Thought Museums -- Telling the Story Behind the Pictures

I hope everyone is having a great week!  I can't believe it's Wednesday already...I have been fighting a terrible cold since Monday.  Yesterday, my teamie, Jamie, brought me in two packets of Vitamin C powder for my water bottle and I feel soooo much better today.  She takes such good care of me!  :)

 

Today, I'm linking up with Jivey's Workshop Wednesday to share some ideas about my Writing Workshop.  So many great ideas here!  I hope you will check it out for yourself.

 

Writing Workshop is off to a good start in my classroom.  I am teaching two classes of writing this year as my other teamie, Mickey, is teaching math to my kiddos.  I love teaching writing and she loves teaching math so it is a win-win.  It also means that I get much better at teaching writing because of all that extra practice.

Today in both writing classes we did our Thought Museum projects.  Thought Museums are where you put an interesting picture or quote on a poster board and the kids walk around silently and comment on the "story" behind the picture.
          

Source:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/toristeffen/7508941048/in/faves-dylano64/

We talked about the difference between surface comments ("It is a rollercoaster") and imagination comments ("Just as they started down the hill, the lady wished she hadn't agreed to ride the Train of Terror.")  Some kids still gave surface comments, but many used their imaginations and really tried to use the picture for inspiration.  I was amazed at how quiet the room was as students walked around and examined the "exhibits."

When they were finished, we talked about how we all see things differently and how, as writers, we need to always be on the lookout for something that needs to be given a voice through our writing. Afterall...that's what writers do, right?

Have a great rest of your week!