JANUARY WRITING

QUICK SPELLING-WRITING ASSESSMENT

OUR PUMPKIN PATCH

This activity was taken from Copycat Press 2002.  It is out-of-print.
http://stores.ebay.com/Copycat-Store

MONSTER PLAYHOUSE

 I did not cut out the shape of the book.  If you have time and want your students to cut out the pages, you may. I spent more time having the students write.  

Taken from Copycat Press 1994.  It is out-of-print.  http://stores.ebay.com/Copycat-Store

JOHNNY APPLESEED RELIGION

Writing Activity and Prayer/Song:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_IrdS-zu48

JOURNAL

  

I keep reminding MY READERS to save certain student work to add to the Journal/Memory Books.  This book is a 'work in progress' that goes on all year.  The more you put into it, the better it turns out.  Here is a sample of what a Journal/Memory Book looked like for one year in my classroom.  Each year they would be a little different depending on projects, activities, field trips....

JOURNAL PAGES:

Make sure you utilize both front and back sides of the Journal or you will run out of room.  You glue/staple items into the left side of the Journals, or you can have a JOURNAL MOM do it, that comes once a month to complete your Journals.  I would always do the mom's child's Journal to show the Parent Volunteer what I wanted the entries to look like and on what page.  I added stickers periodically to give the Journal a bit of color.  As you get better, you will be able to sit at your desk and add pages to Journals as the children are working on the project.

NONE OF THE JOURNAL WAS DONE DURING FREE TIME.  I SCHEDULED THESE ACTIVITIES INTO MY DAY AS BEST AS I COULD.  I USED THE JOURNAL TO TEACH WHAT I EXPECTED OUT OF THE STUDENTS AND AS A SPECIAL MEMORY OF THIRD GRADE.

1. Take a DIGITAL PHOTO of each child, in front of a nice colorful area in your classroom or outside.  It can then be printed out on the color machine at school.  No cost to you!  Glue the picture on the inside front cover of the Journal, making sure you write the date and grade.

2.  WELCOME FROM PAST STUDENTS - You will have to bypass this the first year, and do it at the end of the year, for the following year.  Make sure you put the completed letters where you can find them at the beginning of the following year.  I hand them out the 2nd day of school because you typically have a very busy first day, putting away all the student supplies and settling the students.  You see they are in PRINT.  I tell the students at the end of the year that NEW 3^rd GRADERS might not be able to read cursive. 

3.  FIRST DAY FEELINGS  This page may not be grade appropriate for you.  You can find an alternative on the web if you look hard enough, or write the questions you want. http://okscribbler.blogspot.com/2010/08/beginning-of-year-get-to-know-you.html

4.  FIRST DAY WRITING
    I wrote on the board: This year I am a 2nd grader.  Yesterday was the first day of school.  First, I _____.  Then, I _____.  Next, I _____.  My best friend in my class is _____.    Finally, I _____.  I know I am going to love _____ grade.
You need to discuss this assignment in DETAIL and write ideas on the board, or a chart so children can use them in their writing.  Change the format as needed.  Of course you will focus on the concepts your students need.  The focus of this assignment was:  paragraph organization and movement of writing with time order words (first, then, next, finally).  I did not teach the concepts.  I modeled it on the board.  Other concepts discussed and expected to be seen were correct use of punctuation and capitalization.

5.  SILLY HOME WORK - This assignment was sent out the 1st day of school.  I explained to the children that good students always did their homework.  I added that sometimes their homework would involve other people in their families.  BUT, WE ALWAYS BRING BACK OUR HOMEWORK!   I called each student that evening and welcomed them to my class, asked how the 1st day went, if they did their homework, and was it in their homework folder.  PARENTS LOVED THAT (by the way, I did not talk to the parent...it was a child call...if child was not their, I left a brief message.  THIS WAS NOT ABOUT THE PARENTS!

6.  SUMMER READING LIST - If your school does this, I gave a treat after I collected them.  If a child was new to our school, I sent a note to the parents asking for a list of the books they read over the summer and when it was brought in, I gave them the treat.

7.  FIRST DAYS IN 3rd GRADE PICTURES - Parents loved lots of photos.  Now you can take tons with a digital camera and print them on your school machine.  Not as nice looking, but sure saves on your money.  If parents bring in pictures from Field Trips, I try to divide them up among the books.
8.  MEMORIES OF 2^nd GRADE WRITING  -
I wrote on the board:  My favorite memories of Second Grade are ____(1)_____, ____(2)_____, ___(3)______. A sentence about (1).  A sentence about (2).  A sentence about (3).   A final sentence about 2nd grade.
You need to discuss this in DETAIL and write ideas on the board, or a chart so the children can use them in their writing.  Change this idea as you need.  Of course you will focus on the concepts your students need.   The focus for this paragraph was organization - writing three ideas in the TOPIC SENTENCE and then expanding the ideas in the THREE DETAIL SENTENCES.  I did not teach that concept, it was modeled on the board.  I did expect proper capitalization and punctuation.

9-10 APPLE/SUN COLORING - I taught how to color by using papers like these.  You purchased the book last year from me - (oops, it is upstairs in your stack of stuff that I am copying before I give to you.)  I will send you copies and finish copying and get to you ASAP.  ANYHOO... The apple was a study of cool and warm colors.  Choose 2 cool colors for background and then 2 warm colors for the apple (dark red/red).  I insisted on NO WHITE SHOWING and COLORING IN ONE DIRECTION.  So this was not a fun sheet, that was wasting time.  I was teaching FOR THE FUTURE COLORING SKILLS.  By the way, I also taught CUTTING SKILLS by having them cut the trim off of their work as close to the black line as possible WITHOUT cutting into the black line.
 http://okscribbler.blogspot.com/2011/08/johnny-appleseed-coloring.html

12-13. SCRIBBLES – I introduced Scribbles as a way for the students to use their “free time” when they were done with any work and to help them grow in their personal writing skills.  The first time we did a Scribble, I handed out the same one to each student.  After we had drawn and colored our pictures, I had show and tell.  This way the students could see how anything they chose to draw was fine.  There was no set answer.  Then, we wrote our stories the next day.  Everyone had fun. 

I also put a Scribble I had done on the front bulletin board, so my students could see how I wanted them done.  The Scribble Box was kept in the back of the room.  Every year I made sure each folder had enough Scribbles for the children.  After the first Scribble was done together, the students could choose one to do during their free time.  This activity was a major favorite with my 3^rd graders.  

    

                                           

14-16 OPEN HOUSE – Have the students write a note to their parents in their Journal.  Then, on the same page, have the parents respond to their child.  I had several bulletin boards I loved to use for Open House.  When the boards came down, I made sure to put the student work in their Journal.

~ http://okscribbler.blogspot.com/2010/04/you-are-sunsational.html

~ http://okscribbler.blogspot.com/2011/09/different-stokes-for-different-folks.html

~ http://okscribbler.blogspot.com/2008/12/math-about-me.html

17. DIFFERENT STROKES FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS –  Work on this together.

http://okscribbler.blogspot.com/2011/09/different-stokes-for-different-folks.html

18-20. FIELDTRIP – Have students do a picture and writing to remember the trip.  Make sure to add any pictures that you have.

21. LIVING ROSARY – Have students write about the experience.

22-23. RECONCILIATION –Put the booklet on the left side and student writing is on the right side of the Journal.

THE DIPSYDOODLE

Sometimes you just want to have fun in your classroom.  This is such a cute poem for Spring.  Young children love it.  While you memorize it, explain what the problem is.  Also look for rhyming words, contractions, adjectives....You can extend this to writing projects about Dipsydoodle.
The Dipsydoodle isn't brainy-
He plays outside when it's cold and rainy.
If he'd only learn to use his noodle.
He wouldn't be called The Dipsydoodle.

6 TRAIT EVALUATION FORM

This form is an easy way to evaluate your students' writing without making comments on their documents.  Cut the sheet in half and mark which trait you are scoring.  Give the score and write your comments on the lines provided.  Attach the form to the student work.
Writing is one of the easiest work to differentiate.  You can base your score on the student's improvement from prior evaluation and explain the improvement in your comments.
See more forms below.

LESSON ON CINQUAINS

http://okscribbler.blogspot.com/2009/11/seasonal-cinquain-and-fingerprint-art.html
 http://okscribbler.blogspot.com/2009/02/cinquains-for-primary-students.html 
http://okscribbler.blogspot.com/2009/11/easy-turkey-cinquains.html

Cinquains are one of the easiest poetry forms to teach.  This project can be put in Journal/Memory Books and on your class website.    

I AM A __________ PERSON WHO...

Great project for Catholic School's Week - January.  Students can copy off of a form or you can make the document editable on the computer (see below) and students can type their responses.  You might add some art work to go with this writing or have it framed in black construction paper.  It looks very striking in the hallway.  These can be posted on your website, made into a class book, and finally put in the Journal/Memory Books.  (Of course the title could be I am a child who or I am a student who...)

  

I AM A CATHOLIC PERSON WHO…

likes ___     

hates  ___    

can  ___    

cannot ___     

would never  ___    

would rather  ___    

loves to   ___   

wants to learn  ___    

used to be afraid of   ___   

would be better off if   ___   

is really good at   ___   

gets really angry when   ___   

bugs other people when   ___   

has the good habit of   ___   

has the bad habit of  ___     

wishes I could change the way I  ___    

wishes I could change the way people ___     

will someday ___     

by: ___  

http://tltgroup.wordpress.com/low-threshold-applications/25-creating-editable-forms-in-microsoft-word/
Teachers often need to provide documents for students to respond to a structured set of questions.  This technology provides a way to create a document for your students where it may be important to maintain some consistent format, or where there is a need for a structured response.  In a typical assignment, an instructor may distribute in paper or electronic format, a list of required questions to answer, but when 30 students freely compose their responses, you end up with 30 different kinds of documents to read.

Some advantages of this type of technology

• No special software beyond Word required
• The information returned is consistently formatted
• The amount of text returned can be limited
• The document can have portions locked from changes by the student
• Students can save the document to their hard drive and go back at any time to finish theirr work. (PDF forms read in Acrobat Reader do not save content)
• Students can save a copy of their document and/or e-mail it to an instructor
• 
  

Steps

1. Create an approximate layout of the document, leaving room for the answer spaces. You can use formatting borders (Format -> Borders and Shading…) to put boxes around these areas.
2. Display the Forms Toolbar (View -> Toolbars -> Forms)
   
3. Move the mouse to the location where an answerbox should be. Click the ab| icon on the Forms Tool palette to add a text form field (a place for someone to type text).
4. When you have added all of the desired form fields, lock the document by going to Tools -gt; Protect Document… In the dialog box, click the radio button for Forms.
   Then enter a password and click OK. You will have to re-enter the password as a confirmation:
   
5. Save the document. Keep the original in a safe place (in case you need to make changes) and make a copy of the document to try as a user might see it. Students can tab from field to field, print, email, and save the modified version of the document.

Then when students are done filling in the blanks, save to their name.

Teacher can then go unprotect and print OR

Print off the student copy without saving and let them use it as a sloppy copy to write a final draft.

This is a FORMATTED EDITABLE FORM for student use.  

I LOVE POETRY

This is a simple way to make sure your students are exposed to poetry even though you have a full curriculum and very busy days.   Gather some poetry books and them put on a shelf or in a crate.  I actually put the books in a picnic basket and then stored them that way when we were not using them.  Make sure you have all of the Shel Silverstein books.  Children love that poet.  Copy at least a weeks worth of the worksheet and put out near the poetry books or where you put papers for your students to access. Do one with the students to show what you expect of them.  I would always demonstrate with one of my favorite childhood poems by Robert Louis Stevenson: 'The Swing'.  Below is a sample with out the student drawing.  Expectations for students:  neat handwriting, detailed drawing, and neat coloring .  This could be worked into a great center area if you wished.  I assigned one a day during the month of April - National Poetry Month.  This gave my Third Graders extra penmanship practice with cursive handwriting.  You might end up with 20 completed for each child at the end of the month.  This makes a nice booklet to send home or even a nice Mother's Day Gift.

SPECIFIC FORMATING

 Often you can take a worksheet and make it specifically for your class.  See the additions to the writing paper.

Teaching Parts of Speech

Show students how to improve their sentences  by adding words that answer specific questions.  Begin by showing a sentence and grading it, using the 6 Trait Scale http://educationnorthwest.org/traits/traits-rubrics.  Then have the class help you write a strong sentence, trying to answer all the questions that are listed on the paper.  After completing the new sentence, grade it  using the 6 Trait Scale again.   What scores went up and why?  See another blog that discusses Super Sentences for Halloween.
TEACHING PARTS OF SPEECH FROM THE BEGINNING

WRITING CHECKLIST

CAPITALIZATION CHECKLIST: ___ Capitalize the first word in a sentence. ___ Capitalize the pronoun “I” wherever it appears. ___Capitalize a title used before a person’s name. Mr.  Dr.  ___Capitalize each important word in the title of books, movies, magazines, etc. ___Capitalize the first word in a direct quotation.  The man said, “Say your name.” ___Capitalize all proper nouns.		ENDING CHECKLIST: ___Did I tie the beginning to the end? ___Did I mention the topic? ___Did I add details that bring the story to an interesting end, and not keep adding more events? ___Does my story make people smile, laugh, or cry? ___Does every sentence have a purpose? ___Are sentences longer than 4 words?
BEGINNING CHECKLIST: ___Is the story about me? ___Did I begin with a sound, quote or simile? ___Did I write where the story is taking place? ___Did I mention the people that are in my story? ___Did I use good words to describe the setting?		PUNCTUATION CHECKLIST: ___Use a period at the end of a statement or a command. ___Use a period at the end of an abbreviation. ___Use a question mark at the end of a question. ___Use an exclamation point at the end of a sentence that shows strong feeling.
MIDDLE ___Did I write a story and not a grocery list (10 things)? ___Did I choose 3-5 main events? ___Is the climax in the middle? ___Did I use my senses and thoughts to describe those events? ___Did I add details that have to do with the topic? ___Is it in order of the way it happened, and not jumping around from thought to thought? ___Am I making the story interesting?		PUNCTUATION CHECKLIST: ___Use a comma between words in a series of three or more things. ___Use a comma between the day and year in a date.  ___Use a comma between the city and state. ___Use an apostrophe in possessives. ___Use an apostrophe in contractions.

A BIOGRAPHY POEM

This is a great formula poem for any student, but especially for students that seem to have trouble finding words when they write.  Make sure you walk students through the poem while they are filling it out.  Once the sloppy copy is checked, then encourage BEST HANDWRITING on the final copy.  These look great in the hallway outside of your classroom.  You can also post on your class website.


Word Choice:
My adjectives are excellent and thoughtful.
I use a good balance of action and linking verbs.
My nouns are precise; I don’t overuse pronouns.
It is clear that I am not afraid to take risks with new words.
I used a few color and texture words to describe.