1st+Grade+Sharing

=1st Grade Writing Strategies for Reluctant Writers =

Strategies for Teaching Manuscript Writing Teri shared the great idea of 2 o'clock writing so I am going to begin there. I am thinking of teaching one of my parent volunteers to do this during our morning work time. This is a wonderful idea - what a great use of volunteers! - Kathy

Strategies for Pre-writing Throughout the course of the year I focus on a particular author or series of books (Henry and Mudge etc). As part of my Writer's Workshop, I read a story and disucss a particular trait, idea, connection to self etc. This sometimes helps students to think about what they want to put on paper or creates a retelling situation "in the moment".

Strategies for Improving Writer's Self-Concept of Skills Sharing - some students love to share his/her work. This then lends to those less confident to see that "telling" about the writing is "reading" about the writing. It's a beginning for those really young ones.

Strategies for Sentence Writing - I like to teach sentence writing as part of the grammar works. Once students learn the symbols and such for advectives and adverbs it enhances their sentences. They can also share in a small group their favorite sentences that they have created. This adds excitement to using adjectives and adverbs and is a good way for them to share ideas on ways to make nouns and verbs more interesting. (just a thought - Rachel O)

Strategies for Personal Narratives I start our personal narrative lesson with a story about myself when I was little and fell off my bike. I tell the story orally by first making a picture on large chart paper. I kind of do a beginning, middle and end kind of thing. I then go back and put a sentence or two with each picture frame. We then go write. It seems to stimulate writing about self and experiences. Everybody has a bike story it seems (Amy M:)

Strategies for Story Writing ~ You don't have to do the whole story in one sitting. I like to break it up into parts. Character/setting/problem/solution. I have found that it is fairly simple to have the students come up with an idea of a main character. Probably one is a good place to begin for a first story. The character needs to be introduced to a reader, so ask your students to tell you something about the character. What does he/she/it look like? What does he/she/it like to do? What is he/she it good at? I always say to write 2 or 3 sentences that tell me something about the character. Just this much in one day at the beginning is sufficient. Aime

Strategies for Improving Punctuation/Spelling/Grammar Bandaids. It's confusing to first graders and often asking too much of them to do a second draft. They also feel ... discouraged or critisized ... when their work has to be changed. I began to refer to mistakes in spelling (that need to be corrected, not all do! Invented spelling is part of the developmental sequence in learning to write!), punctuation or grammar as an "owie", a "boo-boo" that needs a bandaid. Sticky notes are your bandaid. Make the correction on the stickie note (aka. bandaid) and place it over the "boo-boo." If you're really into this kind of thing ... I suppose that you could have the student, or yourself, wear some medical worker garb while doing it. A breathing mask, for instance. Play with it ... make it fun... not a chore. Aime

Strategies for Editing ~