WRITER'S WORKSHOP: NATURE, ICE CREAM, SCRUBBING TOILETS, AND MORE
We had our first Writers' Workshop in the woods this week and everyone was excited to experience and write about what types of things we love to do outside. We are planning to spend some time on the nature trail again next week to write more! In our unit on persuasive writing we have learned that there are different formats for writing when you see a problem and want to make a change. One of the formats we've learned about is petitions. As you might have guessed, children get really excited when you tell them they can make a change through their writing...and then it gets interesting to see what they truly care about changing. :) We did a little math and figured out that in order for a motion to pass in what we call the "laws of room 101", a petition must have at least 15 signatures (25 students + 3 teachers=28, 1/2 of 28 is 14, so 15 makes a majority). Here are some examples of petitions that have been written (and there are oh so many more), each complete with reasons: Passed (at least 15 people signed)
Yesterday I wrote my own petition about how we should keep the room really clean. I went around to all the tables during Writers' Workshop and said "Hey, I wrote a petition about how we should keep the room clean. Will you sign it?" No one looked at the fine print. Everyone signed. Of course, they were all shocked when I read it aloud later and they heard the part stating "If you agree to help scrub the toilets and clean the floors with your toothbrushes, please sign below." They tried to revolt, but I told them it was only to teach them a lesson, and toothbrushes could stay clean and at home. So, the lesson we learned yesterday was: Don't sign anything unless you have read it and understand it. Hopefully that one will stick with them past kindergarten. STUDENT-LED CONFERENCES: WHAT TO EXPECT We have reviewed this format a number of times, and each child has practiced leading a conference for an adult acting as the parent. Below is what your child should do in his/her conference. A guide with these steps will be on a clipboard on the table with him/her, but you may need to point to the next step if your child seems lost (everyone did well with practices, but some children are nervous and may need a little prompt to keep on track).
Please use the blue "Parent Prompts" sheet to guide conversation with your child during the conference as needed. Let me know if you have any questions before Monday. We can't wait to see you!
3 Comments
EXPLORING OUR BIG BACKYARD! This past Monday while your children were out of school, teachers had a professional learning day in which we prepared for Student Led Conferences and did a variety of other things. One of those things was touring the woods behind Westchester with an expert in outdoor education from the Wylde Center. On this tour I got all sorts of ideas about how to use the nature trail space as an outdoor classroom to support our content standards, and wanted to let you know that between now and the end of the year, we will be visiting the woods frequently as I find ways to incorporate our learning into this space. Since parents signed permission slips for walking field trips at the beginning of the school year (which you all did), this covers walks through our woods (since we will be off of school property). Please know that we will not be crossing any roads, we will always have a walkie talkie and a first aid kit just like we do on the playground, and we will not take to the woods unless we have 3 adults with the class--which we normally do with Ms. Ivey and Ms. Curl and myself. If you volunteer for Writer's Workshop, be aware that we might be doing our writing outside some days, starting next week. Being in the woods makes persuasive writing about environmental topics all the more meaningful too :) Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about this. WORMS, WORMS, WORMS! Last week an outdoor education expert from the Wylde Center (same person as above, Westchester parent Allison Ericson) taught our class a lesson on rocks and soils in the woods just past the playground. We got to dig up soil samples to compare them, look for decomposers (like worms), and examples of things that were decomposing (like old leaves and such). Well, it spiked a whole lot of worm talk in our class, and since then I have taken buckets, shovels, and magnifying glasses out to the playground daily where our kiddos are becoming work scientists. We've also been reading some books to learn more about our wiggly friends and why they are important for plant growth. LEPRECHAUNS??? Yesterday was quite exciting. In case you didn't hear about it, this is the short version. Though there is some skepticism going around, there is also belief that a leprechaun may have jumped out of the girls' bathroom ceiling, run across the floor, and climbed back up to the ceiling in the boys' bathroom yesterday while we were at lunch. He also left us some gold coins and a note. This of course sparked a hunt on the playground for evidence of his whereabouts (i.e. trash the kids found, which according to them could only have been left by a mischievous leprechaun). Then many children wanted to make leprechaun traps during center time, which involved a lot of sign-writing (shown below: "No traps", "Welcome leprechauns", and "Come inside leprechauns"), collaboration, and creativity in trap building. Marlowe and Kala decided trapping leprechauns was cruel and decided to secretly write letters to warn the leprechauns and tape them up in the hallway :) Then we all wrote our "opinions" about leprechauns during writers' workshop (whether or not they are real, whether people thought we would really catch one, how we feel about the idea of leprechauns sneaking around, etc.). Though I did not at any point tell the children that leprechauns were real (or not real...magical things are a touchy subject at this age), I did assure them that they definitely will not be back this year because St. Patrick's Day is over, so the hunt is off, and the traps are being taken down...and the footprints have been scrubbed away. COMMUNITY CIRCLE STUFF
Save the dates! Our class will be leading Community Circle on April 1st and April 22nd. We hope you can make it! I will try to remember to send out names of which students will be making announcements on stage for each time once we get that planned. The first date is the same week as Student Led Conferences, so if you haven't heard from me the week of the 1st, feel free to ask! Thank you to so many of you who have come to Community Circle this year! If you came this week or last, I hope you enjoyed moving up closer to our class since we did away with the backpacks. This definitely makes it feel more like a "circle", so thanks for squeezing in. I also want to thank you for your help with saying goodbye to your children prior to Community Circle so that they don't feel the need to jump up for a hug and kiss when it's time for parents to exit. Keeping everyone seated helps us transition quickly back to the classrooms to start our day. Since we are working on coming closer together and feeling more like a true Community Circle, I would like to invite you to join us when we are singing and dancing. Just to let you know, I don't ever know the PE dance either (I have my planning period when the kids have "specials", so a lot of the dances and songs from music are new to me on Fridays), but it's usually simple enough to catch on to by watching Coach Henry and the students. As for singing, lyrics are posted to help us all sing along. The more participation we have, the more it feels like a celebration of community. Thanks in advance for your support. I hope to see you there soon! New unit in writing and a suggested App In writing we are now working on persuasive/opinion writing. We have made a list of "Issues" that matter to students in our class. Some hot topics (that they came up with...not me!) are broken pencils, poaching, pollution, admission to the Georgia Aquarium costing too much, wanting a roller coaster or carousel on the playground, and other classes talking too loud in the hall outside our room. We are learning that when you write your opinion it has to be supported by reasons. This week some students have written me letters trying to persuade me to get a pie in my face (along with lots of other Decatur teachers) on Friday night at the Tour deCatur EXPO (at Ebster gym at 6pm). They had some pretty convincing arguments, so I might just do it :) Last week we tasted green eggs in honor of Dr. Seuss and the students wrote about whether or not they liked them, supported by reasons...only one person was not a fan! I can't recall if I have shared this in the past, so forgive me if you've heard it before... If you would like to help encourage writing at home and are interested in the App we used to publish books on the iPads (which you saw at our Celebration of Learning), it's called Book Creator. It is very easy for kids to navigate...except that it autocorrects, so phonetic spelling can be a little tricky. If you have an iPad at home, this would be a great App to add to encourage creative writing with your child. I highly recommend it! U.S. SYMBOL PROJECTS I tried something new this year to teach the students about U.S. symbols...I let them teach each other, and the results were amazing! Each child chose a symbol (U.S. flag, Statue of Liberty, bald eagle, White House, Washington Monument, or Lincoln Memorial) and could either choose to work independently or with a partner. Then they used a website (a simple one!) to research their symbols and take notes to record the facts they learned. Each student/group got to choose how to present their information. Some made costumes, others made posters, one group wrote a song, one built the Washington Monument, and someone else made a video! We have practiced being a good audience as we've listened to these awesome presentations over the last week. Ask your child to tell you more if you haven't heard about this already. |
AuthorWelcome to my classroom website. Archives
April 2016
Categories |