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Home : 2001 : February : 4
I frequently read books/articles written by other teachers, and their ideas really can be inspiring, however, what i've found is that sometimes you have to take bits and pieces, and find the middle ground that YOU'RE
We typically write at one time during the day-- our 45 minute-1hour block of time. However, my kids write during our literacy groups, they write at math time, and often choose to write at the end of the day during our 'free choice' time. *I attended a workshop yesterday and got a neat idea that i'm considering implementing a few days a week during our morning time when the kids are getting situated, attendance taken etc. It's an individual journaling activity called 'Squiggle Books.' Each child has their own book, and each day, as the teacher you draw a random 'Squiggle' in each child's book (same squiggle for each student.) These squiggle are just random free-form marks-- curved lines, letters, etc. The students look at the squggle and then TURN IT INTO something else, then they write about it. Supposedly this first grade teacher's kids LOVED this activity and begged to do it. I think this would be a nice activity that would lend itself to a wide variety of levels, some kids could write a story, or just a mere sentence or label. I'm thinking about starting this this week. When students finish writing: i have some students who are at the stage that they get 1 sentence and decide they're done. At this point in the year i'm now encouraging them to add on... Add another sentence that gives more description, etc. Or maybe they could add more detail to their picture. All in all, i try to keep them writing as long as possible. But, when they do finish, they go to the carpet and begin the 'sharing circle,' they can read quietly by themselves or with a child already on the carpet. Usually they only sit up to 10 minutes before we're ready to begin sharing. And as i mentioned, some students don't ever make it to the carpet to share because they're still writing or illustrating... which is fine, they understand they'll share another day. I had my K's writing from day one. What's nice is, they don't have any pre-conceived ideas set up. (Some 1st graders come in very frustrated, depending on what their K experience in writing was.) Of course as a K teacher i had to really model alot more, showing them what writing could be. Writing can be a picture that tells a story, some letters, scribbles, or complete sentences. It took them a lot longer to get comfortable with the process, but their progress was amazing from the beginning of the year to the end.
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