Earlier today, I posted an article to Two Wring Teachers on “crowdsourcing” as a tool for story building and revision. When I read the post to my fourth grade students (the subject of my article) I could see their nods and smiles as confirmation that, together, we did a GREAT THING. Even my most ruggedContinue reading “Slice of Life Day 6: A Story of Our Own”
Tag Archives: gifted education
Slice of Life Day 5: Testing the Waters
I don’t enjoy writing fiction.
THERE. I said it.
There are times, though, that I do need to pull something together, especially when I’m demonstrating a process with my students.
My students are crafting stories in the style of Leo Lionni. Below is my work-in-progress. I thought I’d share it with you here. Who knows? I may even end up finishing it at some point. If so, you bet I’ll post again!
Slice of Life Tuesday: Give it a Go
This week on the Two Writing Teachers site, I posted about a strategy I tried with my students: Give it a Go.
I introduced the idea today, so I thought I’d share what I wrote alongside them. Here’s my (admittedly autobiographical) contribution…
Slice of Life Day 10: Challenge Accepted!
There I was yesterday, cruising around and commenting on some great blogs during the Slice of Life Challenge, when I came across GirlGriot’s musings about the noises she was hearing from under a grate by her apartment building. I thought…now THIS is a great story prompt, and I told her so. Before I knew it,Continue reading “Slice of Life Day 10: Challenge Accepted!”
Slice of Life Day 9: Current Conditions
Here we are at day 9 of the Slice of Life Challenge! Today had me thinking: you know, even though it seems corny for stories to have the weather reflect moods in characters, I have to admit that sometimes…well, sometimes the weather gets it right. Oh!,perhaps,she pondered,upon seeingthe weather outsideas it rained, snowed, threatenedto growContinue reading “Slice of Life Day 9: Current Conditions”
Slice of Life Day 8: Picture This
Photo-based slices seem to be my pace lately. But I’m still Slicing, still sharing, still enjoying. The last day or two brought their fair share of enjoyment. Among the things I have to celebrate:
Slice of Life Day Challenge Day 2: On Timing
Whoo! Day two of the Slice of Life Challenge. Stick with me on this one. I promise this post has some fun in store. When you have a group of squirrelly fourth-graders on a beautiful spring day, And you have them for two full hours’ worth of literacy studio, And you know that some ofContinue reading “Slice of Life Day Challenge Day 2: On Timing”
Slice of Life Challenge, Day 1: Gone Fishin’
Hooray for the Slice of Life Challenge! This is year 4 for me – which is pretty tough to believe. I’m maybe a little proud of myself for sticking with it. Now…this is a year where life is a little…googly-eyed, shall we say. So, I’m not confident I’ll make it every day. I’ll sure giveContinue reading “Slice of Life Challenge, Day 1: Gone Fishin’”
Slice of Life Tuesday: Write-Along
Each year, I have my students craft forced association poems, where they pull together a poem that’s written about one thing…but it’s really about another. We start by thinking of places or things (usually in nature) important to us: that one lilac bush, the park we love to play at, a favorite tree. Then, weContinue reading “Slice of Life Tuesday: Write-Along”
Slice of Life Tuesday: The Important Thing
I love teaching units more than once. I get do-overs! Each year, my kids teach me more about how they learn, how best to reach them. And lucky me, I don’t even have to wait until the following year! Working at two schools, with two sets of kids, I get two tries for each lesson.Continue reading “Slice of Life Tuesday: The Important Thing”
Soapbox: The Way I see Things 