This week, our writing club played with the idea. What if? What if? What if? The kids came up with fantastic, insightful ideas. And throughout the next week, we’ll be posting them all around our schools for other kids to ponder about, to roll with, and – who knows? – maybe to write about.
Enjoy a sampling of sheer brilliance:
I’m running a couple of writing clubs right now, one for each of the schools that I teach at. In my description of the class, I mentioned that we would have a mix of writing, creative games, and oral work on stories. And yes, there would be fun. Because otherwise, what’s even the point?
I want students to realize that no matter HOW ridiculous and far-fetched their stories might be, a reader or listener will be right with them, as long as the events make sense together and the story is well-told…
The British Bake Show is one of my absolute favorites. And it’s not just because I’m a baker at heart. It’s not just because the folks on the show are so delightful, charming, and kind to one another. I’m realizing (from my campsite on the couch) that this show – the kid version in particular – satisfies me on a deep, emotional level.
As I watch, I’m realizing that this show, and the kids on it, have lessons for me and my students to learn.
Today, for your reading pleasure, I’m bringing you glimpses of the kinds of kiddos I inevitably see from class to class, the kinds of kids we find in every class when it comes to writing time. Cheers! Let’s make a toast to these loveys…
Today, it was the impossible. I had both too many things to write about and nothing to write about, all at the same time. What to do, what to do?
Every year, I ask my departing fifth graders to share what they’ve learned about language arts and about themselves throughout our time together. Every year, I tell them this is the last thing I will remember them by. I only give them two rules: letters need to be written in letter form, and I wantContinue reading “Slice of Life Tuesday: Dispatches from Fifth Grade”
I’ve done a thing. I’ve begun an ambitious, multi-year writing initiative in my district that I think could be really amazing, and I’ve got some colleagues who, quite thankfully, agree. I’ve got administrative support, I’ve got the time to plan and build, and I’m banking on the excitement of tapping into JOY. Because if there’sContinue reading “Slice of Life: Writing Challenge”
Fifty. So this is fifty. I’m taking a look at this gal. She’s been through stuff.She has seen stuff, and has LEARNED stuff. She knows birthdays are brim-full of expectation,days that demandjoydays that belongto her And yet She also knows a birth day(just like the ideaof turning fifty)is messy,tangled, not what peoplecrack it up toContinue reading “Slice of Life Tuesday: The Big Five-Oh”
Today and yesterday were my last days with my fifth graders. Some of these kids, I’ve worked with for a year or two. Others, we’ve been together for three, four, even five years. There is so much change that happens over the span of that time. Add our shared experiences living through COVID and itsContinue reading “Slice of Life Tuesday: On Letting Them Go”
It’s been three years since I’ve been able to put together a collection of allegorical fiction with my fifth graders, but this year we’re doing it!
I always love this project so much, because it taps into the wealth of wisdom, perspective and potential these kids carry with them. I mean, I see it in them, and it makes my heart smile when they recognize it within themselves.
Soapbox: The Way I see Things