Well, it's that time of year for me. I go back to school tomorrow, and I get to meet all my new tweens on Wednesday. Thank you to Denise of #TeacherMom for hosting this linky party for the last 5 weeks!
For the last week, we are talking about writing tools. For the last 15 years, I have worked rigorously on creating tools for my middle schoolers to help them with writing. As much as we want to think so, most middle school students do not like to write, especially structured essays; therefore, creating exciting and engaging writing lessons, which simplifies the process, is always my first task. I have turned the parts of an introduction into a silly acronym-Give The Toddler The Cookie (Grabber, Transitional Sentence, TAG, Thesis Statement and Concluding Sentence). The acronym for the body paragraph is TALES-Topic Sentence, Add an example/Claim, Lift a line/Cite a line from the text, Elaborate and Sum it up. I have my students repeat and practice this over and over until it is engrained in their mind, and crazy enough, they can recall it very easily!
Secondly, I created writing maps to help my students "navigate" the rules to writing certain paragraphs. When laying the rules and expectations out like this, the kids find it so much easier to write, especially the introduction paragraph.
Lastly, we cannot forget practice, practice, rigor, and practice. The only way I feel my students improve is with practice and peer-editing. I love when my students peer edit, because not only are they constructively helping their peer, but they are also watching out for errors, grammar, writing techniques and punctation.
This week I am giving away all three of my writing maps!
Introduction map, Body Paragraph Map, and Conclusion Map
Enter the raffle below to win this awesome and productive product!
Thank you so much for checking out my blog! Make sure to check out my other teacher friends!
Kim