Jump Into Writing

Last month I guest posted over at Teaching in High Heels about some writing magic tricks.  Just in case you missed it here's a recap!  


Let me introduce you to my little writing friends...frogs!  Not the kind you have to kiss but the kind that will make you want to kiss your students when you read their amazing word choices!

These guys are perfect for helping your kiddos jump right into using a thesaurus!  Others will be GREEN with envy over your students' great splendiferous, magnificent, adept writing skills.  After making the Frogs on a Log class book, your kiddos will know how to fill their writing with juicy words that will jump right out and grab the reader!

To get started, we review our INSTEAD OF SAID chart that we have been adding to all year.  When we read we are always looking for words authors use in place of said.  Then we talk about how important it is to use exact words to relay our meaning when we write.  Words that give us all the juicy details!  After reminding them that "said is dead" I read this great story:

We brainstorm ways we can find new words to use when our words seem tired and overused and boring.  Enter the magical thesaurus!  We have one in the back of our english book that we use, but any thesaurus will do. Here's a great printable pocket thesaurus from Mrs. Winston!  

After going over the parts of the thesaurus, I let the class work in groups to complete pages that we put together to make a class book called Frogs on a Log. 

The first frog on each page has a speech bubble with a word inside.  To complete their page, the group has to look the first frog's word up in the thesaurus and fill out the rest of the text by using the synonyms they find for that word.  They also have to replace the "dead said" in each sentence.  After they have filled in the text, they have to illustrate the faces on the frogs to match what the frogs are saying.  We make funny frog faces (it's not my best look but whatever makes it stick right?) and I draw some examples to show them how different facial features can express what the frogs are saying.  When they finish I put all the pages together and read our collaborative story!  

It's always a favorite in the class library. They beg to check it out so they can take it home and read it to their family.  I love it when that happens!  Just click on the picture above to download a copy and let the magical frogs go to work!

I'd love to give you a happy ending right here.  

The kind of ending where I put on my glass slippers and run off to a place where my students immediately apply the skills I diligently teach motivated by an intrinsic desire to strengthen their writing ability, but...

this is not Cinderella's world.  

Nope, this is the real world where my great innovative, thrilling, awe-inspiring lesson might not be applied right away {GASP} and It might need a little help from something sugar coated.  If clicking my heels three times doesn't do the trick I might or might not reach into my bag of treats and pull out a little something extra to make it stick...

That's right.  I follow up my you.better.use.your.thesaurus.to.add.juicy.words.to.your.writing.lesson by introducing this little guy.  He's small but don't underestimate his power.  

Cinderella has her fairy godmother...I have Mr. Bubblegum.  For those of you who don't know, that's the hubs, and he draws for a living.  And for me (when I bribe him). He came up with this little character that I just love!  After talking about juicy words I introduce SUPER JUICY.  My kids know he's always on the lookout for JUICY words in their writing and when he finds them he leaves a treat behind.  

You can make your very own Super Juicy labels by grabbing a clipart pack at Mr. Bubblegum's Teacher's Notebook store.  Print out a sheet of labels and slap these on your kids rough drafts for your very own motivational magic!  I have tons of them ready to go in my teacher drawer, right next to my Editing Ed.

Happy writing!

Editing Ed

Are there too many errors in your kiddo's stories? 
Stuff to take out.  Stuff to be added.  When you say it's time to edit their papers do you hear a universal groan that includes the yourself?  I always dread trying to tell the kids that the papers they have labored over need some tweaking.  


They don't want to add.  They think it's just fine.  They don't want to take away.  They think it's just fine.  Even if their story is without punctuation, without capital letters, without juicy words.  They. Think. It's. Just. Fine.  


I knew I needed a plan, a way to get them excited about editing.  What could possibly make them want to see red marks on their papers?  I needed someone to "save the day" but  Captain Capital was already busy capitalizing all of our proper nouns...so I decided he needed a friend...or maybe a relative...in a crazy Cousin Itt kinda way (and no that's not a typo he has two t's in his name - like I said, crazy).  


I needed someone who liked to leave his mark.  


Enter Editing Ed. 

Who can be upset with a wild haired, google-eyed character - even if he is marking up your paper.  And if you are feeling really frazzled (not that writing ever makes me feel that way)  you can give him a few twists and you will feel much better.  I promise.

So...here's a step by step tutorial on how you can make your very own Cousin Itt Editing Ed!

Get yourself some crazy hair, google eyes, and red pens.  Yes that price tag says 24 cents 

(for the whole bag) 

thank-you-very-much Target clearance!

Cut a 4 inch strip.  Make sure you fluff the "hair" up (think 80's big hair bangs that stand straight up - and yes, unfortunately, I am speaking from experience) before you cut so you don't cut off the long pieces.  Ed does not look good sportin' a crew cut.

Glue.

Glue. Roll.

Glue some more.


And now you have a reason to LIKE editing marks!

I like to introduce editing marks and make an anchor chart with the class.  Later in the day, when they are out of the room, I put this note on their desks with Ed attached to the space on the side.  Before they come in I tell them we have a special visitor that has come to help them with editing.  

Click on the picture to download the note.  

The five mistakes are:  ed, together, and i need to be capitalized, yoo is misspelled, and there should be a period after papers. 

  

 Happy editing!

Just the Facts, Ma'am?

Imagine yourself curled up in your favorite blanket, a warm fire crackling beside you, a cup of coffee in one hand and a long detailed police report in the other - wait - that's not right!  We don't want to curl up and get cozy with a police report.  We want to be whisked away to a foreign land, doubled over laughing at your I-can-so-relate-to-that-blunder, or reaching for a tissue to wipe away the evidence of words that have tugged at our heart.  This can't happen with "just the facts."  We must elaborate!  We want all the JUICY details!

I can't think of anything better than a warm chocolate chip cookie to get the creative juices flowing.  I mean really, can you ever say too much about chocolate?   

Didn't think so. 

It seems like pulling teeth to get some kids to add details to their writing, but pop a roll of cookie dough in the oven and trust me, they'll talk.    

With the smell of chocolaty goodness wafting through the air I guide my kiddos in using their five senses to add juicy words and elaborative details to writing.  Together, we fill out the chart below as we partake of our delectable goodie.  

I model how to turn the juicy words we come up with into elaborative details for our descriptive writing.  I L.O.V.E. the Desktop Sentence Starters from Empowering Writers.  We use these to keep our papers from just becoming a "grocery list".  This is important because if I buy the cookie dough, figure out how to get down to the kitchen to bake the cookies, and have to deal with sugared up kids that ate the cookies, I.better.have.good.sentences. It looked round, it felt soft, it smelt good will not cut it. You know what I'm sayin'.  Together we discuss and draft a piece of writing that will have you running for a glass of milk.

Hamburger Helper

It's time to fire up the grill and get cookin'... and I don't mean steaks.  I'm talking about some stories piled high with juicy details.  Stories you can really sink your teeth into!

I love using literature to launch my writing lessons.  Here are a few of my favorites for introducing Writer's Workshop.  

After reading about what an author does, I love to show my class that kids are authors too!  I have several books from Scholastic that are written and illustrated by kids.  You can find a list of  these books here.  Then I pull out a surprise from my book bag... a book I wrote in 5th grade.  That's right - I have the my-mom-was-so-proud-she-got-it-bound-into-a-hardback-book-version of my very own story!  The kids get such a kick out of this!  

We read, read, read, and we talk, talk, talk about the process an author goes through when writing a story (back to the hamburger).  I use this anchor chart to list the steps of the writing process as we discuss them.

To review the steps my kids play Build-A-Burger.  They can play with a partner or alone.  Click the picture to download.

Here's whats on the menu for the rest of the week...super juicy words, Editing Ed, and how to hook your reader!

Got a "Go-To Book"?

Stephanie over at Teaching in Room 6 is having a Go-To Book linky party and I'm sooo glad I was invited!  Thanks to her, my Amazon wishlist is growing by leaps and bounds.  I mean, can you ever have too many books?  I didn't think so.

It's hard for me to narrow down my list to one...really hard.  There are so many great books out there that have influenced my teaching over the years, but today I'm going to go with a book on writing.  This book has helped me guide my students in so many ways.

I used to sit at my desk with writing notebooks piled around me filled with lots of writing, but not good writing.  During writing conferences with my students, I could identify the problem, but struggled with how to give them concrete strategies for fixing the problems.  Their stories had ho-hum beginnings, lacked interesting details, and were filled with dialogue that was hard to follow and quite frankly, boring. Then I read The Most Wonderful Writing Lessons Ever.  This book was easy to read and offered solutions to all my writing woes.  The author emphasizes the connection between reading and writing and teaching the kids to read with an "author's eye." You can find more resources that go along with this book at the Empowering Writers website.  I love these writing lessons and now I love reading my students stories!  I feel like my mini-lessons are effective and my students are equipped.

Since we are on the topic of writing...I'll be posting about some of my favorite writing lessons later this week so stop back by!

What's your Go-To Book?  Link up and let us know!