So the writing journey begins...

The start of a new school year is always exciting.  Teachers return with a fresh mindset determined to

change or adjust instruction from last year....and....so the journey begins.  Last year, I focused my Spotlight blog entries in writing after participating at the Invitational Summer Institute sponsored through the Inland Writing Project.

As I implemented many new writing strategies into my classroom instruction, I felt that I needed to dig deeper in certain writing aspects and this is where a new year, a new journey, begins.  This year I will be focusing on explicitly teaching and practicing the 6 Traits of Writing more thoroughly.

The 6 Traits of Writing includes the following: ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions.  This month I am focusing on ideas.

Last week our class started a narrative story.  I had collected some super cool Writing Traits items like my Scholastic kit: The Trait Crate which includes mentor text to help frontload the six traits along with posters and a reference book.  I also had a Traits of Writing big book which someone had left in our community "grab-n-go" table of our staff lounge...(this was a treasure of a find!).

I explained to the class how writers sometimes struggle with not only coming up with ideas to write about but supporting details in order to expand on those ideas.  So here were two days worth of activities in a nutshell:

1.  Think of your comprehension skill of the week.  Ours was Problem/Solution.  Try to align this skill with a student-produced narrative essay.

2.  Provide students the "problem" of their narrative piece.  I gave my students the sentence "Suddenly, I heard the dark clouds roar like _____ and it began to rain cats and dogs!"  I left the line blank in order to review similes.  Students decide independently to write their own simile.  I also included an idiom as this was the vocabulary strategy of the week in our Wonders reading program.

3.  Students fold their graphic
organizer into six sections and draw borders using a sharpie.  They label the first two boxes "B," the next two "M," and the last two boxes "E."  These will be their beginning, middle, and end sections of their stories.

4.  I then proceeded to ask the class to think about something that may happen in real life that could be ruined by a sudden storm.  They came up with a lot of interesting ideas for their beginning event.  The problem would be the actual rain storm.  On the back of their graphic organizer, they selected their event and then proceeded to think about main characters, supporting characters and any details that they could possibly include in their stories.

5.  Next we proceeded to share these ideas for their stories with partners.  Students

gave each other feedback and encouragement to keep writing.

6.  I then allowed them two draw their panels with as much details as possible.  They could color their panels as well.

7.  They also received post-its and place the post-its on the panels in which they wanted dialogue.  They quickly "scripted" some dialogue on their post-its since this is part of the narrative writing standards for fourth graders.










8.  Now they are ready to write their first draft. After spending two days of sharing ideas, I feel they will have much more to write about during their first draft.

Happy Writing!
Gus Macuil

I Know What You Did Last Summer....(a non-horror experience)

When I think of summer, I think of time off especially after an arduous year of teaching, learning, reflecting, grading, writing (lesson plans), reading, and all things academic.  So it was to my surprise that I signed up for the Invitational Summer Institute (ISI).

I bet your gut reaction was "Whaaat!!  Summer writing, no thanks!  MAYBE summer reading, anything but writing!"

No worries, I felt the same way.  People will do anything to avoid writing...like a horror movie it scares, frightens, worries, terrorizes and perhaps makes us sweat (a little).  I get it.  I get it.  I. Get. It!  I used to feel that way too.

Then, something changed.  A shift if you will.  Let me tell you what I did last summer.

It started with me, reluctantly (to be honest), applying and getting accepted to attend the 2018 Invitational Summer Institute (ISI) held at UC Riverside from mid-June to early July 2018.  Twelve days total.  I was unsure if I wanted to spend two weeks of my summer like this but I decided that my writing instruction needed some assistance and a fellow colleague REALLY encouraged me to attend (if you are reading this, you know who YOU are!).

Participating in ISI changed how I viewed writing and how I could make writing more meaningful for students.  I also realized that the ISI was NOT  a writing workshop with hand-outs and a mountain of strategies that you probably will never use anyway.  Don't get me wrong...there were actual hand-outs and strategies that were shared but the main takeaway for me was that writing takes many forms and accomplished writers NEED accomplished writer teachers with an emphasis on the teacher being a writer themselves and not just teachers of writing.

What does this mean exactly?  Well, by experiencing each day during the ISI as a writing "student," I realized that the reasons to write were crucial for engagement and to stimulate creativity.  Through thoughtful and carefully-planned activities, we became poets, storytellers, reporters, authors, rappers, lyrical composers, researchers, and audience members to an array of creative writing pieces.  We clapped, cheered, and encouraged each other.  We became a community of..........writers.

Writers.

Therefore, my "story" for this year's Spotlight Blog will be about writing.  I would like to share with you how the ISI has impacted my classroom practice.  I have implemented some ISI writing experiences with my current class and I am excited to share the results with you in future blogs so please return!

Want more info?  Click here:

http://iawp.ucr.edu/

Would you care for a "preview" - like a movie trailer showing some of the fabulous activities we participated in during the ISI?  Well, there is an annual writing conference coming up on Nov. 3rd at UCR.  There is a fee.  If your site has PD funding, this would be a great way to use it.  I hope you can join us!

Happy Writing!
Gus Macuil

MysteryScience.com

MysteryScience.com

Teach in grades K-5? Need or want an excellent resource to help you along with the Next Generation Science Standards?  Use mysteryscience.com (Reserve a free-trial membership now!) Or if your school currently has a subscription don’t forget to use it!  You are sitting on a gem. For many of us, our old curriculum isn’t aligned or rigorous enough, so we need resources and ideas to help us along.  

Whether you have or have not been formally trained in NGSS within our district, Mystery Science is a good tool to use along the way.

For those of you who have been trained, the lessons follow the same pattern as the ones that were shown- starting with a phenomena to framing the lesson to completing an investigation!  Mystery science is a subscription service for full access, or free with limited access if you sign up and reserve a spot. Though limited, if you do the free version, what is available to you is still great content that could and should be used if it relates to one of your standards.  The lessons provide hands-on investigations that are engaging, easy prep, and aligned to NGSS and Common Core. Click on their homepage (mysteryscience.com), scroll down a bit, and watch their informative one minute video.

#StayCurious

Mystery Science: Lessons for elementary teachers

How can you use this in the classroom?

I always begin science with one of Mystery Science’s opening questions that go with the lesson.  My class completes an interactive notebook along the way. Adding “Input/Output” content that relates to the content.  We spend our science block answering questions, discussing ideas, learning key vocabulary words, writing, and completing hands-on experiments or activities.  Since I started using this website, my students participate, get involved, and share what they learn in science with others. Students get excited and are intensely engaged in what the lessons have to offer.  Each lesson provides a question that needs to be answered, “activity supplies” that we the teacher need to print/prep or gather in order to complete the investigation. They even offer assessments at the end of each unit.  If this resource is available to you or is something you are interested in, use it while you can, I guarantee your kids will enjoy it!

Tech-ing with a purpose,  

Tiffani Bossieux