Children: Full of Life

If you have read my posts this year, you may be aware of my instructional focus on writing all year long.  One of my main writing routines has been Reflect and Respond Journaling in which students are given an interesting writing stimulus such as a picture, a video, a quote, or a prompt.  They are to reflect first and then to respond in whichever manner they wish in their journal.  Afterward, they are invited to share their writing through our Author's Chair in the classroom.

However, I wanted to share with you a very powerful documentary I watched many years ago and forgot about it until recently.  In this documentary, a 4th-grade teacher in Tokyo instructs his students to write their true feelings through letters in their notebooks.  They read these out loud in front of the class.  By sharing their lives, the children begin to realize the importance of caring for their classmates.

It truly demonstrates the power of writing to empathize with others, be vulnerable through writing and how writing can create a classroom community.  It is truly inspiring.  As we move towards the testing season, let us not forgot the importance of instructing the WHOLE child.  There is no test that can measure the character of our students other than how they treat others.

Be warned....if you can make it through the first 10 minutes without shedding a tear, you are strong!  Enjoy.

Happy Writing!

Gustavo Macuil