Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Start with Celebration
This chapter titled, Start with Celebration, I've retitled "See Fireworks." I teach struggling students, so when the author wrote about complimenting the student who had only written the title of his paper, "Happy Thanksgiving" I could really relate. We can all relate to encouraging words given us. We've probably all personally seen the effect shared writing has on our class. On page, 20, the author states, "The hardest part is finding and creating a topic and purpose that will get them excited about writing." I usually at some point in the year, have my students make a list of things they would like to write about, but I still find this hard because some students just seem to draw blanks. I think this is why sharing really helps all writers, when they see the enthusiasm of others, it is contagious and helps them.
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3 comments:
Janice, I can relate to those students that struggle coming up with a idea also. I think we all have one of those students. I used an idea from the book about secrets this past week. (See example on pg 292) It was a powerful prompt. I think your students would enjoy it, and you can use this one across grade levels. I'd be glad to show you some of my examples.
Janice,
I really enjoyed reading about the teacher who complimented the student for just writing, Happy Thanksgiving also. I feel that I have always tried to compliment students' writings, but I plan to compliment more and about many aspects of their writing.
Janice, I loved your idea for this chapter to be retitled "See Fireworks.":) That is so what it did for me and for my students when I tried some of these ideas. Encouraging them in small things has been enlightening. Also, the sharing between the students, helped my reluctant writers.
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