After teaching sixth grade for five years, I have seen a missed opportunity at the beginning of each year in establishing a daily writing routine that both teaches perseverance and joy in writing. I always tell my students the hardest things in life are usually the most important- writing falls into this category.
Throughout the school year, we tackle narrative writing, informative essays, and argumentative essays. Nonetheless, I see students consistently hit road blocks at the beginning of the writing process during each quarter. Hands go up during our silent writing time and students say the same thing, "I need help" or "I don't get it." I kneel down to look at their screen and it's completely blank. I have done my students a disservice in that I have missed the very first step of the writing process: putting pencil to paper and furiously writing, whether it be in fragments, run-on sentences, pictures, quotes, or completely made up words.
This year, I will implement the Writer's Notebook and Writer's Workshop curriculum. I will use the first six weeks to pick apart the first step of the writing process piece by piece. We will define a Writer's Notebook, practice Quick Writes, write for joy, and explore what it is to be a writer.
The durable, lined notebooks will provide a sturdy Writer's Notebook for the entire school year as sixth graders can cause serious wear and tear to anything they take to and from school. The large stop clock will aid us in building our stamina as writers. If you don't know sixth graders, they are quite competitive people and anything animated as a race motivates them! Finally, the wobble chairs will help our friends with extra-wiggly bodies find peace during our sacred writing time.
About my class
After teaching sixth grade for five years, I have seen a missed opportunity at the beginning of each year in establishing a daily writing routine that both teaches perseverance and joy in writing. I always tell my students the hardest things in life are usually the most important- writing falls into this category.
Throughout the school year, we tackle narrative writing, informative essays, and argumentative essays. Nonetheless, I see students consistently hit road blocks at the beginning of the writing process during each quarter. Hands go up during our silent writing time and students say the same thing, "I need help" or "I don't get it." I kneel down to look at their screen and it's completely blank. I have done my students a disservice in that I have missed the very first step of the writing process: putting pencil to paper and furiously writing, whether it be in fragments, run-on sentences, pictures, quotes, or completely made up words.
This year, I will implement the Writer's Notebook and Writer's Workshop curriculum. I will use the first six weeks to pick apart the first step of the writing process piece by piece. We will define a Writer's Notebook, practice Quick Writes, write for joy, and explore what it is to be a writer.
The durable, lined notebooks will provide a sturdy Writer's Notebook for the entire school year as sixth graders can cause serious wear and tear to anything they take to and from school. The large stop clock will aid us in building our stamina as writers. If you don't know sixth graders, they are quite competitive people and anything animated as a race motivates them! Finally, the wobble chairs will help our friends with extra-wiggly bodies find peace during our sacred writing time.
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