September 19, 2015

I found a great website while research ideas for writing in math!  www.commoncorewritingacademy.com/2014/04/16/writing-in-math-class

And I realize that I trying too hard!  I need to start out with the students just writing a sentence and then build! Oh my, what a novel idea!  J  That website gave me this website and my goodness, I am ready to start and I think the kids will not be ready to join in!  http://www2.ups.edu/community/tofu/lev2/journaling/writemath.htm

This site gives me step by step ideas for writing in math along with all the materials I will need, prompts to use, etc.  It is wonderful and has taken away some of my writing pain.  I look forward to using this new information to attempt again writing in math!

September 18, 2015

Writing across the curriculum is taking its toll on me! Social studies and science are no problem because we can load up on information writing, even if the kids hate it and it pretty boring, but writing math is a problem. First of all, the kids are mostly struggling with the math part of math and know I want them to write about math.  Can writing in math be writing about things with lots of numbers in the story?!!  LOL  We wrote word problems and went from there.  I told the class that we would start with subtraction and addition problems.  I paired everyone up and told them to write one addition and one subtraction problem and then they will present them to the class and the class will solve their problems on their white boards.  The first round presented problems that were really simple, but it was a start.  I told them I wanted them to improve two things:  I wanted more description in their problems and more words like estimate, round, about, etc.  So, what did they do?  They just started using huge numbers!!  Oh, well, back we go and I write another problem but have more input from them.  As they give me suggestions, I use them but also offer suggestions of what might be better and what do they think.  Some, they scoffed at and others they included.  We made progress and we will continue writing math problems for a while and then move forward with more math writing.  I will have to do more research on writing in math.

September 14, 2015

Back to the post-its!  After giving students the supplies they would need, I gave each of them on of their past stories. We are going to do rewrites as in add to our stories or delete if necessary.  I worked with small groups and had them write down the main details from their stories on post-its.  Then, I talked with them about ideas they might want to add to their stories to make them more interesting to the reader.  I also had a short story that I wrote and I had mine ready with the details on the post-its and on the paper.  Then, I showed them a place where I had an idea to make it better. I wrote down the details on post-its and moved everything around. Then, I read my paragraph to them and then all agreed it was much better than the first paragraph I read to them.  After they saw how I manipulated the post-its, they were ready to start on their stories.  We did not finish today, but I saw some excited little writers doing rewrites and they all thought they were just having fun!  J

September 12, 2015

We are using the post-its today for writing.  We already use post-its daily for reading, so the students are used to post-its being a learning tool.  The children like using post-its, but I have a problem with them sticking them to the table, to their bodies, to their clothes, etc. and they lost their stickiness.  Maybe if I buy the “real” ones, they will stick longer.  I gave them all post-its and a large piece of construction paper and told them they are going to right details for their stories on the post-its,  one detail per post-it.   This is not as easy as I thought it would be for them.  They are not thinking things through.  So, we are going to back track and pull out stories they have already written and have them write down important details from those stories on the post-its and put them in order on the paper and work from there so they will get a better idea of how they can use this method for their benefit and to more easily write their stories.

September 7, 2015

I think we are making a connection!  Praise the Lord!  We are starting from another direction.  Tell your story first and then write it!  I have drug out some old and I mean old tape recorders and have put students in a quiet place all alone and asked them to tell their story.  First, we did a graphic organizer so they have some notes to refer back to as they tell their story and not forget something important.  They tell their stories to a small group of students (2-3) and it records as the child is telling his or her story.  Afterwards I let them go to a quiet place alone and listen to their story.  They can stop and restart the recorder as much as they would like.  Then they tried to write it down, but it was hard because they were trying to write word for word what they said.  I have to work with them so that they understand that every time we tell a story it is a little different and when they write a story they have told it will not be exactly how they told it.  I mainly wanted them to understand that they have lots of stories inside their memory banks and even more ideas for stories in their imagination.  We are on the right track!

September 5, 2015

I have spent the last two hours reading stories my students wrote last week and it is heart breaking.  You can read the despair in their words.  You can actually see the despondency in their handwriting!  They cannot use their creativity for fear of the mechanics. I cannot seem to get them to understand that right now spelling and grammar do not matter; I want their thoughts and imaginative creations on the paper.  We will go back and take care of make their paper “pretty”.  I know last year they were constantly drilled on mechanics of writing and not the writing process. So I have to erase a lot of what is cemented into their memory about writing and try to start over and let them know that the most important thing inexpressive writing is their knowledge, thoughts curiosity and imagination.

September 3, 2015

The quickest way to get my class to turn from sweet, mostly well behaved students is to announce that we are going to write and immediately the room is quaking with groans and whining.  I do not want writing to be a chore to my students but for them to embrace it as an extension of their life and imagination.  So, I decided to bring in a diary I kept when I was in the third grade and read a few passages to them.  Of course they thought it was hilarious, but at the same time writing became something interesting and even possibly fun!  I know this will not be an immediate change in attitude toward writing with my students, but I think I have ignited a flicker of interest that hopefully will grow in to large flame of desire for expressive writing.