Don't throw away your napkins!!

Writing, labels, and freebies - Oh my!!

Whoop whoop. I'm back folks.....2 days in a row! Today, I'm posting about what's been going on in Writer's Workshop. I began with labeling and my explorers are doing so well with it! I loved Julie Lee's idea on labeling the teacher and Cara Carroll's idea of making an anchor chart to hold the labels...so I went for it. And oh.my.word, my students loved everything about it. Brilliant.

Here is the after math of it all. ha And I'm not sure what is up with my outfit. Well, I do know. I was running late and went down to my garage to leave...in just my shirt and shoes....hoping my black pants were clean and hanging in the laundry room.....and, well, I was wrong. ha And I didn't have time to go back upstairs and change my shirt...so I grabbed the first pair of pants I could find. Wardrobe fail. They did NOT match. heh Good thing I'm with 5 and 6 year olds all day....

It is important to remember, that when teaching Writer's Workshop, (you match your clothes) AND you generate ideas for writing with your students. ha ha Providing "live" demonstrations, while showing the students how to write the same type of text they will, is so important! You should provide interactive writing opportunities where you "share the pen." When you do this, you're inviting the students to record some parts of the shared text. Here is my classroom example of pen sharing:

And for those of you not familiar, this is a labeling chart on our sweet and precious Gertrude. You can read more about our classroom pet here. We discussed how a label gives the reader more information and how we needed to educate others on our guinea pig. ;-) Afterwards, students labeled their own guinea pig.

If you're interested in a Gertrude labeling page, you can grab it by clicking the image below. Also, check out Katie Mense's most recent post on labeling and the great freebie she included. So smart! 

I also wanted to share with you a great sheet I put together based on the teachings from Dr. Deborah Rowe from Vanderbilt University. There are many conditions that support young children's writing and we must remember that students learn write best when the learning instructional environment provides: 

1. A purpose for writing and a real audience

2. Immersion

3. Demonstrations

4. Collaboration

5. Response from Others

6. Engagement

7. Responsibility

8. Expectation

9. Approximation

These are great to remember when carrying out your Writing lessons and conference times. This reminder sheet is tucked away in my plan book and I refer to it when planning. I sure hope you've found some helpful tips. Happy Writing!

Writer's Workshop: Informational Reports

Each nine weeks, our district requires a piece of writing to be completed as an assessment and placed in our students' permanent record. The first 9 weeks was a self portrait with name and date, the second 9 weeks was a journal entry (small moment), the third 9 weeks was a book review, and this nine weeks we are working on informational reports. I just began teaching this skill within the past week and students have helped me write a report based on a book we read together. 

My kinders expressed an interest in ocean animals and specifically sharks...so this is the book we went with. I talked to students about writing informational reports and the steps to take. We referenced this anchor chart, which can be found in my mini unit on TpT. 

After we discussed the steps, I began a whole group writing and modeled each step - - from the illustrations and coloring....all the way to stretching out of sounds and recalling facts. Here is what we came up with and what my students wrote when they were turned loose. 

For those of you who don't speak Kindergarten...my example says:

Sharks

Topic Sentence: There are many kinds of sharks.

Fact 1: They have sharp teeth. 

Fact 2: If they stop swimming, they will sink.

Fact 3: Some are flat and some are round.

My little buddy (whose writing I am sharing with you) says:

Sharks

Sharks are not mammals.

Sharks have sharp teeth.

Sharks have gills.

There are many kinds of sharks. <--this was his topic sentence and we discussed putting it at the beginning of his writing during our conference time :) 

I'm very pleased with what I've gotten so far from my students, although we've got more work to do. I have several friends who rush through their work and think they are done, so I cracked out this anchor chart.

When I'm done, I can...add to my picture, label my pictures, write more words, reread my writing, start a new piece. This has helped tremendously in knowing that a writer's job is never done! ;-) If you're interested in doing something like this with your students. All of this, and MORE, can be found in this unit {here}. 

Leave a note about what you're working on in Writer's Workshop and an email and I'll pick two winners to receive this pack for FREE. Happy hump day!

Mail Center

Hey friends! I know it has been such a long time. I can explain, trust me! I've moved, bought a condo, paid off my car, joined a gym, lost my mind, and a partridge in a pear tree. ha Anyways, I have a wonderful practicum teacher from the University in my town (who is helping me stay afloat in my classroom) and she was asked to re vamp one of my centers for her class. She chose to re do my writing center and change it into a mail center. My students are LOVING it...as am I. She is so creative. Here is the documentation panel she was asked to put together and share with her peers. I wanted to share it with ya'll. 

Be sure to leave her some love. She has done such a great job. I'll be back tomorrow! I've already got the post scheduled. Whoop whoop!