Writing Prompt Resources: State Test Prep

      Hello darlings!  Our state testing starts Tuesday. (MAP Test for our Missouri friends)  One of the requirements for our third graders is to respond to a prompt.  They have to brainstorm, complete a rough draft, edit and revise, and then write the final draft all in one sitting.  Yikes!  My poor babies!  But they can do it!  

      Before I taught them anything about prompts, I gave them a pretest.  They received the rainy day prompt below and had 45 mins to complete it.  I told them we would be using the pretest to measure their growth.  They love to see their progress!    We spent about a week and a half really digging into prompts.  I broke it down into steps for them.  We started with a pretty easy prompt and then I modeled for them.

      I find that kiddos always get hung up on just reading the prompt. Some prompts kiddos really do not have any experience with the activity given.  I have seen prompts such as, Tell about a time you went on vacation.  Describe a problem you had to overcome.  or  Write a letter to your librarian about your favorite book.  Explain why that book should be on display.    I often hear, "But I've never done that," or "I haven't been on vacation." or "I don't have a favorite book."    Well, great.... they are stuck before they even start.  It is important to explain that they can use their IMAGINATIONS.  They can make it up.  Of course we talk about it being realistic, as we wouldn't take a vacation to the moon or something like that.

    After each step, I model for them exactly what I am looking for.  This is a very basic example above, but the outline helps them remember what to include.  We talk about the thesis being our roadmap to the entire essay.

    Lots of kiddos slack off when it come to the conclusion.  They just want to say, "And that is what I would do on a rainy day."  BORING!  Yawn, snore!  We talk about the reader having memory loss and they have no idea what you just talked about.  You must repeat it.  

Once my kiddos completed each step, (we did one paragraph a day)  they put it all together in the form of a book so we could take a look at their progress.  We took a piece of large construction paper and folded it in half.  

On the front, they designed a title page.

 On the left, they stapled or glued the brainstorm with the rough draft underneath.

On the right, they stapled in their final copy.  We used final copy paper from our MAP Prep books.  You can use any lined paper.  (You can see the rough draft on the right-they labeled each section with a sticky note so they could PROVE they had each piece.)

On the very back, they stapled their pretest.  It was so funny to hear them talking to each other.  Some of them were like, "Wow, look at how much more I wrote in my final copy!"

Here is another kiddo's example.

 Another pretest.

If you have never heard of Learn Zillion, you need to check it out!  They have an interactive lesson for writing prompts as well as many others!

Do you have any fun ideas for writing prompts?

Spring Literacy Stations

THROWBACK THURSDAY= Teacher Blogger Laziness  

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Feb. 2013- Hello darlings!  I hope your week has started out splendidly!  After having two snow days last week, I was so used to staying up late and sleeping in.  Boy, did that catch up with me Monday morning!  I thought I was dying.  (I LOVE my sleep!) 

As promised, I worked my bum off on those two lovely days and knocked out six super fun literacy centers!  Kiddos really enjoy reviewing concepts while playing games.  I bet you didn't know that, right?  =)

These babies are Common Core aligned and just waiting for your little geniuses... and your laminator!  I store my playing cards in sandwich bags and place these, along with the direction sheet and recording sheets, in a gallon zipped locked bag.  I label a hanging file folder with the theme so I can find it easily next year.

Click the pic to grab these Splendid Springtime Literacy Centers!

I apologize for the laziness!

Back to School Writing Craftivity Bundle

Hello darlings!  Happy Sunday!  Are you crying inside because school is just around the corner or are you secretly a little excited?  Is it normal to be both?  As soon as school supplies start coming out, I do get a little happy inside.  Maybe I just like school supplies!?

I'm linking up with the lovely Michelle for Sunday Smorgasbord. It is just a bunch of randomness!

So...I've been trying to think of creative writing activities for the the beginning of the year.  I decided I wanted to make them fun so I made some crafts to go with them.  I also made a little info sheet for me, kind of like a survey, so that I could get to know my kiddos a little better.  You can download it free by clicking the picture!

Here are the activities in the Back to School Writing Craftivitiy Bundle...

I'm Unigue Poem: students use m&m's for each apostrophe in I'm then make a cut out of themselves (2 boy patterns and 3 girl patterns included)

Sneak Peek @ Summer: students complete an On Demand Narrative Writing piece and create a 3D sunglass project

The Sweetest Thing About Me: students have many choices of what to write about and then create an ice cream cone craft

Purple Paula: Original short story used to teach Character Education. Includes lesson ideas

In other random news... I went to the St. Louis Zoo the other day and took this adorable video of a baby giraffe.  He was trying to reach a tree that was out of his enclosure.  Did you know giraffes have incredibly large tongues?


 The lion was just chillin'.

So the winner of my Year Long Word Study Unit...drum roll please....

Comment #10 Naimah Gooden

Congrats!  Check your email!

Blessings!

My Kiddos BEG for this Writing Assignment

Hello darlings! One of my favorite writing assignments each year is creating a Diary story based on the Diary of a Worm series. My students LOVE this activity every year!  We spend a few days reading  Diary of a Fly, Diary of a Worm, and Diary of a Spider.  We chart the characteristics that each book shares. 

For example, each story is a diary written by one of the characters. It is written in first person point of view. The other two characters from the other books are included.  Each book includes events that happen at home and at school.( Etc)

After our brain storming, kiddos make a story board to plan out their “Diary”.  They can choose any character they want to be.  I’ve had kids choose dogs, rabbits, cats, caterpillars, etc.

We take time to really plan out each entry and we team up with partners to help us make sure we stay on track.

Once we edit and revise, we write on final copies on plain white paper. (Notice the marker on her page from another student editing)

I have had kiddos present their books in many different ways…

1. Share with buddies in a lower grade.
2. Present in front of our class.
3. Share with another 3^rd grade class who also did this project.
4. Have a “Read In” where kiddos bring snacks from home and rotate to each kiddos’ desks to read each story at their own pace.  They then leave a comment on a comment paper. (They LUV this)
5. Students get into groups of 4-5 and read their stories.  They secretly vote who should share their story with the entire class.
6. Video tape each kiddo reading the story, like Reading Rainbow.  Watch 2 or 3 a day. 

I hope you get a chance to do this with your kiddos!  I have provided everything you need for FREE!  (except the books of course!) You have permission to pin this and share with your colleagues! Click the pic to download.

Have a fantastic night!  Congrats to the Giveaway winner!

Shawnda Worth @ totallywirthit blogspot

The Tooth Fairy

Last week, we learned about teeth. I had to carry it over into this week because we didn't get everything finished. Does that ever happen to you? I feel like there is never enough time! I have really great writers this year and we have been working on adding more detail in our writing. So, after reading a story about the tooth fairy, I had my students write about the tooth fairy. They could write about what she/he looks like, what he/she does with the teeth or any thoughts they had about the tooth fairy. I had them take them home and I forgot to take more pictures of them. I only have one to post, but it is a great one! Check this out!

"The tooth fairy lives in the sky. And the tooth fairy puts the teeth to live in the clouds.

It was great to see the cute ideas my kiddos wrote for what the tooth fairy does with the teeth:) Click below for the writing template!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Shelley

Commas, Commas, Commas

Do your kiddos remember their commas?  Mine do!  (okay, most of the time)  I don't introduce commas by telling the kiddos the rules.  Instead, I have them come up with the rules themselves.  I give them a Comma Hunt paper and with a partner, they search through books to find three different ways that they see commas being used by real authors.  They try to find 3 examples to prove it is a rule.  Then they try to come up with a rule to present to the class. 

Once we discuss possible rules as a group, we create an anchor chart together.  I have the rules printed out and cut out already, so that I can easily glue them on.  We talk about the rules one at a time and the kiddos are THRILLED when they discover their rule is real!  I use examples the kiddos give me to record on the anchor chart.

For the next lesson, students search through books to find one example of each rule being used correctly.  They love this.  It gives them a real sense of ownership because they were involved in "making" these rules.  I tell them to make sure the authors used commas correctly, so the kiddo think they are looking for an author to make a mistake. =)

We leave the anchor chart up all year, and my little darlings refer to it often.  Enjoy!

I hope you can use this in your classroom!

Amy