Today, the students wrote the most they have written so far for the timeline project. Each month, I've approached it a bit differently so see what type of writing the rough draft would produce.
On Friday, I had the kids all think about their writing topic (we have the month charted as I had been doing on other months). I modeled for them how we'd get together with a buddy to do some peer discussion prior to the writing.
I chose my topic and told them what I was going to write. I said, "I'm going to write: In January, I learned about Martin Luther King." I then asked them if they wondered anything. Of course, they did. They had some excellent questions. Each time they asked me a question, I answered it out loud. Then I showed them by "writing in the air" what I intended to write. I asked them if that sounded better than my original idea. I then began my writing in my writer's notebook as they read it aloud. They were ready to begin. I let them choose a partner they thought they could work the best with. I had to be a partner with a student, so I wasn't able to go around and listen in. While they wrote, I did some check-in conferences. They were passionately writing and going back to their partners and asking more questions. Then we all gathered on the rug to share. Several kids asked clarifying questions of the students that shared (Liam wanted to know what MLK did that was so special when Mary-Kate shared hers). She went back to her seat and wrote some more.
I am interested in seeing what they do with this in the computer lab as they have more writing than they will be able to post in one sitting.
I also plan to have them work with their carebuddies (4th grade) next week to do some revising on a month of their choice.
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