I’ve always said that a workshop should be a place to create. Each day, when we have Writer’s Workshop, we create. Most of the time we create books, but this week the flood gates opened. I don’t open up Free Exploration in Writer’s Workshop every day, but with our half days this week it seemed
Monday Mornings are always full of energy when you’re a teacher. The kids come in and they are SO excited to tell their friends (and their teacher) about their adventures from the weekend. I absolutely LOVE hearing about the hikes, bike rides, family game nights, cookies kids have made with their parents, family outings,
Connecting reading and writing is natural in the early grades. Right now, in our first grade reading curriculum, we are working on identifying the main idea and supporting details in a text. We have used a graphic organizer to help us keep track of our thinking. This same graphic organizer led itself right into our
Wow! What a difference a year makes! Last year, at this time, my first graders were 5 years old. As incoming kindergartners, many of them did not know how to write their names. Most of their illustrations involved only one color of crayon and lots of swirly scribbles. That was a year ago.
I’ve often said that there is nothing better than Writer’s Workshop in Kindergarten… except Writer’s Workshop in first grade! It’s week 2, and we’re already writing books! Sharing Circle is part of our Writer’s Workshop culture. We usually begin our workshop with a writing lesson, followed by a large chunk of time dedicated to