Authors as Mentors

I've been a fan of Lucy Calkins writing for about 7 or 8 years now.  I used to think kindergarten kids could only do fill in sentences and first graders maybe a couple of sentences.  Not only was I proven wrong that they can write a LOT more, I learned that I can have writerly conversations and help them grow as writers.  They can also edit and revise!  Due to time constraints and forced programs, though I wrote daily, there were some writing units I hadn't gotten a chance to try.  Authors as Mentors was one of them.

This year was my first year trying Authors as Mentors.  What I love about this unit is that students learn how to help themselves as writers using mentor texts, and that if done well, the students begin noticing what authors do all the time.  This is a life skill.  It's also transferrable.  I've noticed that they use this in other writing units and their reading as well.

Here is a link to the Table of Contents to get an idea of what this unit can teach youpr students as it relates to Small Moments or Personal Narratives.  One of my favorites  is Comeback Lines, which we notice a lot of in poetry and songs.  Another one is using ellipses, making our writing interesting and that see often in our reading.  This helps our fluency as well.

Here's an example of a student trying out ellipses and revising/editing his piece: 

Star  Tours
By Mason

When I went to Disneyland I went on Star Tours.  The first time I got in a seat…and then I blasted off without the driver!  When I was in space, there I saw a ship with a bad guy in it!  So we were trying to get away from the bad guy, but he kept finding us….Once when he found us he said, “You can run, but you can’t hide.”  Then we went back to the space station  It was amazing!

Try it out for yourself!  I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Happy Writing Adventures!
Marie

Just Love Them

I've been teaching about 17 years, and I can say that I still love it.  The best part is the kids.
They think I'm teaching them, but honestly, they teach me more every day.  They  are honest;
they are real; and they let you know what they are thinking....Six year olds think I draw
well, and sing well, and are so in the moment.  What I love most is that they still know how to
love unconditionally.

Recently one of my students moved away, and it about tore my heart out.  She thought she might move, but then learned that they would try to work things out to stay the year.  I felt relief because she was well-loved by her classmates, and she felt safe and happy.  I noticed that she was really feeling confident and had taken rolls in the class as a leader, helping other kids and reading to them and with them and feeling a vital part of things.

When the day came, I didn't know it...we weren't prepared...we didn't get to say goodbye...and she didn't get to take anything with her but our love.  I was greatful for every moment of her vibrant spirit.  The lesson I learned that day was that my main job is "to just love them."

When I first started college, I remember a young girl who tried to tell me that her job was to teach those kids, and love wasn't a part of her job.  I was a young single mom at the time, and I remembered telling her that it was vital to me that all of my daughters got loving, kind teachers because I knew their teachers were going to spend more of their day with my kids than I would be able to spend with them.  I also knew that if kids knew that you cared about them, they could learn anything!

My students will learn...they will grow...they will become wonderful people...but most of all, they will know that wherever they go, they will always be a part of my heart and that they made a difference to our class.    My thinking leads me to believe if they felt they made a difference in my class, won't they feel capable of making a difference in the world? 

What a blessing...

Introducing New Class Pets

I don't remember having very many class pets when I was growing up, but I always thought it was a cool idea.  Have you had class pets?  I've had a few, gerbils and hamsters and fish, but there is quite a bit of upkeep.  And when we were on tracks, we had to find a suitable zoo keeper.  Some unfortunate pets did not make it to the next track.  For me, it seemed like a lot of maintenance.

Introduce my sweet friend MaryBeth, who has a "stuffed" class pet named Leo.  Leo is a lion who sets the tone of the classroom.  Leo talks and Leo participates in class activities, and first graders are enthralled.  I loved this idea, and proceeded to introduce my own class pet, Stanley, a stuffed dog.  It didn't take long for the kids to fall in love with him.  He even is in many of our class books.  When we took pictures of each member of our class reading their favorite book, they insisted that Stanley get his own page.   So we took a picture of him reading a dog book. Stanley is part of our class meetings and anything to do with self esteem.

This went so well, I thought I'd introduce another class bear.  In came Benny Bear, and Benny brings us treats for our graphing jar and fun math manipulatives.  I'm not sure why I called him Benny, but I'd like to think an intuitive part of me thought of Benevolent.  :)

And lastly, I fell in love with this beauitful girl doll that a friend gave me for Christmas.  She reminded me of Elf on a shelf, and I named her Ellie.  Ellie came into the classroom when we were having a lot of trouble with our self-control.  She would whisper to me which kids were working so hard on self-control, and they got to write their names in a self control bubble.

The best part about these class pets are they don't require cages or clean ups or any kind of smells!

I hope you enjoy this idea.  If you have your own ideas, I'd love to see how you this in your classroom.  Together, I think we will really have some great tools in the classroom for management.

Realistic fiction for First Graders

Lucy has once again challenged me to push myself further than I thought I could go.  I call her Lucy because I feel add much add I've mentored with get through texts,I feel I know her.
This year I feel that my writing program has become more balanced between fiction and non-fiction as we work to do Lucy Calkin's First grade yearlong curriculum.

This year we decided to try realistic fiction. I was so apprehensive! I wasn't sure how to go about it because this unit isn't as scripted as the others and because I wasn't sure how first graders could transition from small moment writing.  Honestly, it went smoother than expected.  Students were able to easily transition.

I started by reading several realistic fiction texts, including Freckle-faced Strawberry by Julianne Moore.  It is a very relatable story as it talks about a young girl who tries to rid he rself of her freckles through several means.  Eventually, she  learns to love herself for who she is.  The kids loved the story and used it as a springboard to write their success stories of overcoming bullies in their lives. 
 Coupled with the story of Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon kids begin to see how two authors handle the same bully kind of situation.

What I love about this unit the most is that it assists kids in working to create solutions to their own real life problems!  They learn so much from their peers.  I took awhile to post this because I wanted to leave you samples of what they've done, but alas there was some trouble with the camera.  I do hope you will join me later to see what first graders can do!

Two pieces of advice that would most assist you is to make sure you define what realistic ficiton in and remind students that the stories can come from their own lives.  Parents can easily assist in generating topics if you send a letter home prior to the unit.  And the second most important thing is the paper.  Students will write more if there's more paper.  We used four page booklets that had room to draw a picture on top.  We don't use handwriting paper as, that is a different skill, and we want the worry of getting letters perfect to get in the way of content.  That's what revising and editing are for!

I can't wait to try this again next year and share all that I've learned.  For now, I hope you decide to take a chance and see what happens.  I KNOW you will be pleasantly surprised!

Please share your tips and tricks and successes!

:)    

Happiest of New Years

When beginning this New Year,I am reminded that my main focus is caring about and loving these kids. When I was in college,a fellow team mate said that as part of her job, she wasn't required to care about the kids.  My heart broke. While I was going to school, my kids'teachers were seeing them more than I got to see them. I wanted no more from the teacher than to care about my kids during the day when I couldn't be there.  Learning is important, very important to me. But children need to know they are loved and cared for. When they know this, many learning doors open and hearts are so very happy....especially mommy hearts, and I feel great about that...my mantra is life my dear friend Tammy's:"listen to your heart." Happy New Year, with an extra happy.

RAK-Random Acts of Kindness

Merry Christmas! on this blessed day,I thought I would share some things my class has been doing for Random Acts of Kindness.
My friend Tammy, Forever in First, introduced this concept to me. I've done similar projects with notes and things, but I especially enjoy it at Christmas when sometimes our focus is more on getting than giving.
In the past, I've even asked them to write letters to Santa for children of the world. I will write about that later.
It's amazing what the children came up with on their own. Some things they thought of were ideas they got from Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deed, about how one small deed can change the world! Here's a partial list of things they came up with: picking up trash around the school; write cards, letters and notes;
leave treats; smile and give hugs!; give compliments;  and offer to help with things at home without asking and without looking for praise. Some of them got in trouble with siblings by writing the sibling's name while trying to be anonymous. We decided we should just pretend we were elves, and not sign anyone's name.
We decided that everyone at our school was much happier and more positive because of these small acts. one person commented that or school was"healthier" without the trash.
I know the main thing we learned was how something as simple as a smile and a positive attitude could have a chain reaction!
merry merry Christmas!\

Gratitude of a Teacher

I have been blessed to do this thing called teaching.  Families have entrusted their most precious ones with me to help them learn and grow into successful, loving, kind beings, who contribute much to our world.

Since I was a little girl, I remember wanting to be a teacher.  I loved learning so much. I couldn't imagine my life without it.  To this day, I enjoy this thing called learning.  It intrigues me, it inspires me, it sustains me.

I am grateful