tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54258877392412015962024-03-19T04:47:30.249-04:00CraftPlus K-8 Writing Program BlogThe CraftPlus K-8 Writing Program is correlated to Common Core State Standards for writing, language arts, and speaking and listening. It also supports Common Core Reading Standards.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09342618365852987460noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425887739241201596.post-3074788735672180382012-12-06T15:25:00.002-05:002012-12-06T15:25:39.632-05:00Feedback from the Field"All of our teachers agreed that CraftPlus has been a fantastic program. We are
very excited to see results in another couple of months. As we "dissected"
writing samples, we saw evidence of CraftPlus in every child's piece."<br />
-Amber McLaughlin, reading specialist, STEM Magnet Academy, Chicago, IL Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09342618365852987460noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425887739241201596.post-23285558014896792652012-11-05T12:43:00.003-05:002012-11-05T12:43:27.297-05:00Feedback from the Field<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">"I am a 4th-grade teacher at Mermentau Elementary. This past summer, I
was introduced to your writing program by my instructional assistant, Jackie
Hanisee. I looked over the program and received special permission from my
school board to utilize the program this year. I am now going into week eleven
of the program, and I can't tell you how impressed I am with my students'
progress. This is my 12th year teaching 4th grade, and it is the first time
that I actually feel like I'm getting through to my students in writing! Writing time is now something my students and I look forward to each day. My
students have taken to the skills I've taught them. They are not only using the
skills in writing, but in other subject areas. When we are reading, they stop
me to tell me about some good writing practice they see in the reading. I am so
confident in my teaching of writing that I asked my principal to observe my
teaching of writing for my formal observation. I just wanted to share with you
the success I'm having, and let you know how thankful I am to be using this
writing program."</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Sincerely,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Amanda
Miller</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">4th-grade
teacher</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Mermentau
Elementary</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09342618365852987460noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425887739241201596.post-55726036641328992442012-10-15T19:15:00.001-04:002012-10-15T19:15:11.053-04:00Feedback from the Field<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">"We are
loving CraftPlus and thank our lucky stars every day for having it. Our children
are enjoying learning about a thesis statement, strong verbs, and descriptive
attributes. We like how the assessments are built in each week and how grammar
is integrated throughout...we find it very user friendly."</span></div>
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<span style="color: navy; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">-Lori Rosenberg, primary writing teacher at Imagine Charter School at Broward in Coral Springs, FL </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09342618365852987460noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425887739241201596.post-63877109102933862432012-09-20T11:08:00.005-04:002012-09-20T11:08:42.458-04:00Ways to End an Expository Piece<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A good ending is like a great dessert: it ends a delicious piece perfectly. Many students struggle with ending their writing pieces, but good endings are not rocket science. They are chosen by the writer from a list of possible ending types.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The K-5 writer should have practice with at least four</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">common expository ending techniques: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>Remind the reader of a piece’s major points: “Remember, if you ever find yourself in a house full of germs, drink lots of fluids, get your rest, and wash, wash, wash your hands.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>Give advice: "Take it from me, if you want to save yourself a lot of trouble, just do your chores.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>Feelings statement: “I love the way that butterflies change during their lives.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Give your students a chance to create a satisfying ending by helping them master just three simple writer’s techniques. (Reader, you’ve just been reminded. <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span> )</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Yours in joyful writing education,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Susan Koehler</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09342618365852987460noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425887739241201596.post-64508813721079048632012-09-18T15:15:00.002-04:002012-09-18T15:35:46.546-04:00Free-writing: Bringing smiles or tears?<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 22.5pt;">
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Free-writing time should be a joy for young writers. Sometimes, though, when you announce a time for writing about anything that comes to their active little minds, students react as if they are being punished. Or tortured.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s up with that?<br />
<br />
How do you handle a student with writer’s block? Or the one who finishes after two sentences? What if a student is reluctant to share his or her free-writing with you? How do you handle the writer who wants to draw? And what about the student who doesn’t want to stop free-writing and move on to the mini-lesson? As teachers, we’ve seen them all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This <a href="https://www.maupinhouse.com/media/upload/Free-writing_Troubleshooting_Guide.pdf">Free-writing Troubleshooting Guide</a> from <em><a href="http://maupinhouse.com/index.php/the-complete-k-5-writing-workshop-1.html">The Complete K-5 Writing Workshop</a></em> helps you keep free-writing in the smiles-only column!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would love to hear how you handle free-writing challenges!<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Susan Koehler</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09342618365852987460noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425887739241201596.post-47167607723401030842012-09-13T13:12:00.001-04:002012-09-18T15:37:46.432-04:00Seven Ways to Begin an Expository Writing Piece<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ever notice the different ways that writers begin their writing pieces? I just used a question, which—along with onomatopoeia and an exclamation—is one of three hooks that young writers should have under their writing belts as they enter second grade.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">By the time young writers are in third to fifth grade, they should have been introduced to many more hooks. Four good ones for expository writing are a startling fact, an anecdote, a definition, and a quotation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Introduce these one at a time with a literature or teacher model, and ask students to try it out for a social studies or science writing assignment. As always, choose positive student examples to share during response time. What you've done works double duty: they have practiced a writing skill that is easily integrated into content-area studies and which can be applied to other genres as well. </span><a href="https://www.maupinhouse.com/media/upload/Hooks_list.pdf"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">'s a list of hooks with examples from </span><a href="http://maupinhouse.com/index.php/the-complete-k-5-writing-workshop-1.html"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Complete K-5 Writing Workshop</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">. I'd love to hear how this works for your classroom.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yours in creative writing education,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Susan Koehler</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09342618365852987460noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425887739241201596.post-55433939526369247692012-09-11T10:37:00.002-04:002012-09-18T15:37:33.525-04:00Practicing Setting<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When young writers practice setting a scene, describing a character, or otherwise explaining how something looks or works, they are also practicing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">seeing. </i> Writing a personal description offers a good starting place to hone this skill. As you ask them to write a personal description, set their Target Skills: use interesting descriptive attributes (adjectives for specific attributes, like size, shape, color, texture, etc.), try a comparison, use strong verbs, and begin sentences in different ways. As they begin looking at themselves and write to hit the Target Skills, they will begin to learn how to evaluate what is before them – a handy skill to have in writing, and in life as well! Teachers of grades 3 and up can use these worksheets from my book , <em><a href="http://maupinhouse.com/index.php/the-complete-k-5-writing-workshop-1.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: purple;">The Complete K-5 Writing Workshop</span></a></em>, to scaffold and assess their first attempts. Click </span><a href="https://www.maupinhouse.com/media/upload/Use_Personal_Description.pdf"><span style="font-family: inherit;">here</span></a><span style="color: purple; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.maupinhouse.com/media/upload/Use_Personal_Description.pdf"> </a></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">for the worksheets. <br />Let me know how this works for you! <br />Susan Koehler</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09342618365852987460noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425887739241201596.post-24298640409109701612012-07-18T09:57:00.002-04:002012-07-20T09:30:54.873-04:00Getting Started with Your Daily Writing Workshop<span style="background-color: white;">A new school year is an opportunity for new resolutions.
This year, resolve to dedicate a daily block of instructional time to the
teaching, practice, and process of<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_2026877001"> </a></span><i style="background-color: white;">writing.
</i><span style="background-color: white;">Voices across the field continually tell us that best practices in the
teaching of writing include the following:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><b><i><u>Daily</u></i> </b>workshop environment</div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><b><i><u>Process</u></i></b>-oriented writing
experiences</div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Explicit <b><i><u>skill</u></i></b> instruction
/ Mini-lessons</div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Literature <b><i><u>models</u></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><b><i><u>Self-selected</u></i></b> topics</div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Teaching <b><i><u>meaning</u>, <u>purpose</u> </i></b>and<b>
<i><u>audience</u></i></b></div>
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Whether you are learning to play an instrument, or learning
to read and write, <br />
<a name='more'></a>daily practice is essential. When we give our students only
prompted writing experiences on a periodic basis, we are asking them <i>to be</i> <i>writers</i> without giving them the foundation <i>to become</i> <i>writers</i>.
Writing is both a developmental process and a discipline rich with skills and
concepts. We need to guide our students’ development with authentic writing
experiences, providing explicit instruction and practice in the skills and
concepts necessary for them to <i>become
writers</i>. What are the building blocks of the daily writing workshop?</div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 20pt;">Ö</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 20pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b>30-45 minutes of dedicated
instructional time per day</b>, including:</div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>10-15 minute mini-lesson</div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>15-20 minutes of writing/application</div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>5-10 minutes of response/sharing</div>
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<b>A</b> <b>systematic curriculum</b> of writing craft, conventions, and writing
process essentials. These are the skills explicitly taught in the
mini-lessons.</div>
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<b>Literature models</b> that
demonstrate the meaningful use of writing craft skills within the context of
well-written works.</div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 20pt;">Ö</span></b></div>
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<b>Authentic purposes for writing</b>:
real-world, genre-specific themes that provide springboards for teacher
models and student compositions.</div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 20pt;">Ö</span></b></div>
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<b>A community of writers</b>
taught to take risks with creativity, share their work graciously, and
provide support for one another.</div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_2026877001"><br /></a></div>
<br />
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As you plan for the new school year, consider the genres,
skills, and processes you will include in your writing curriculum. Plan your
day with a block of time dedicated to writing, and figure out a schedule for
delivering this curriculum to your students. Above all, create an environment
where students can <i>become writers. </i>This
year, resolve to institute a daily writing workshop in
your classroom.<br />
<br />
<br />
Not sure how? Feel free to ask me <a href="mailto:susankoehler@hotmail.com">here</a>,<br />
Susan Koehler</div>Marilee Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611318170313485661noreply@blogger.com47tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425887739241201596.post-57615102401096477162012-07-16T14:39:00.001-04:002012-07-23T10:08:31.304-04:00Practice Describing a Character<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1977149081"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmx0yi8q8g3-IZdIlrERVu3vLmAz4AprhYm2J3WXKT1-w9CepuOmZ1dXPmG_ezZYJfEjLk8XLIiZwDutwdl-7i_ORoatCcocfLjuaFAISs3qInr_gQXwKG8viNPi_dWwSb-zRv24CKPac/s200/SusanKoehler_photoonthewater.JPG" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://maupinhouse.com/index.php/the-complete-k-5-writing-workshop-1.html">Susan Koehler modeling <i>The Complete K-5 Writing <br />Workshop</i>, a perfect addition to CraftPlus</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17px;">Young writers can practice describing a character by describing themselves. This handout focuses on descriptive Target Skills like color adjectives, comparisons, strong verbs, and sentences that begin in different ways. Reduce the expectations for younger or less experienced writers and, remember to model specific Target Skills explicitly before the activity. "</span><span style="background-color: white;">The Personal Description Activity" from</span><span style="background-color: white;"> my book,</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><i style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://maupinhouse.com/index.php/the-complete-k-5-writing-workshop-1.html">The Complete K-5 Writing Workshop</a>,</i><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">is the perfect exercise for developing description. Click</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><a href="https://www.maupinhouse.com/media/upload/Personal_Description.pdf" style="background-color: white;">here</a><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">for the handout.</span></span><br />
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Stay in touch for more helpful handouts,<br />
Susan Koehler<br />
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</div>Marilee Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611318170313485661noreply@blogger.com218tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425887739241201596.post-77492418306698757742012-07-16T14:10:00.001-04:002012-07-23T10:09:03.962-04:00Practice Describing a Setting<a href="http://maupinhouse.com/index.php/the-complete-k-5-writing-workshop-1.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho1IgAw8KSJdCnqzDs0maDjV_9y5G4ad9H94PztTX2v7Z4v0xSeOQW9n_lX2RC7G0Qr52Ky7WnGwLFRg3Hdpa0VAI6QmjmE7ZaPdItdOeYbpADCUUWdNAMjyMbfm-IWq6pB3tGQ6G5zvY/s200/Book+cover+K-5+Writing.jpg" width="154" /></a><br />
This setting handout builds descriptive language Target Skills and allows students to review and practice parts of speech. After the interactive exercise, students in grades three and up can work independently to create their own free verse poems. "The Setting Poem" from my book, <i><a href="http://maupinhouse.com/index.php/the-complete-k-5-writing-workshop-1.html">The Complete K-5 Writing Workshop</a>,</i> gives you a ready to go handout, click <a href="https://www.maupinhouse.com/media/upload/The_Setting_Poem.pdf">here</a>.<br />
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Keep writing and stay in touch,<br />
Susan KoehlerMarilee Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611318170313485661noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425887739241201596.post-83525423154361634062012-07-16T13:43:00.001-04:002012-07-23T10:11:58.079-04:00Pictures Help Teach Descriptive Writing<div style="text-align: right;">
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Descriptive
writing creates a “Word portrait,” so what better way to teach that than to use
pictures from old calendars, or greeting cards, pictures from magazines, art
projects, or scenes from your school campus as a writing catalyst? </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF548jzc8OccajldKdN1zgwi6fsPrcojM7JaR0ae1N30f272_xPXNi68DonBdUcaIxnzPg7i92tIgGfABmwd3PABbHv8SeqCzjJoCzRss1TMjwmwuWRae9bPzsi7jdTANSED0Mc11-AcQ/s1600/lucy+has+a+weekend.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF548jzc8OccajldKdN1zgwi6fsPrcojM7JaR0ae1N30f272_xPXNi68DonBdUcaIxnzPg7i92tIgGfABmwd3PABbHv8SeqCzjJoCzRss1TMjwmwuWRae9bPzsi7jdTANSED0Mc11-AcQ/s200/lucy+has+a+weekend.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Lucy, the sleepy Maupin House<br />
mascot, relaxes after a long weekend."</td></tr>
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To get started,
project a picture for the class and work interactively to describe it. Focus on
the Target Skill your class is trying to master. For example, if you are working
on descriptive attributes, you can work together to make a list of adjectives
and descriptive phrases, and then craft sentences to build a description. If
you are working on strong verbs, find an action oriented photo and begin by
listing action words. Start with simple skills like these, and then move to
skills like alliteration, metaphor, personification, or abstract attributes. </div>
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After the
interactive model, provide students with individual picture prompts or place an
array of magazine photos at a center and allow students to choose a picture and
complete a craft-based descriptive writing activity. Younger writers should
focus on a single skill for this activity, but intermediate student can handle
applying two or three skills at the same time. As students become proficient
writers, picture-prompted writing can include genre organization, composing
skills, conventions and writing process steps, too. </div>
<span style="background-color: white;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br />Put pen to paper and stay creative,</span><br />
Susan Koehler<br />
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</div>Marilee Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611318170313485661noreply@blogger.com49tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425887739241201596.post-31482136704900916522012-07-16T10:34:00.002-04:002012-07-23T10:55:46.353-04:00Keeping Student Writing Organized<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 58.5pt;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN7JGRNLZC1t-V2oHEa0o2tWIRT-LOiX5ig_qsA4V7wLBsQreAFzO1s-0uLXURJevACbwfv6EGFq0uxXuEcrseLepGbmS2PcnDDL2QYE8IV4bNB00rSSZY7zHLsJENfCOrTo3aq56PKhM/s1600/File+Cabinet+Cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN7JGRNLZC1t-V2oHEa0o2tWIRT-LOiX5ig_qsA4V7wLBsQreAFzO1s-0uLXURJevACbwfv6EGFq0uxXuEcrseLepGbmS2PcnDDL2QYE8IV4bNB00rSSZY7zHLsJENfCOrTo3aq56PKhM/s200/File+Cabinet+Cropped.jpg" width="200" /></a>K-1 students can use a two-pocket folder to hold their pieces in
progress and their completed work. Just label each pocket for easy
identification. Children will have easy access to their pieces, and you will have easy access for reviewing progress. Keep
a separate writing portfolio for each student, which can be stored in a file
cabinet or milk crate. This portfolio should contain works chosen by the
student and the teacher that represent an array of finished genre pieces. It’s
a great resource for genuine progress monitoring, accountability, and
documentation for parent conferences.</div>
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In grades 2-8 students can organize their writing in a loose-leaf
notebook with tabs. Core tabs might be: </div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span>Resources. This section fills up during the
year as you teach skills and create models, lists and examples. </div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span>Practice Pieces. Students refer to practice
pieces when they write to apply the Target Skill they have been taught that
day. </div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span>Assessment Pieces. Weekly formative
assessments are kept here to record student progress. If you require students to review and revise
these pieces, they become valuable learning tools. </div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span>Published Pieces (or Portfolio). This section provides a chronological record
of a student’s growth as a writer. </div>
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Stay organized,<br />
Susan Koehler</div>Marilee Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611318170313485661noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425887739241201596.post-26068766725584398992012-07-16T09:59:00.002-04:002012-07-23T10:16:42.966-04:00Listing: A Great Pre-writing Technique<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Most pre-writing
can begin with making lists. The foundational organizational skill of
list-making helps writers of all ages gather ideas and gain focus.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Narrative writing: Lists help young writers put
lots of events in chronological order and allow for easy re-organization to
strengthen the plot.</div>
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</span></span>Expository writing: Listing allows students to
call on a wealth of details that relate to the topic, without putting them in
order. The details are easily grouped to become the content for body
paragraphs, and the details collected will help the young writer shape the
focus of the piece. They can list-link by color-coding related details, or by
using an icon. For example, all blue-highlighted details go together in one
paragraph; or, related details are sorted with a triangle; another set by a
square. </div>
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Tell me how it works for you,<br />
Susan Koehler</div>
Marilee Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611318170313485661noreply@blogger.com39