Perfecting Paragraphs~Day 1

Welcome! I'm starting a series on how we are working on perfecting our paragraphs in writing. I hope you enjoy it!

Fonts by Kimberly Geswin, Frame by Lovin' Lit, Clipart by Melonheadz Illustrating

One thing that we have recently started refining in 4th grade is our paragraphs.

I introduced the topic by asking the students what a paragraph was.

Blank stares.

Crickets.

Ummmm, okay. We may have more work to do that I thought!

I asked if they had talked about this in 3rd grade.

Blank stares.

Crickets.

Okay! A lot of work.

And then one student piped up. (and some of the kids looked at him like he was crazy!) and as he started talking, more kids started remember (and they totally had this in 3rd grade-I asked one of the teachers-little sneaks!)

My one piped up student gave an excellent answer on what a paragraph was (at least to my mind!).

 It's a group of sentences that focus on one idea or topic.

After we had a starting point, we talked a little more about what a paragraph needed. I got a lot more particpation on this one!

Then, I pulled out my chart that I had made last year.

It gave a good overview-but I wanted to add a little more to it.

Some cutting of the extra paper of the morning message, some tape and voila!

A closer look at the changes:

Then, I pulled up a picture on the SMART Board and asked them to write a paragraph about it. I didn't give them any directions on what kind of paragraph-because I wanted to see what they were capable of.

As some of them were finishing up, I asked them to write another paragraph-the opposite of the first one they wrote (i.e., if they wrote a description of the picture, write a story; if they wrote a story about the picture, write a description.)

Some of them came out fairly well!

Ignore the spelling-the fact I got this friend to write a paragraph is a feat in itself!!

Next up: writing a descriptive paragraph!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Workshop Wednesday: Opinion Writing

Happy Wednesday!

Time for one of my very favorite link-ups:

Today's topic is Opinion Writing.

Each week, we get a Scholastic News (though I'm about 2 and a half months behind!), which has a small opinion section in almost every article!

They ask a questions, and have the kids say yay or nay, as well as giving reasons why.

These are a great example of opinion writing.

One thing I like to do is to ask a simple questions, like: Which makes a better pet, dogs or cats?

The students have to write their answer on a post-it, and give some reasons (I prefer that they give at least 3 reasons) of why they choose what they did. They post these on our show what you know chart.

Now, these are almost like quick-writes, but I want to get the kids used to answering and giving a reason why (or 3!) they think something.

After a few weeks of this, we move on to writing it out into paragraphs and expanding on our reasons.

Kids always have opinions-and now we're expanding on them to have them explain and support their opinions!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Thursday Throwdown: SS Notebooks-Explorers

Happy Thursday! (or, as I like to think about it this week-almost Friday!)

Time for:

This month, I'm sharing something that we are working on (me included!).

We are currently learning about Explorers for our Social Studies topic, an while the students are researching an individual explorer and creating a PowerPoint, I wanted something to give the kids an overview of the major explorers.

To TPT! I thought. I was sure I would find something there.


But...I didn't. :( (that's not to say that there wasn't very good resources there, just not what I was personally looking for)

So I thought about what I wanted to do.

I definitely wanted it to be able to fit into our Social Studies Notebooks.

I wanted a full overview-from Vikings to Lewis and Clark.

So I decided to create my own articles!

I rounded up all my resources.

Plus Enchanted Learning-they have a lot of great info (and the internet in general :)

And I went to work!

I also added maps (thanks, internet!) because I think it is important for the kids to see where they traveled to and from, as well as a foldable that the kids have to fill out, using information from the article. (The foldable changes slightly from article to article-mixing it up!)

 I'll be honest-I'm not done writing all of them yet-as writing them takes quite a bit of time.

 I only have 3 out of the 8 I have planned done-so I'm less than halfway there. But the kids really enjoy them, and they are a fairly quick lesson and check.

I think they give a nice overview-without delving too much into the subject!

Also linking up with:

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Workshop Wednesday: Writing Tips

Happy Wednesday!

Time for:

Today's topic is writing tips.

You'll have to forgive the lack of pictures due to school vacation. :)

One of my favorite things to do with kids is to give them the rubrics ahead of time-to show them what I am looking for in their writing.

Haha! Managed a screen shot of one! :)

I try to make all the rubrics kid friendly-so they understand what I am looking for.

Another thing I do is to make a simple smile rubric ( :),  :|, :(  ), and have the kids read each others writing and color in the smile they think best fits the writing. (which I left on my school computer, so no screen shot or picture)

(I did this recently with their how-to's, covering things like, were you able to easily follow the directions, was their a variety of transition words, did your snowflake look like their snowflake).

This gives me a good idea of what the kids think of their writing, and their partner's writing. A good way to self-assess!

An easy way to guide students (and adults!) in their writing, and what we are looking for!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn