Structure Study

In January we’ve been doing a Unit of Study based on the structure that authors use in their books. We have looked at some books where the structure is a clear, repeated pattern. We also have looked at some books that have a traditional story pattern, such as describe a problem, tell some unsuccessful ways to solve it, then solve it. One student described this in one book as “the character’s happy, then sad, then still sad, then happy again.”

When I conference with them, I am asking them about the structure of their books. It is easier for some to be aware of and articulate this than others. I am hoping that as we analyze more books and as I share examples of what classmates are doing, all the students will become more aware of structure and more intentional in the use of structure in writing.

Illustration Study Celebration

Not long before Winter Break we celebrated the books that the students published as part of our illustration study. At our celebration each student told about his/her book, read a selection, and talked about how illustrations added to the writing. We toasted our efforts with brownies this time.

Illustrations that Enhance Our Writing

Our latest Unit of Study has been focused on the question: What smart illustration decisions do author/illustrators make in their books? This study was inspired by Katie Wood Ray’s latest book, In Pictures and In Words: Teaching the Qualities of Good Writing Through Illustration Study. The children have been wonderful at looking at books and noticing the smart things being done in the illustrations to communicate information, feelings, character, storyline, mood, point of view, passage of time, and more. I have recorded a lot of their “noticings” on a chart. We are also using the chart to note when one of us tries something we’ve seen in the books. We keep the books we are using for the study in a basket where students can refer to them as needed. After Thanksgiving break, students will be asked to choose books they have written to publish. Each choice should be a book that can go into the basket with our study books, because of interesting illustration choices.

Celebrating Our Writing Work

We have wrapped up our Unit of Study on Where do writers get ideas? Each student chose one of the books he/she had been working on to publish. The students read over their choices carefully, checking to be sure they had not left out any words and that Word Wall words had the Word Wall spelling. Then each read the book to a classmate to be sure it was "reader friendly." Last week we had a celebration. Each student showed the published book and either read a selection or told about it. Each also told where he/she got the idea for the book and why he/she wrote it. We “toasted” our efforts with apple slices to finish up our celebration.

Just Right Books

I most often use this blog to write about our work in Writing Workshop. We also do a lot of reading work in our group. Just as in Writing Workshop, I do mini-lessons that focus on different aspects of reading. One of the first lessons I do is on choosing “Just Right” books, the kinds of books that will help the students’ development as readers the most. A Just Right book is one in which a student is interested. It is also a book that the student can read almost all of easily, figuring out the few words that he/she does not already know. And it is one that the student can understand. It doesn’t leave the child wondering what it was about.

This doesn’t mean that it isn’t helpful at times for children to read, and re-read, and easy book. Easy books support the child’s ability to read smoothly and with expression. Re-reading also allows a child to notice details that may have been missed the first time through. And, of course, children will often be attracted to hard books, especially if the topic is one that is compelling or of particular interest. Those are great books to read with a parent, teacher, or partner to help.

Word Study

Word Study is work that we do to support both our writing and our reading. One focus in word study is finding the patterns in words. We can identify "chunks" or rimes that a group of words have in common. For example, the chunk -an is in many simple consonant-vowel-consonant words. The word "can" is on our Word Wall and knowing it can help students recognize others words, such as man and van.

We have been adding 5 words a week to our Word Wall. These are all frequently used words or popcorn words, as some call them, because they pop up a lot. The goal is that these words become part of the children's reading and writing vocabularies, part of the words that the children can read and write without having to break them down.

For practicing our Word Wall words I use an activity from About the Author: Writing Workshop with our Youngest Writers by Katie Ray Wood with Lisa B. Cleaveland. Every Monday I give each student a sheet that has five of our word wall words plus a checklist of ways to practice those words. Students get to choose which 5 ways to practice the assigned words. Choosing how to practice the words adds to the students' investment. The list includes everything from rainbow words (writing the words using different colors) to making the words with manipulatives such as letter stamps, Wikki Sticks, or Unifix letter cubes to using a pointer to find the words on the Word Wall. The students enjoy exploring the different ways, and each is developing favorites. They are becoming more comfortable with the 5 Ways routine, so that we are using this time more efficiently.

Book Study

In our writing workshop mini-lesson time, we have been busy reading books and then studying them. Since we have been focusing on where writers get ideas, the first question I ask after I read a book to the group is "Where do you think the writer got the idea for this book?" After we discuss that, I ask what they noticed the writer doing in the book and what they especially liked that the writer did. We talk familiarly about what Bob (Graham) does or what we like about what Ruth (Horowitz) does in her book. I record student's observations on a chart that we can refer to later.