Can you relate?
One of the newer blogs I have been following is ruth ayres writes. Ruth is a teacher, author, and writing coach from northern Indiana who always has something interesting on her blog. If you are interested in becoming a better writing teacher, or becoming a writer yourself, Ruth's blog is a must-read.
Today, Ruth is launching a new linky party called Celebrate This Week. She is inviting fellow bloggers to share a celebration or two from their past week. I really love this idea so I decided to join her linky party.
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If you have been following my blog, you may know that I am becoming more and more obsessed with writing instruction. I am now teaching writing to all three of the fourth grade classes at my school and quite simply, I love it! To be able to interact with young writers and help them cultivate a habit and confidence in writing is such a gift.
This past summer when I participated in the UW-Milwaukee Writing Project, I did my inquiry project on the importance of revising writing. This year, I have been making solid efforts to teach my students that revising is one of the most important parts of writing and I feel that I am starting to make some headway! (Celebrate!!)
This week, my 4th graders have been working on the first revision of their Mystery Narrative. As they conferred together, it was so amazing to hear the advice they offered each other. They took their job as a peer editor extremely seriously. They shared questions that came to mind as they read, made solid suggestions, and complimented specific things they had seen each other do. I couldn't have been happier!
What celebrations can you share about your week? I hope you will head over to Ruth's blog to share and read some others.
I hope you will come back tomorrow to share your ideas for your upcoming week with my Peek at My Week linky party. (You can kind of think of it as planning for tomorrow's celebrations today! :)
Have a great Saturday!
I get so much joy watching students talk about their writing. When you hear chatter and you think, "Are they actually talking about writing?" and then they ARE! It is so wonderful to listen in on those conversations.
ReplyDeleteWonderful to see those photos with your students working hard to improve their writing! It is cause to celebrate! And I too often start conversations with "I just read on a blog..." I enjoyed your post!
ReplyDeleteOh!! I had to smile when I read that part about you hearing one of your students say that he wanted to add onomatopoeia to his writing. : ) : ) This is what I LIVE for as a writing teacher. I think I will check out that blog you suggested. As a writer myself, I'm always looking for ways to inspire the kids and teach them how to make writing fun. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAli
Teaching Powered by Caffeine
Wow! This is a celebration to see fourth graders taking their writing so very seriously! I love listening to kids talk to each other about their writing!
ReplyDeleteThanks goes to Ruth for leading me to your blog. Celebrate!
ReplyDeleteI also teach 4th grade and will be spending some time reading your posts, especially those about writing. This is also my focus for this school year.
Your writing obsession has inspired my own writing obsession for my students!
ReplyDeleteJennifer,
ReplyDeleteYour kind words are much appreciated and touched my heart. Thank you.
I love that you wrote this: "My proudest moment was..." This kind of reflection is important fuel to keep us growing as teachers. I'm so glad to "meet" a fellow junkie of teaching writers. I think teaching writers is one of the very best ways to spend a day.
Cheers,
Ruth
Love your post and passion for writing. Keep spreading that love to your students.
ReplyDeleteI love this celebration. It is such an accomplishment to train students to be good at peer conferencing. I thought about doing that writing project at UWM two summers ago, but wasn't able to afford it at the time. I am glad to hear that you felt it was worthwhile...I might try again next summer :)
ReplyDeleteWow, I loved seeing the pics from your student conferences. They are so engaged in the revision process. You've taught them well. Thanks for celebrating with us today.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures!! We're going to be working on revising and conferring next week on fractured tales and myths. I hope my students are as effective as yours in their suggestions! :-)
ReplyDeleteLove to see your kids writing and planning to make it even better! I too am sharing celebrations from my kids writing. I teach first grade, and this week we celebrated setting! You can see my post here. http://deb-frazier.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteI giggled when I read the part about your conversations starting out with...."I found this idea on a blog"...sometimes people look at me like I have 11 heads that I'd even find time to read blogs!
ReplyDeleteI just learn sooooo much from them!
Alison
Rockin' and Lovin' Learnin'