Christie Von Dreele's picture

Students Coming Up with More Detail: Christine Von Dreele, First Grade, Late Fall

Submitted by Christie Von Dreele on Sun, 12/18/2011 - 1:00am
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I have been doing the Being a Writer™ program for about three months now and wow, the writing I have seen has been amazing. The children seem to be coming up with more details in their stories than previous years. I feel that has to do with with the stories I read (provided by BAW), sharing time with partners, writing ideas down on slates, and feeling more confident in themselves and their writing. I am also finding my students are sounding out more words on their own (invented spelling), than asking me how to spell them. The one thing some of my students struggle with is keeping on track when they are writing. They are writing four or five sentences about different topics.

Examples

I feel mad when I fall down.

I feel mad when my mom says I can't play outside.

I feel mad when we can't go to the park.

I hope with my continuing to model that this will not become more of an issue. I have really enjoyed learning this program and feel my students are becoming better writers because of it being so routine oriented.

Comments

Christie, It's so exciting to

Submitted by Lindee Witt on Wed, 02/29/2012 - 7:40pm.
Christie, It's so exciting to hear all of the great things that are happening in your classroom.  I have been working with some first grade teachers here in Las Vegas, and they too are seeing some of the same things.  It's always neat to see the students using the word walls.  I know that a lot of us have had them up in our rooms for a long time and know the importance of them.  I so appreciate how the Being A Writer program emphasizes use of those word walls right within the lessons that we teach.  I also love the opportunities that the students are given to use white boards first before writing.  They get so excited, and I think they feel that they can take a risk because it isn't permanent.  As you continue to model, I have confidence that your students will begin to add more details to one topic, as opposed to writing on several different ones as you mentioned.  You can always use your conference time as well to address this with those students who are ready for it.  I look forward to hearing about more great things from your classroom. Lindee Witt DSC Consultant  

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