Outers, Inners, Switch, Rotate

Today in class I switched something in my plans completely last minute to get my students moving around, and it was very eye opening. We are currently in the middle of understanding how to write an argument paper. Using plans through NWP College of Ready Writers  to teach the process, we are at the part where students write their claims. To begin with today, my students did a thinking tracker.

They had originally done one the day we got started so today's thinking tracker was to show how their thinking has changed since we listened to everyone at the table. There were ten people (sources) at the table and each source had a different idea about our argument: Should chocolate milk be served in schools? I have taught the students that they can not join the conversation until they listen to what everyone else has to say.

It was interesting to watch how much they had to say this time around on their thinking trackers. After that, I created a conversation piece called Outers, Inners, Switch, Rotate. I had half the class line up around the room. They were the outers. I then partnered the other half with one of those students. They were the inners. The outers went first and never rotated. The inners always went second and moved from person to person. The outers spent 15 seconds to sharing their thinking about the chocolate milk argument and needed to explain why. After 15 seconds I said switch and the inners started speaking. After 15 seconds, I rang the bell to motion my inners to rotate. They moved to the next person. And the process was repeated. Over and over again until the students found themselves back  to their original spot.

Here is what I learned by doing this:

1. Some students have a hard time explaining why. They can tell what they think but are unable to verbally explain their thinking.

2. The students interacted with one another quite well. When it was not their time to talk, they listened intently, and only spoke when it was their turn.

3. This was the perfect scaffold to help my students understand they need to have reasons to support their thinking. When we came back together as a group and talked about reasons to support or not, many had a hard time narrowing down their thinking to the specifics.

4. They were moving and not sitting stagnant. It was the perfect activity for the afternoon so they could get up and have a change of pace.

The Unexpected

If you have been in a book store, I am sure you have seen them. Maybe you never noticed them or walked right by without giving a moment to reading them. You know the books, wrapped in brown paper. Usually there is the brown wrap with a little card that tells just enough about the book that you are intrigued. You buy the book based off that card, go home, unwrap, and read. It's a brilliant idea.

Today, while I was at the book store, I noticed them. Blind Date With a Book they are called. These ones were in the used book section and targeted towards kids. Instead of a little note card that gave information, it was written right on the book. It was straight forward so a kid could understand. And colorful!

Because they were used, I bought a lot. I thought about a variety of lessons I could do with my students using these books. I am glad I stumbled across this today. And even more glad that I  took the time to stop and read them.

Some of my find today.

A close up version of one of the books.

A Draft

I used to write a lot. I started writing when I was in high school. I have journals and journals of what my life was like back then. I continued to write into college, documenting my day with its ups and downs. I wrote through my first year of teaching talking about the joys and challenges I faced.

Then I stopped. 

It was June 5, 1998 to be exact; the day my mother died. 

And I didn't write after that. Many journals sat on my shelf, their unused pages waiting for a story. I couldn't do it, and I didn't know why. 

Fast forward to July 2015. I was going through the Red Cedar Writing Project Summer Institute at Michigan State University when I attended a writing homecoming. During that homecoming I participated in a writing marathon, and sitting on the banks of the Red Cedar River, I wrote about my mom. 

It was a story that needed to happen. As I wrote, I held back tears then cried. I cried for all of those years that I didn't have my mom. I cried for the times I went to call her and forgot that she wasn't there. And I cried because it was a long time coming. 

After sharing my story with the group, I finally felt as though I found my voice again. And I have been writing ever since. 

Over the weekend I participated in the commenting challenge through Slice of Life. I read a post about a woman who found drafts that she had written but never finished. So tonight, I went through my journals and found a poem that I had never finished. Until now. 

A Draft 

Have you ever had a day

when the sun don't shine

and sometimes, you wish you were blind

so you wouldn't have to see 

the beating and the hatred

of what the world is really made of?

Have you ever had a day 

when the sun don't set 

and all you want to do

is fly in a jet

high and far your jet will fly

up above in the stormy sky?

Have you ever had a day 

when the sun don't rise

and you watch the world 

with your eyes

wondering, questioning if there will be good

and then you realize, tomorrow should?

A Commenting Marathon Reflection

I took part in my first ever commenting challenge which I equate to a commenting marathon. I do writing marathons in my classroom each month and this commenting challenge was very similar. It was hard at first because let's be honest, 75 comments is A LOT! But the more I commented, the more I found I wanted to read what people had to say and the A LOT became quite doable. I learned a lot about people and how they think and how they write. I am most intrigued with a blogger from Australia who lives in India and opened up a school for children with her husband. I am sure I will be visiting her blog more frequently to see what she is up to. I am not sure I would have found her had I not taken part in this challenge.

Another thing I did during this challenge was keep track of different types of slices my fifth graders could do to vary up their normal writing routine and experiment. I made a list for them that I will print up and hand out tomorrow. Many of these ideas I saw multiple times from different bloggers over this past weekend. And I am sure I will experiment with them as well.

Ideas for my fifth graders based off of the commenting challenge:

Party-If you were to have a party and the following attending, what/who

would they be and why.

Favorite book

Favorite person

Favorite food

Favorite song

A Surprise

They’d see...

But wouldn’t know…

If someone were to come to your house what would they see? Then what would they not know about that thing they saw.

Example:

They’d see the butterfly made out of a clothespin hanging from the ceiling in bedroom.

But wouldn’t know my son made that for me when he was in preschool. It was a Mother’s Day present. It is one that constantly reminds me of him in his four year old days.

Six word stories/memoirs

Can you write a story or memoir in six words? It is harder than you think.

Example: For sale: Baby shoes. Never worn. -Ernest Hemingway

I could write about...For this, start each sentence with things you could write about and tell me why using because.

Things I didn’t do today...Title your piece: Things I Didn’t Do Today and write about all the things you didn’t do today because you were busy doing other things making sure to explain why you didn’t do them.

Then and Now-Think back to your younger days, maybe 1st or 2nd grade. What were some things you did then vs. things you do now? You can have a list of then things followed by a list of now things.

I can write with..-Notice the things around you at this present moment. Start each line with I can write with and continue with what you hear and see around you. Try to go for eight lines.

Example: I can write with the conversations from my son’s video game.

Poetry-Write a poem about something that happened in your day.  

Experiment with author’s craft.

A Collection of Slices-Write a collection of small slices that could be turned

into larger slices. These are one or two sentences that tell about your day.

Try to go for eight.

Example: My daughter and I had a tea party with her tea set that she has

had for years.

A List of Things I should Be Doing, But I’m Not-

Make a list of things you should be doing in your life, but you are not.

Go for at least ten things on your list.

Example: Reading 20 pages a day.

              Five More Minutes-Think of someone or a pet close to you that has passed

away. Think of the memories you had with them.

Make a list of eight of those memories.

Now if you had five more minutes with each memory, what would you have

done?

My record keeping

Sixty Percent Off

This morning when I checked my email, I looked at the one from Two Writing Teachers regarding the mid-month commenting challenge. As I read, I thought to myself that I could possibly do this. 

Commenting on 75 blogs is A LOT. But I like reading other people's posts. I enjoy seeing what they have to say and to get ideas for future posts. If I did ten an hour, that wouldn't be too bad. Furthermore, if I spread this out over today and tomorrow, it would be doable.

I don't need to go into school this weekend because, amazingly, I am caught up on most things. The papers that need to be corrected can be done from my couch. And all the other things on my list will get done sooner or later. So I thought to myself, why not.

Then it got me thinking. Why not do a mid-month commenting challenge with my own students who are participating in the Slice of Life challenge. My students are using notebooks and besides me or their parents, no one is reading what they have to say.

So I came up with a flyer that I will hand out on Monday, and I bought some prizes as an incentive. Each student who participates in the challenge will be entered to win. I went a little overboard on prizes because Michaels had them all 60% off, although I think it was more than that. 

I hope my student challenge turns out how I envision in it my head. 

Now, I am off to comment on ten more posts. Only 65 left to do!

Some of the prizes for my student commenting challenge. 

Taking Notice

When I attended an NCTE session in November at their National Conference, I was introduced to a video that I have used multiple times in my classroom. The premise behind this video was to teach students how to notice details that others pass by.

Yesterday, I pulled this video up again and showed it to one of my writing classes. I have watched this video so many times, but yesterday I noticed new things such as the water glasses on the table, the bird in its cage, and the bracelet on a boy's wrist. I wanted my students to notice things in the Kahoot we were about to play. I wanted them to read the questions carefully and figure out why I had written them.

So today, I did a lot of noticing.

I noticed how strong I felt swimming in the pool this morning.

I noticed the blue sky creeping up a little earlier as I drove to school.

I noticed my students reciting the class password over and over so they wouldn't forget it.

I noticed how well my students listened and followed directions.

I noticed a little more pep in one boy's step as he was excited for a sleepover tonight.

I noticed that I felt quite relaxed for a Friday.

I noticed the students in all of my writing classes who studied for their quiz today. They had a confidence about them.

I noticed the wind as it hit my face while out at recess.

And I noticed how tired I am.

When I stop and take notice, it seems as though time slows down.

Maybe I will do a little more noticing tomorrow, because life is flying by too fast.

Passwords

I wish I would have found what I had found at the beginning of the school year because it has changed my teaching a bit. But I am glad I stumbled across, regardless.

And that thing I found.

Passwords.

About two weeks ago I came across a website on accident. I was looking for something completely different, but what I found was a whole bunch of root cards. I had seen plenty like this before so it was nothing new.

What was new to me was the information that came with the cards. In the file, the woman who created it explained that she uses these root cards all week long. One root is put up outside her classroom on Mondays, and it is used as a password to get into the classroom. Every time the students enter the room they need to say the password (root and definition).

Well I just took that idea and ran with it.

And my students LOVE it.

Each morning I have a different password outside the classroom. Most of the time it is a root. Today, though, I put up IVTB. Each time they walked in today they needed to tell me the password. If they forgot, they needed to find someone to rescue them.

IVTB is the first letter of our strategy  when  writing a main idea sentence in a nonfiction summary. So when I taught reading at the end of the day, I asked the students what the password was for the day. "IVTB," is what I heard.

On the board I wrote:
I
V
T
B

I then added the words that go with it:

Identify text
Verb
Topic
Big idea

We continued to learn about and practice this new strategy. Then the students went off and worked on their own. The neat thing about it is when I was walking around helping students I only had to ask them what the password was. From that password, they were to remember their new found words in our strategy. 

Tomorrow the password is going to be all four of the words.

And I will be able to know which kids are struggling with it and which are not because they won't be able to get into the classroom without it.

Our nonfiction summary strategy from Crafting Connections