There wasn’t always this much joy in Writer’s Workshop. I remember our first team meeting (called MTI), back in September. We were talking about our classes and I shared that I felt my class was filled with terrific students, but that I hadn’t found their passion yet. During work time, kids just didn’t seem excited.
About a month and a half into school we had to skip Writer’s Workshop to go to an assembly. When I told the kids, they kind of made their whiny booing noises and looked very upset. I thought that maybe they didn’t really understand that the assembly was going to be something they would enjoy. As I was describing the assembly, trying to convince them that it would be fun, one of the boys said, “We know, but we don’t want to miss writing!”
I felt like I’d won the lottery!
Well, last week Mr. Snyder was our substitute. He was in for someone else today, and stopped by to say hello. While he was here, he said, “I’ve been in a lot of classrooms, and I’ve never seen a class as excited to write as yours.” What a compliment!
Right now, there is a lot of buddy writing going on. My boys, especially, love to bounce ideas off of each other. Star Wars stories have become a hot topic. In kindergarten, I generally lean toward asking kids to focus on personal narratives in their storytelling. If first grade, I’m really going with the flow and letting them discover their passion.
