To prepare for my workshop, my 3rd graders created posts today on our classroom blog that are reflections on the blogging experience.  The questions I asked them were: What do you like about blogging?  Why is it different then writing things down in your writer’s notebook?  Do you like giving or receiving comments better?  What is your favorite comment that you received?  What is your favorite post that you have written?  What else would you like to write about on the blog?

Here are some of their thoughts:

“I like blogging because typing is easier and you don’t get writer’s cramp.”

“I like receiving comments because each new one is from a new person in the world.”

“I like blogging because it is relaxing.”

Please visit “The View from 3rd Grade” to read the rest of their thoughts.  Please also take 5 minutes to leave a comment.  The 3rd graders have worked hard and they get so jazzed when others notice!

The assignment for their first posts was about friendship and they had to respond to the following questions:  What qualities do you look for in a friend? What are some responsibilities that you have toward your friends? If friendship were a color, what color would it be for you? How are you a good friend to other people? What’s your favorite thing to do with a friend?

At 8:00am they arrived to school bouncing off the walls and in full costume.  We had 3 of the 4 Beatles, a ladybug, a birthday present, Indiana Jones, and so on.  By 8:20 I was reminding them that the parade was not until 10:00 and we that we needed them to calm down and cooperate.  Now I was having serious misgivings about doing anything academic.

At 8:30, half of the class went to science and the other half followed me (dressed as Bob the Builder) into our smaller room down the hall.  They were very excited when I told them to each get a laptop because we would be writing our first blog posts.  I gave directions while demonstrating on my new smartboard and set them to work.  I walked around between the tables to monitor their progress and to be available for tech assistance.  As I walked around I realized very quickly that it was totally silent except for the sound of fingers tapping on the keyboards.  Here were thirteen 8 and 9-year old kids in full costume, working, focused, engaged, happy.  It was an awesome sight.  I was further amazed when almost half of them completed the post before time was up.  I was only requiring 4 sentences, but that can take an eternity for a child who is new to typing.

Now our classroom blog is up and running!  Please click here to see The View From 3rd Grade or click the link to the right under the “Additions” menu.  The 3rd graders are excited and ready to receive comments from you.  Drop on in for a visit!

This year (as in years past) we have some ambitious goals. We have new technology (projectors and smart boards) that we intend to put to good use. The whole Lower School has moved to a six day rotational schedule which has made things fresh and opened new opportunities. Also, I worked with a curriculum team this summer to create a Lower School service learning experience which will require having Junior Kindergarten through 5th Grade participation.

But we have also decided to try to get back to the “good old days” from time to time. We are finally setting up the arts-and-crafts center that we have talked about for the past 3 years. We will do more hands-on projects, put drama lesson and games back into our schedule, allow for free choice time, read more books aloud, and use more gluestick.

Yes, we’re really looking forward to a great year.

This has been an amazing project. It has touched on many important skills such as researching, writing, recording, selecting appropriate articles and images, and using the online library catalog. I have especially enjoyed the opportunity to work with a specials area teacher.

So, here it is for the world to see. Please comment on the slides and if you are a teacher, have your students comment as well.

3rd Grade Colonial and Revolutionary War Project

Thank you to Lane Young for creating with me, Vinnie Vrotny for leading me to the k12 Online Conference which led me to VoiceThread, and David Green my co-teacher for encouraging and supporting me with this project.

Earlier this week, Vinnie Vrotny, my friend and colleague asked me to send him a lesson that I created using my TabletPC and the smart cart projector on my floor. He explained that he wanted to use it to show at our school auction in order to share how Lower School teachers are using newer technology. At first I was very nervous about this idea, but I have decided to jump straight into this with both feet by using a new technology tool called Jing to share this with the parent community.

First I must go back in time to an earlier post . . .

Their homework assignment sheet looked like this . . . and this. Just a normal Microsoft Word document

Then I imported the text from the document into Microsoft Journal. This is an application on the TabletPC that allows you to write using a stylus. SinceI never have and never will be a great typist, I have enjoyed using this program for writing and projecting brainstorming sessions (like when we voted on names for the class gerbil) and for teaching cursive.

By importing the text into Journal I could model what I expected the 3rd graders to write. We watched a scene from the movie The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. When the short scene was over, the kids recalled what was said, what the characters did as they spoke, and how they felt throughout the scene.

When they brought their homework back the next day, I first let them share what they wrote if they wanted to. The kids were very eager and as they shared I mentally selected “good candidates” for writing out the scene with all of the parts in one paragraph.

Here was a scene that a student shared from the movie The Parent Trap. We began our class rewrite with some of the dialogue she wrote down. Next we chose a sentence that explained the setting of the scene. Then came more dialogue and we inserted some action for the character, Hallie. The class decided to put in some of what Annie, Hallie’s twin, was feeling. Then we concluded the paragraph with Annie’s final statement and some more action.

What we ended up with was a paragraph that would give a reader a clear picture of what is going on in the scene.

The 3rd graders used this and other lessons to help them write their fiction stories which were presented at our annual “Hot Chocolate House.”

Parents and alumni, thank you for supporting the teachers and students by coming out the the “Green B. Lounge!”

On Monday I told my 3rd graders, “You have shown us that you are really great writers by all your work on personal narratives this fall. We think you are ready for fiction writing.”

Their answer??? “YAY!!!” (That is one really cool thing about 3rd graders, they love new challenges. Older kids do not get nearly as excited about things like multiplication, cursive, homework, and spelling tests.)

Now I will be implementing the new writing curriculum that I created during my summer curriculum grant. One of the reasons I started this blog was to connect with other teachers globally to discover how others tackle creative writing with their students (for more read my post “Growing and Trying New Things”). Although I have not been able to share ideas in the way I had visioned, I am excited to use this blog as a way to reflect on how this experiment turns out.

The first part of this unit is called “Observing Like a Writer,” which is a chapter title of the book I read this summer called Writing the Whole Story by Karen Jorgensen. (For a more complete look at the curriculum as it evolves check out the wikispace I have created with all my notes.  I would love feedback!) We have just begun to study dialogue. The kids need to be taught that characters talk to show action, intention, and emotion. Here is their first homework assignment:

Listen to two people talking (either live or on T.V.) for a few minutes. Watch what they do with their hands, face, and body. Notice whether they listen to each other, talk over each other, or hesitate before they speak. What do they say? What do they do as they speak? What do you think they are feeling during this conversation?

I am looking forward to what they come up with.