It is hard to believe that we are already into week 4 of our school year. This is actually the first full week that I am in the classroom. I technically was week 1, but that does not really count. It feels so good to be getting into a routine and to see the students remember our procedures and such for our classroom.
On my campus 1st grade is in their 2nd year of implementing Writer's Workshop. I knew that I wanted to wait to start it until I was going to be in the classroom for a long time without interruption. That happened on Tuesday. I decided that my kiddos were ready for the introduction of Writer's Workshop.
We began the introduction by talking about the fact that everyone has a story to tell. I had several students tell me that they were not good writers yet, and I was excited to hear that. I wanted them to realize that we don't have to use words to tell our stories. I started the lesson by telling them a story about when I went to Disney World as an excited 9 year old girl. They were engrossed in my story and dying to hear more about it. They could not wait to tell me their stories too!
Next we talked about what they were thinking about while I was telling my story. They told me that they were making a picture in their head and I thought my heart was going to skip a beat! It was the perfect lead into the next part. I wanted them to understand that we can tell a story with our pictures too and that sometimes we do not need words. We made an anchor chart of things that good artists do such as color in the lines, use colors that make sense, and to not leave any white space on their pages.
Then it was time for them to practice. We talked about the different details that they needed to add to their pictures to help tell their story. I could not believe how quiet and involved they were creating their stories. Here are a few pictures from yesterday which was the first time we "wrote" our stories.
Today I gave students the opportunity to share their story if they were interested. Some of course were hesitant, but overall they wanted to share. It was awesome to see them so excited to tell their classmates about their story that they "wrote." I hope that their excitement for writing will continue throughout the year!
