Since our last post in January, more LRNG grant teachers have been sharing their students’ writing in more local, national, and digital spaces.
In order to help their students to write original pieces on topics of their own choice, Writing Workshop teachers, like our LRNG grant team teachers, rely heavily on teaching from mentor texts. They guide students to apply to their own writing students’ favorite authors’ and poets’ craft.
In these classrooms, students are not writing simply to comply but to apply, analyze, and create. Blooms Taxonomy at it’s best!
At Red Rock Elementary, Second Grade Teacher, Melissa Schlabach held a Poetry Publishing Party at her class holiday party. Before Ms. Schlabach guided her students to write, she read a variety poetry with and to her students. Then, she carefully chose specific poetry to use as mentor texts. In her writing mini lessons, she highlighted poems that don’t rhyme, are written on everyday topics, and incorporate a variety of poetic devices and forms. Her choices set students up for success in authentic writing of poetry that doesn’t rely on an assigned topic or poetry form. Ms. Schlabach’s students analyzed and applied published poets’ craft to their own poetry publications. Look, listen, and admire students’ highly academic work.
Students displayed their poetry for reading and enjoying. Many students also chose to read their poetry for an audience of peers and family.
In the new year, Mina Elementary’s Second Grade teacher, Kim Russell, published her students’ fiction stories at the Bastrop Library. BISD teachers, families, and Bastrop community members enjoyed flipping through the pages of students’ original stories and illustrations.
Students had read a variety of fiction mentor texts and incorporated components of fairy tales, realistic fiction, and fantasy into their own stories. The slideshow highlights some of the titles and pages that demonstrate their original pieces.
And this month, Nicole Craig’s Second Graders from Emile Elementary crafted persuasive pieces under the influence of Mo Willems’ pigeon books. They used speech bubble, persuasive tactics, text features and layouts that they learned from reading, adoring, and analyzing Mo Willems’ way with words. Bastrop Library Programs Director, Bonnie Ueckert Pierson, created a beautiful display of students’ books. Come by the Bastrop Library to read and enjoy!
Bastrop ISD Writers 