Postcard to a Friend-

Dear Molly,

Today we went for a boat ride.  The sun was sparkling and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.  The water was like glass- perfect for water skiing.  We stopped when we saw a beautiful church on the coastline.  It towered over the houses around and had a beautiful silver roof.  I had never seen anything like it!  The roof reminded me of the tin man in The Wizard of Oz.  Remember how I used to be scared of that movie?  I can’t wait to see you when I get home!  Wish you were here!

You’re friend,

Lauren

 

Reflection:

This was a fun exercise because I felt like I could write more freely since it was to a friend.  I will remember this when I have students who don’t enjoy writing very much.  Beginning by addressing it to someone like a friend or sibling may open their minds to new ideas and change their feelings about an assignment.  Maybe even writing it to a superhero or pet could also lead to more excitement!

Crafting Compound Sentences

Brainstorm:

The sand was warm between my toes.

The waves crashed over the giant, gray rocks.

We collected shells on the shore.

Ice cream cones dripping down their hands.

The sunset was the color of a fruit smoothie.

Sentence Creation: 

The sand was warm beneath my toes, but the waves that crashed over the giant rocks were very cold.

The sunset was the most beautiful sight, but the pictures we took didn’t do it justice.

The ice cream began to drip down our hands, yet we continued to collect sea shells.

Reflection:

This was good practice for me!  I thought this activity was fun because it allows you to create exciting sentences and brainstorm ideas before putting the ideas together into a compound sentence.  This lesson would be fun for students to do in pairs and then sharing out their ideas to create sentences as a class.  It would also be a good way to get to know each other better by asking them to think about fun times they had over the summer.

Crafting Compound Sentences-Chapter 7

Brainstorm:

I like summer.
It is hot during the summer.
I can go outside to play.
I like riding my bike and swimming.
I like to play baseball.
Swimming is fun.
I miss school and my friends.
I am excited for school to start up again.

Writing Sample:
I really enjoy summer and all of the fun activities I can do during the summer. It is always hot, so I can usually go outside to play. I like to ride my bike, go swimming, and play first base on my little league baseball team. Summer is fun, but I do miss my friends and going to school. Summer is not over, yet I am already looking forward to the school year!

Reflection:
I really like this writing activity as a way to teach grammar. So often in schools, grammar is still being taught using a workbook. However, reading a book to the students with examples of how conjunctions can be used and having them practice is a much more useful activity. This activity will also help students to get their thoughts organized, then worry about the conjunctions and punctuation to include later.

Using Interviews to Create Family Histories

I have just spent the last week in the same remote area of Quebec that my family visits every summer.  It all began with my mom, her parents and her two sisters.  They would sometimes go up with cousins as well.  She has not missed a year of camp in her life and she will be turning 52 years old this August.  My family has helped continue the tradition and we rent the same cottage with her whole family for the week.  We swim, sunbathe, water ski, watch the sunsets from the dock, play board games at night, and much more.  It is a very relaxing week and summer would not be the same without these seven days together.

I am 23 years old and just learned more about my family history that I never knew while we were at camp this week.  My grandpa (Mom’s father) grew up in Fort Covington which is very close to where we spend our vacation.  It is right off of the St. Lawrence River and it is a town that you will miss if you blink.  I only remember it with many abandoned, boarded up buildings and it had one small convenient store.  After asking my Mom what she remembers of Fort Covington the other night, I realized that it used to be much more.  She told me she used to love going to visit her cousins that lived in “The Fort” and it was a booming town with many shops and businesses.  There was also a big brick wall that families and friends would come from the other small neighboring towns to come sit on.  It was the hang out spot and once the town started to take a turn, the wall also began to crumble.  To watch her facial expressions as she described what it used to look like and how sad it is to see it now was a moving experience.  I had assumed it had always looked similar to what it does now and if I had not asked, I would have possibly gone the rest of my life thinking the same.  I know this has happened in many small towns all across America because of the building of interstates and expressways which bypass all of these gems that used to boom.  I would be interested in talking to others who can remember a different life like my Mom can.  I really appreciate that this assignment gave me the opportunity to learn more about my family and I would love to do this with my students as well.

Pruitt- Chapter 7-Your Turn 4-Proper Nouns

Ch 7 Your Turn 4 Proper Nouns

Denitha Pruitt

This skill is based on incorporating proper nouns into writing to gain authority over the text and to make a piece of writing become more detailed, engaging and believable. This activity can be initated as whole group instruction through shared writing and transition into student’s personal writing and come back together to discuss and reflect as a whole or small group on the effect of incorporating proper nouns. Proper nouns should already have been taught and students should be able to identify them by their upper case letter and know what proper nouns consist of (names of people, places and things).

Currently, I can’t think of any examples that strays too far from the example in the book of telling where one is going within a particular community. I”ll try…

My brainstorm would be an elementary school day:

Principals office-Library-Cafeteria-Hallway-Gym-Ms.Frizzle- Principal-My friends Pheobe and Carlos, Wanda and Tim, Liz and Ralphie oh and Arnold and Keisha (My son has been having us read all the Magic School Bus books lately)

The other day, my teacher asked my friend if she could bring a book back. She didn’t know which direction to go so my teacher allowed another student to accompany her. They walked down the hall and past the office, through the lunch room and continued up the stairs to drop off the book. They returned and we already started writing about our topic a famous inventor.

Now I will incorporate more proper nouns.

Tuesday, my teacher, Ms. Frizzle asked my friend Pheobe if she could bring a book back to the Library. Pheobe didn’t know which direction to go, past the Gym or past the Principal’s office, so Ms. Frizzle allowed another student, Carlos to accompany her. Carlos and Pheobe walked down the hall and past the Principal’s office, through the Cafeteria and continued up the stairs to drop off the book at the Library. They returned and we alredy started writing about Thomas Edison.

Reflection:

It is somewhat tricky to write an initial piece avoiding proper nouns to then be able to go back and include them. I do however, realize that many students and likely myself as well do not include as many proper nouns as we can. Our writing becomes neutral, dull and generic. Sometimes it’s important to create a neutral setting so readers can use their own knowledge to fill in the black but this is not always the goal. Often times, students are writing and not using all of the description and details they should to create a comprehensive and engaging piece of writing. I feel this is a great step to help build student’s detail in writing. You don’t want to read a piece of writing that sounds like anyone could have written it, or it was used multiple times; adding proper nouns promotes the idea of the author as a knowledgable, aware and real person. Many go to the car shop and when the worker starts talking mechanic jargon you believe them and allow them to make the best choices for your vehicle, similarly, if an author acts like they know what they are talking about you are more likely to trust them. I’m glad I tried this activity.

Are there any topics you could think of that would be useful to use in a writing piece like this? Besides directionality and passing places…

Has anyone noticed the lack of proper nouns in student’s writing? If so, when do you think is a good time to begin prompting students to incorporate such elements?

Thanks for your time!

Chapter 7: Lesson 4 – Revising with proper nouns

Hook:  Use of mentor texts and review of what a proper noun is.

Purpose: To be more specific with our writing and purpose.

First writing: My son and I went to the baseball game last night. When we arrived in town we went to eat a delicious meal at the restaurant. We then walked down the street to the stadium. It was full of excitement as the two teams prepared to play.  The game started out great as our team’s pitcher did a great job allowing no runs. But then the relievers blew it and our team lost. All in all though, it was still great to see them play.

Revised writing: My son, John and I went to the baseaball game on Thursday night to see the NY Yankees play the Cleveland Indians. When we arrived in Cleveland, we went to eat delicious meal at the Corner Grill. We then walked down Fourth Street  to the Progressive Field. It was full of excitement as the Yankees  prepared to take on the Indians.  The game started out great as Yankees pitcher David Phelps did a great job allowing the Indians no runs. But then the Yankee bull pen blew it and the Yankees lost. All in all though, it was still great to see the Yankees play at Progressive field.

Reflection:

When I was thinking of which lesson to do, I didn’t think this one would have much of an impact to I actually started thinking about it. Then I realized what a difference it can make. I had never thought about it before, but from my experience I don’t believe students use proper nouns very much in their writing so I think this would be a valuable lesson.

How do you recognize a proper noun in a text? It is capalized.

How do you choose which words to capitalize? Proper nouns such as names, titles, and names of places such as the studium and street names are capitalized.

Did the use of proper nouns improve the piece? How so?  Instead of just saying “team”, I gave the name of the team. I gave the name of all the places we went. This gave more specific detail to my writing as well as made it sound more appealing and interesting. It provided a setting for the piece that wasn’t there otherwise.

When might it be important to use proper nouns? Why? It enhances the sound of writing in addition to adding specific detail. It can provide more visuals and brings the reader into the setting. I think it helps a piece be more exciting.

How are proper nouns different from more general nouns?  Proper nouns are specific in that they give a name and authority to something.

How does the use of proper nouns make you a better writer? I feel the use of proper nouns made my writing sound more appealing and brought more excitement to the piece. It also makes it more specific and draws the reader in more by giving more detail. By naming the place and specifics, it gives more of a visual to the reader and provides a setting in which the reader is invited in.

I was pleasantly surprised at the difference using proper nouns can make in a piece of writing.

 

 

post meant for Week 2: Building Content with Diagrams and Labels

Continuing with the Rainforest unit, I chose to incorporate a diagram to further engage students with content of a text.

If I could change this diagram, I would change the names of the rainforest layers to match the terms my students are familiar with: emergent layer, canopy understory, and forest floor (instead of “leaf litter zone”). I would also add pictures of various species that inhabit these layers of the rainforest. Making that association visually would be effective for student understanding.

Here is my paragraph to accompany my diagram:

The Amazon Rainforest is home to a wide variety of species, of all shapes and sizes. Each layer of the rainforest hosts its own species, which also creates a food chain within this unique environment. The forest floor is home to fungi, tapir, and ocelots. The understory provides shelter for many insects, tree frogs, and jaguars. The canopy is home to toucans, monkeys, and orchids. Finally, the emergent layer of the rainforest accommodates sloths, the Harpy Eagle, and macaws. The rainforest is truly a place to witness biodiversity.
rainforeststructurediagram

a post meant for Week 1: Ch. 2 of Mentor Texts: Your Turn Lesson 2, The Point Is…

As if talking to students directly:

Hook:
In our current unit of study, we have been examining texts regarding the rainforest, as it relates to our ELA Module. Now it is our job to become experts on a specific and focused area of the rainforest. However, you are all experts at something. Now we must determine what that something is for each of you. Here we have a wide selection of books about the rainforest, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, biography, and more.

Purpose:
Many authors write about the same topic. However, each text may focus on a different aspect of that topic, in this instance it is the rainforest. Each author wrote with a different purpose in mind- they each made different points. Today we will all write an informational piece about the same topic making different points.

Brainstorm:
Possible list of points about the rainforest-
• species within the rainforest
• layers of the rainforest
• climate
• geographic regions
• cultures/people surrounding rainforests
• products/exports
• etc.

Shared/Guided Writing:
After choosing another point from the list, write from that perspective as a whole group or in pairs, depending on student abilities and preparedness.

Independent Writing:
Continuing with the theme of exploring various points within one topic, students will each write from a different perspective from their own brainstormed list regarding another topic. Students should consider forming these ideas into an informational writing piece.

Reflection:
1. What is the most important thing I want to tell my target audience?
One of the most important ideas to express is that multiple sources of information provide both authors and audiences with a better insight into a topic. For both reader and writing purposes, the more information makes for a better result.

2. What are the big ideas about the most important thing I need them to understand and remember?
These big ideas are based on the writer themselves. Perhaps an argument is being presented, or the audience is being introduced to something new. The ideas that must be understood and remembered are dependent upon the purpose formed by the writer.

3. What structure am I going to use to shape the information? (time sequence, compare/contrast, cause/effect, problem/solution, etc.)
Any of these options are great ways to deliver information, which may also depend on the purpose of the writing itself. Cause and effect is a great way to present an argument, while a time sequence offers a clear format for displaying in-depth information.

Chapter 7 Lesson 1: second person writing

Do you ever feel lonely? Do you need a companion? Do you want to give back to the community? Do you love cats, dogs, or any animals? I have the perfect solution for you! Get to your local animal shelter. Shelters are always in need of volunteers to share their time with the animals. You can spend time walking dogs, and you may even fall in love. Although they cannot tell you, the animals will appreciate your time. Be sure to wear comfortable clothes and shoes, I suggest sneakers. If you will be walking dogs, you should wear long pants and a long sleeved shirt because you may be walking through a forest or tall grass. You should also have bug spray in handy, just in case! Plan on meeting wonderful and genuine people who are also giving back to the community. I promise you will enjoy this experience. I promise you will not regret it.

Reflection:
While writing this piece, I felt like I could make a connection with the reader. I was able to express my opinion on something I am compassionate about. I was able to inform and persuade an audience. I enjoyed this type of nonfiction writing and I think students of all ages would also enjoy it. Students could have the opportunity to write a second person piece on something they have experience with or something they are compassionate about.

Chapter 7: Lesson 1: Creating Voice with Second-Person Writing

How to Survive a Road Trip with Your Younger Sister

Schedule the road trip with your sister for Monday, but cancel to hang out with a friend.

Reschedule for Thursday, right after you finish your nonfiction instruction guide for graduate school.

Be naturally excited to spend time with your sister as she checks out the unfamiliar route to a wedding she is videographing. Try to look cute so you don’t embarrass your sister and in case you meet any strangers. Be thankful she prepared the playlist and the snacks. Grab some water bottles on the way out the door.

Prepare the GPS as she drives your mom’s red Jeep. By the end of your very own road, be having a fantastic time. Comment to each other about this. Adjust the music. Laugh. Talk about silly and serious things. Reprogram the GPS for each stop and figure out how to attach it to the windshield. How come you didn’t know your GPS did that?

Travel to Alexander, Alden, Aurora, and sort of to some park where the party will take pictures. Discover the GPS voice is named Samantha and fail to know how to get a more sophisticated sounding voice. Splurge with Keebler snacks. Lose the top to your water bottle so you have to drink it all right away to avoid spilling.

Enjoy the ride as your sister pays attention to driving, her knuckles whiter than usual, and her level of exclamation about traffic exhilarating, as you leave the countryside and enter the suburbs and leave the suburbs to enter what you would call the city, merging and driving in three lanes that all travel in one direction. Watch out for semis and other dangerous looking vehicles. Encourage your sister about her driving, trying to use something you learned in graduate school about the growth mindset.

You see the baby blue bridges popping out of the ground ahead and realize it’s time to hand your sister four quarters. You travel up, up, up, and then down again, commenting on the beautiful river and the bikers, as your sister focuses on the road. You are both thankful that Samantha, the GPS, tells you to take the first exit on Grand Island, because traffic is becoming congested.

Arrive swiftly at the Grand Island Boat Club. Consider walking around so your sister can get a feel for the wedding video, but decide it’s named a private boat club for a reason. Consult Samantha on nearby stops for ice cream. You have come all this way! She provides a list of several. Decide on Grumpy’s even though it’s not a chain you’ve heard of like Tim Horton’s Coldstone. It’s only five miles away and on the way home. Up, up, up, and down over the bridge you travel, both of you relieved that it doesn’t cost another dollar to get off the island. You wonder if Grumpy’s is perhaps a Snow White and the seven dwarfs theme. Admire your sister’s driving abilities in the traffic. You sit up straighter as you remember that the kid you used to sit by in band was killed last week in a car crash.

As you near Grumpy’s, start making comments about if it is in a sketchy area of town, you could just keep driving and find a different place in Buffalo. You’ve done that before….in the small and familiar city of Batavia. Notice that the light is green at the intersection as your sister pulls through…

Suddenly, you are spinning, spinning, watching your sister hang on to the steering wheel, and thinking about the saucer cup ride at the amusement park. The Jeep arrives sideways in the lane facing the wall by the curb. See cars advancing towards you, and yell at your sister to back up and get out of the lane. Wonder why she says no. Notice that you are shaking like you are freezing cold. Hear a man bang on the driver’s side window.

Pick up your sister’s hot pink phone to call 911. Realize you don’t know how to use your sister’s phone to dial numbers. Frantically find your phone. Your sister is backing up and getting out of the lane with the help of the man who banged on the window. The 911 man on the phone asks your location. Realize that you have no idea if you are going in or out of the city and that all the street signs are too far away to read. Ask if you can call him back, since you realize this is probably very frustrating for him, after you find out where you are. Promise him that you and your sister are okay. Tell him you don’t know about the man you just noticed in a crumpled pick-up truck. The 911 man doesn’t let you hang up. Hand the phone to a man on the street and command him to tell 911 where you are. He hands the phone to a woman in an orange shirt.

Your sister is calling your mom, which you think is a bad idea at this very moment. The woman in the orange shirt hands the phone back to you. You look for the licenses and registration while your sister calls your grandfather, since your mom didn’t answer. He is hard of hearing which adds some comic relief to the situation. YES, WE WERE IN A CAR ACCIDENT, she says emphatically. Remember Jesus then, and ask Him for help. Realize later that God was watching over everything.

Exit the vehicle and shake hands with the man and orange-shirted woman who are on the sidewalk. For some reason, you love them very much and want to be their best friends. Shake hands with the man in the white truck. His lip is bleeding, but he is okay. He is gracious and depressing as he explains how he ran the red light when his brakes failed. You are so thankful that he is okay and you and your sister are okay. He is too. Exchange information as he relays his whole life story about the car accident he was in on the other side of the road and about how his wife just got in a car accident in Florida. He uses some choice words as he explains that his boss is coming. His crumpled truck was a company vehicle.

The man who banged on the window and the woman in the orange shirt help you look for your license plate, which you think fell off, but looking at the Jeep a second time you realize you were just confused.

The man who banged on the window and woman in the orange shirt sprint away when the police arrive. You wonder about this. The tall police man shakes your hand and asks if you are okay. You say that you are, thank him for coming, and tell him you are just scared. The short man asks for your information. Stand on the sidewalk with the tall policeman and your sister.  Watch the cars go by with gawking people inside. Talk on the pink phone with your dad. You know how to answer it, just not dial on it. Lock up the Jeep because random people are walking by, opening the doors and looking inside.

Two tow truck drivers arrive and offer to tow you. You feel uneasy about their eagerness. One man is about your age without a wedding ring. The tall police officer recommends free towing with AAA. He relays the whole situation to your dad on your sister’s pink phone, calling him sir and making everyone feel reassured and secure. Be extra thankful for police at this moment. The tall police officer asks you what you were doing in this part of town. Your sister explains about the wedding trial drive to Grand Island. You tell him about your search for this cute place called Grumpy’s Ice Cream that you found on the GPS. He just looks at you.

You notice that the man in the truck that is smashed looks increasingly distressed. He leans on the telephone poll and tells you that he is going to be an old maid and just stay at home watching television. Wish him the best of luck as his truck is towed. The police volunteer to wait 45 minutes with you for the AAA towing. You and your sister sit in the Jeep consoling each other.

The tow truck driver tells you the car is not drive-able for long distances. He says he is eager to drive 45 minutes to take us home so he doesn’t have to do any other jobs for the day. The police leave in a hurry when their radio explodes with static.

The tow truck driver tells you Grumpy’s Ice Cream doesn’t exist because he’s never heard of it before. He tells you that it’s a terrible part of town. You tell him about the man who helped you get off the road and the woman in the orange shirt. He says they helped you because you were white. Wonder at that a long time because that’s not how it is in your town.

The tow truck driver tells you that you are saving on gas traveling around with him. He tells you how he owns wolves and beat up his grandma’s realtor. Feel thankful you’ve been to Guatemala where people don’t use seatbelts since the tow truck doesn’t offer three. Smile in the video camera posted on the dashboard that says the cab is monitored with video and audio recording for your protection. Since you still don’t know where you are, a smile will encourage the people who use the video to look for you when you are kidnapped. Begin to relax once you start watching the GPS take you home. Actually, there are two GPS machines that talk simultaneously. Hold on to your sister on all the sharp corners since you aren’t strapped to the vehicle. Tell the driver that this was quite the road trip.

Finally look at the Jeep when you arrive at the body shop and realize it’s kind of terrible. If you had been 2 seconds earlier in the intersection, it would have been unthinkable. Your mom hugs you and you are thankful to be reunited with her. Go home and eat spaghetti.

Realize that your sister remembers more of the accident than you do. She can’t get the crash out of her head. You try to remember the crash sound but just remember spinning. She says it’s okay that you don’t remember being in a car crash, but you know it’s really not okay since being in a car crash matters to her. Wonder what else you can’t remember in twenty-four years. Wonder if you are heartless since you didn’t think to remember the crash.

Wake up the next day sore and write a blog post for grad school about your experience. How convenient that you process things by writing in the second person anyway. Hope you reported everything accurately and with dignity.