Unit of Study: Fiction Writing

This is a link to a great write up about one of Lucy’s units of study:  fiction.  I am always searching for references to Lucy’s units since many of the teachers I work with use the units as a resource. 
http://bestbookihavenotread.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/unit-of-study-fiction-writing-grades-3-5/

How-To make crayons!

This was one of my FAVORITE VIDEOS when I was a little girl!  This is an awesome procedure lesson.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMU-wXsgyR8

Writing about an Object

My mom and a few of her closest friends, painted the nativity many years ago.  The grandchildren and my parents set out the nativity each year on Thanksgiving.  I could write about this tradition of setting up the nativity.  My dad gets the boxes out of the attic.  The little ones are under his feet [...]

Small Moments: Person Who is Significant During The Holidays

Often teachers ask me about topic generation. I also know nothing sends terror down the spine of a teacher, then 20 or 25 children who are complaining, “I don’t have anything to write about.” Obviously, I am exaggerating!   Or a child who has written about the same frog for 26 days in a row. It [...]

Writing about a Class Experience

One writing idea is to have the class experience something, then write about this experience.
-Sing a song, then tell the students about it, have the students turn and talk about it, then the teacher writes about it using story language.
-Line up to come inside from recess. If it is a nice day, instead of going [...]

Writing: someone is somewhere doing something

When students are drawing pictures for their plan and just starting to label or write a few random letters, the teaching point that we want to remember to work on with our beginning writers is to touch the something (pictures) in the story, think about what is happening, tell me about your picture. What are [...]

A Principal’s Guide To Leadership in the Teaching of Writing

“A Principal’s Guide to Leadership in the Teaching of Writing will keep you company during the hard work of leading school reform in teaching writing. It will bring you inside a community of practice comprised of scores of principals who have also thought, ‘How can I provide my teachers with the support they deserve in [...]

Writing: true, focused, significant

As I reflect on writing samples, I find myself thinking about Lucy Calkins words, “Are the students truly writing stories that are true, focused, and also significant?” Are the writers remembering something that matters to them? These stories should fill the writers with big feelings: sadness or excitement or wonder. This leads to a significant [...]

Topics: Brainstorming more topics

I also ask have any of you ever been in kindergarten. What’s your teacher’s name, write it down. What do you remember the most. I usually tell them something I remember from kindergarten. Have any of you ever been in first grade? Etc. What about second? Have you ever had a field trip? What was [...]

Writing Mini-Lessons Topics: What do you know about?

Help the children list what they know about. Give them classifications (pets, family members, school kids, friends, field trips, zoo, Walmart). They can record possible writing ideas on the front of their writing notebook, on a colored piece of paper, whatever the teacher wishes.