Today's topic is about keeping the writing love alive in your classroom. These are some of the few things that I do to help encourage my students to keep writing.
One of the first things we do (like the first few days of school) is to fill out our heart maps.
These go in the front of their writing binders where they can add to it and refer to it the whole year.
They love this! I do have to remind them that they are supposed to be sketches...not super detailed drawings-some of them love drawing so much!
Another thing we do is to track our progress on our writing steps pencil.
I got this from the Ultimate Writing Resource from Lesson Plan SOS (one of my first TPT purchases!). I have mini clothespins on it (from Walmart) with their numbers on it. Even though they are 10, they LOVE moving their clothespins down the pencil-only to have to start all over with a new piece :)
We also write a lot of Poetry in my class. I love exposing them to poetry, and it's also a great way to motivate those kids who really struggle with writing longer pieces, because poetry can be short, sweet, and not necessarily follow any format :)
I like to sprinkle poetry in between any major writing, sort of like a writing 'break' for their brains. They almost always cheer when I say we are doing poetry. :)
 |
| I made these! |
 |
| These came from different products I bought or searching the internet |
What do you do to keep the writing love going in your class? Link up with Jivey!
Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn
YES! All of these things rock- especially the fun paper- there is just something about different paper that makes the same work even better! :-P
ReplyDeleteJivey
ideas by jivey
I agree! I call it pretty paper in my classroom! :) The kids know their final copy is always done on "pretty paper!"
ReplyDeleteTheresa
Pinkadots Elementary
I am getting so many great ideas from this linky! I love the idea of making a heart map at the beginning of the year! Thanks for sharing so many cute and motivating ideas!
ReplyDeleteAmanda
Learning to the Core
It is a great idea to add poetry in between the big writing units. I don't do enough in my classroom and definitely want to add more poetry more next year. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteForeman Teaches
I love the heart maps too, only sometimes I forget to go back and use them later in the year :(
ReplyDeleteLooking From Third to Fourth
Those writing papers are adorable! We always begin with the heart maps too. Great ideas!
ReplyDeleteJennifer
Mrs. Laffin's Laughings