I am using my If...Then...Curriculum book to teach "All About Books". The kids LOVE this unit, and are writing so much! We started the unit by choosing an animal that they know "all about". This was an easy way to get them started writing. One student chose an obscure animal (a frog fish), but during conferencing decided that he really didn't know that much about the animal, so he picked again. Several of my students incorporated a "how to" page in their book!
I keep all of the paper choices for this unit on a shelf in the front of the classroom, and they take them as they need. I have them begin with the cover of the book (some need the reminder of what they are actually writing about!), but after that, they are free to choose which pages they need, and what order they write their book. As always with our writing workshop, the students sound out the words they don't know or ask their peers at their table. Occasionally, they will look at the word and know it is incorrect, so I spell for them in those situations to avoid them becoming frustrated. I try to make all of the writing experiences in my classroom positive!
When they feel that their book is finished, they have a short conference with me to make sure they have added details, color, and punctuation. After they take the time to "correct" the things we discussed, I don't send them back a second time to make more corrections. Again, I'm trying to avoid any frustration with the writing process. I push them only as necessary, depending on the child. This knowledge comes from spending the year doing writing conferences.
At this time they get their book stapled and they get to choose tape for their binding. This is the highlight! So simple and quick for me to staple and tape their books, yet it really makes them feel special!
I love their little books!
No comments