They're part of what it means to be Chets Creek. I remember when I first came to Chets Creek..................
Other thinking prompts we might try are:
The words I'm hearing are....
What I'm thinking right now....
I could try to write about....
Beginning our writing with these phrases has a way of quietening those nasty voices whispering in our ear, "No, no, no. You can't write about that. That's not good enough."
We have more to learn from this amazing author, Patricia Polacco. Writers, as you continue in your writing life, be sure to remember these important lessons. Every idea we have is good enough to try writing at least once. In room 211, and everywhere else in our writing lives, we have permission to write ANYTHING!
