Star Student Newspaper Activity

I just watched this awesome video on The Teacher Channel. (I discovered this addictive site thanks to my dear friend Jennifer at Delighted in Second).

I love this idea for the beginning of the year. I know each of the students would be so excited to be the Star of the Day and how much fun to get to wear a cape! I love it.

I think Kimberly Laurance did a great job of easing her students into writing. Starting first by having them interview the star student while she writes the "newspaper article," then having students copy one sentence, or early on, having them only write the other student's name and a label gently scaffolds them as they build their writing confidence.

I'm just trying to figure out how I can implement this in my classroom.  I generally call the birthday student the 'star student' and it is during their birthday week that they get to be 'star student.' Maybe I just need a new phrase for this newspaper interview activity? 

I'm not coming up with anything good.... maybe it will hit me at 2am this morning.

I think I'll do 2-3 'newspaper interviews' per week, instead of doing them every day. And I'll have my aide and myself be the first interviewees so that we can model what kind of questions to ask. I need to plan a good mini lesson about questioning before then, too. And make some sweet capes!!

I'm excited! Let me know if you have a great brainstorm for a good title for this activity! :)

Peel the Banana and a Giveaway!

Fabulous in First is having a giveaway! She's giving away Sing Along & Read Along with Dr. Jean All-in-One Pack w/Readers! Check her blog soon to enter!! These would be great for a listening station!

And so, in honor of a Dr. Jean giveaway, here is my class' favorite brain breaks this past year....

I love me some Dr. Jean. :) 

In Pictures and In Words - Chap. 7 ~ Ideas and Content

Chapter 7 of Katie Wood Ray's In Pictures and In Words was all about ideas and content.

I loved this quote "The writer of any work .... must decide crucial points: what to put in and what to leave out" (pg. 96).   Ray said, "writing .... is first and foremost a process of deciding what my content will be" (pg. 97).

Ray emphasized that by teaching children to notice and use these various techniques in illustrating, that students will learn that illustrating is not simply "drawing what the words say" (p. 98). They will learn that the words only hint at the possibilities of content and that they, as illustrators, decide the content and meaning from the vast options that are possible.

Here are some books that I might use as examples of techniques 1-12:

Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton 

#1 - Crafting with distance perspective - Katy is sometimes shown close up, and sometimes far, far away. The perspective grows as the size of the areas Katy plows grows. 

#2 - Positioning Perspective - Katy is shown from the front or side the whole story, until the end when she is returning and is pictured from the back. 

My Friend Is Sad by Mo Willems 

#3 - Crafting the background - no background throughout the story - just white!

The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant & Stephen Gammel 

#4 - Showing two sides of a physical space - one spread shows relatives hugging outside the house, as well as inside the house, seen through several windows 

#7 - Using scenes to show movement through different places 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle 

#8 - Using scenes as lists - many picture lists of all the things the caterpillar ate

Those are the ones that popped into my head while I was reading... most of my books are packed up in my classroom currently, so I'm mainly going from memory.  I'm getting a good noggin work-out! :) 

Better Late than Never... Right???

Well, I'm almost a whole month behind, but I am set on joining up with the In Pictures and In Words Book study hosted by Deedee Wills!

Last year I stumbled upon Mrs. Will's Kindergarten blog and I have been so blessed to follow her! I garnered so many new ideas and helpful insights that were incredibly helpful during my first year of teaching. (And continue to be as I prepare for year number 2!) Visit Mrs. Will's Kindergarten Here!

I was introduced to Debbie Diller (LOVE her!) and Katie Wood Ray through Deedee's blog and was so excited to see that there would be a summer book study!

SO, this is me sticking to my plan to read and participate...... I'm just taking life one day at a time...

And now, without further ado, here are my thoughts on Ray's In Pictures and In Words, chap. 1-6:
{Guiding Questions}

How might you explain to students that illustrating is composing? 
I think it would be neat to start this discussion with a picture book without words. One of my favorites is Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie dePaola. We could discuss how the we could understand what was happening in the story, even without any words. We could discuss the decisions that Tomie dePaola made to convey meaning to us.

How might your attitude towards writing affect your students' willingness to write? 
I know that my excitedness and energy towards writing can directly translate into my students' eagerness to write as well. I am also aware that my attitude towards drawing/illustrating also affects my students' willingness to illustrate. It is important to not only say that writing (and reading, and math... ) is important and worth working at, but show it in my actions and attitude as well. Tone of voice and body language speak volumes more than words and can be the greatest convincers (or discouragers) for students.


How might you help students build stamina in their writing? 
I love how Ray talked about teaching into illustrations. My students coming into kindergarten can draw - at varying levels of detail and ability, but nonetheless they can draw. What better place to start building stamina than on the base of drawing that they already have. As they grow in showing meaning in their illustrating, they will be building stamina in their writing. As their stamina and word knowledge grows their writing stamina continues to grow!

What language might you use with your students to talk about reading like a writer, both as a writer of words and pictures? 
What do you notice about these illustrations?
What decisions/choices did the illustrator make on this page?
Why do you think the illustrator/author decided to ______?

Name several books you would gather for your classroom's unit of study on illustration.

 The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein

Corduroy by Don Freeman

Old Bear by Kevin Henkes 

I must also say that chapter 2 was especially edifying to me as a writer. Ray introduced the curriculum of time in this chapter - teaching children how to make something out of nothing.  She writes, "The curriculum of time is fairly simple: Sit. Stay. Put something on paper" (pg. 21).  How often have I sat with a blank Word document in front of me and thought I was going no where... Ray upholds that tedious, frustrating staring as an integral part of writing! 

She goes on to write that "the goal of instruction is for students to become proficient communicators" (pg. 22) so FIRST teachers have to help students build stamina for creative work. Thank you, Katie Wood Ray, for already supporting me as a writer, so that I can support my students as they grow as communicators! 

I'm back! Whew! Where has the time gone? Mid-July? Are you kidding me? Well, today's discovery was enough to blast me out of my blogging hibernation.... are you ready for it? 

{drumroll, please}

It's called Remind 101. 

I put it in big letters because it is just that awesome. 

I learned about it from Jessica over at Mrs. Stanford's Class. 

It allows you to send text messages to parents without giving out your personal phone number. 

Head on over to Mrs. Stanford's Class to see her great description and quick tutorial on how to sign up! 

I'm so excited to use this next year. I've already signed up and sent myself practice texts! This is going to be great! :)