Teaching Ideas

0 Jan 05, 2023

Writer’s Workshop – Small Moments

Teacher Lingo

Blog Writer

The students were introduced to their ‘Writer’s Workshop‘ folder. The folder will be used to store pieces of writing at different stages of the writing process. The folder includes a laminated copy of the Word Wall Words and letter sounds we use when writing.

What shall we write about?

We began by generating and collecting ideas to write about.

what are we passionate about?
what do we know a lot about?
What events and memories can we capture in our writing?

The students documented their ideas.

We wonder how authors and illustrators hook their readers. What are some of the strategies and techniques they use to capture the attention of their readers?

We used a mentor text to see what we could learn. We read ‘Shortcut’ by Donald Crews. This is a story about 7 children who decide to take the shortcut home, along the train tracks. They know they should always take the road. It is an exciting story that keeps the children at the edge of their seats. The author uses multiple strategies to hook the reader and keep them in suspense.

First, we talked about the cover, title, picture/illustration on the cover, authors name and spine of the book. We read the blurb at the back of the book, which helps us learn more about the story. We noted the author’s dedication.

As we read the book, we noticed and discussed strategies the author/illustrator used to make this story more interesting to the reader. We wondered how we might use these techniques (that Donald Crews uses) when creating our own stories.

We created an Anchor Chart to help us document what we have noticed. How might WE craft powerful small moments?

We will continue to explore different techniques authors and illustrators use, to make our own stories more interesting to our readers.

Written by Teacher Lingo

Member since January 5, 2023

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Written by Teacher Lingo

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