Writing in a particular voice takes time. The writer must become the source of inspiration.
The 5/6 took the first steps of writing a creative narrative by first touching, smelling, looking at, and then eating cherry tomatoes from my garden. We spent time creating lists of interesting adjectives to describe this fruit/vegetable. We read books and talked about interesting ways to communicate an idea and think about audience be comparing two children's books. Two students researched and gathered a handful of 'tomato' facts. Dialogue was analyzed for value and we thought about the strength of problems in short, short stories.
Then the formal writing assignment was given in the 6+1 Writing Traits way-- a R>A>F>T>S. Those letters stand for role, audience, format, topic, and strong verb and provide the structure for the assignment. So, for this writing, the R was to write in first or third voice using dialogue to move the story or/and give setting. The A stands for audience. We decided this first writing assignment would be for us to get to know each other better as writers. The F= format, which was a tiny, short story about the 'T' which is the topic. The strong verb chosen was for us 'to entertain' each other. We wanted to learn what we find funny and to build friendships.
The pictures show the students in the last step of the writing process. The kids self evaluated their final copy after multiple steps of revision and editing. Certain criteria for this assignment was created and the rubric or grading tool and their papers is what the kids are holding in these pictures. After they self assessed their own work, they were randomly given a peer (ask about if they were a blueberry or banana) to review how they graded themselves. Hard work and the level of security has grown exponentially in this group because they shared their thoughts to each other about the writing in Writer's Circle and with each other often over time. Peer review when focused is essential to growth. They will tell you they have grown and the proof is reading their first rough drafts and comparing it to the final project.
This writing assignment was part of the scaffolding or growth for the final product of our expedition. The kids will write in the voice of the land-the scablands to the Congressional Delegation of WA, MT, ID, and OR. More on that soon-- tomorrow we head out to Grand Coulee by way of Eastern Washington to absorb the lithosphere.
The 5/6 took the first steps of writing a creative narrative by first touching, smelling, looking at, and then eating cherry tomatoes from my garden. We spent time creating lists of interesting adjectives to describe this fruit/vegetable. We read books and talked about interesting ways to communicate an idea and think about audience be comparing two children's books. Two students researched and gathered a handful of 'tomato' facts. Dialogue was analyzed for value and we thought about the strength of problems in short, short stories.
Then the formal writing assignment was given in the 6+1 Writing Traits way-- a R>A>F>T>S. Those letters stand for role, audience, format, topic, and strong verb and provide the structure for the assignment. So, for this writing, the R was to write in first or third voice using dialogue to move the story or/and give setting. The A stands for audience. We decided this first writing assignment would be for us to get to know each other better as writers. The F= format, which was a tiny, short story about the 'T' which is the topic. The strong verb chosen was for us 'to entertain' each other. We wanted to learn what we find funny and to build friendships.
The pictures show the students in the last step of the writing process. The kids self evaluated their final copy after multiple steps of revision and editing. Certain criteria for this assignment was created and the rubric or grading tool and their papers is what the kids are holding in these pictures. After they self assessed their own work, they were randomly given a peer (ask about if they were a blueberry or banana) to review how they graded themselves. Hard work and the level of security has grown exponentially in this group because they shared their thoughts to each other about the writing in Writer's Circle and with each other often over time. Peer review when focused is essential to growth. They will tell you they have grown and the proof is reading their first rough drafts and comparing it to the final project.
