Excited to join Two Writing Teachers for Tuesday Slice of Life writing community!
The calendar has turned, and the month of May has arrived. I am not sure about most classrooms, but our classroom is more of a buzz and the pot is beginning to boil over with excitement. Controlled excitement is the goal. I am always breathing easier in May - state testing is over, and I have a huge desire to circle around to where we started in September. Focusing on our lives as a reader, writer, or wordsmith. When the students arrived to school this morning, I had three new blank bulletin boards ready to start collecting their ideas from their notebooks. I am borrowing this idea from Donalyn Miller and how she uses a graffiti wall in her classroom.
The calendar has turned, and the month of May has arrived. I am not sure about most classrooms, but our classroom is more of a buzz and the pot is beginning to boil over with excitement. Controlled excitement is the goal. I am always breathing easier in May - state testing is over, and I have a huge desire to circle around to where we started in September. Focusing on our lives as a reader, writer, or wordsmith. When the students arrived to school this morning, I had three new blank bulletin boards ready to start collecting their ideas from their notebooks. I am borrowing this idea from Donalyn Miller and how she uses a graffiti wall in her classroom.
I modeled for my class how I collect vocabulary, lift lines and share their thoughts from our current read aloud. It is fun to begin to share our connections with current Just Right books. For example I am reading The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage, and I have highlighted several favorite lines and shared using my document camera. I then opened my writer's notebook and shared where I recorded my thoughts from last summer from The Real Boy by Anne Urso. I plan on encouraging my students to continue to collect favorite lines, vocabulary and share them on our class bulletin boards. Hopefully they will be covered by the end of May with a celebration of readers, writers and wordsmiths.
This sounds wonderful, Maria - perfect for harnessing all that energy and excitement in May.
ReplyDeleteI love how you share the vocabulary you've collected and the lines you've lifted. I think it's time for a graffiti wall in my room. Thanks for inspiring me. The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing is in my WTR (want to read) pile.
ReplyDeleteRamona thank you for your kind words. we do celebrate vocabulary everyday in our classroom - making it visible is exciting.
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