Pets make great subjects for stories. Especially your pet, who is the best pet in the world. But…where and how do we start a story? First, you need an idea…and maybe you should take a moment and follow your pet around the house or take him for a walk. What is he thinking about? Does …
Start Writing your Animal Stories by Thinking Like your Pet Read More »
Ashley loves animals, and wanted to write about so many of them. When she said down to write a story, she could not decide which one to write about. Would it be a dog? Would it be a bird? Maybe a raccoon? But if it’s a dog, then what breed ? Big or small? Long …
A successful way to challenge students to become more independent writers is to task yourself as a listener. Help students learn what ideas and things in and about their lives are special to them. Encourage them to make discoveries and connections with those things in their writing. Students who are always supplied with outside ideas …
Talking propels reading and writing development. “It is through talk that children learn to follow and tell stories, understand logical sequences, recognize causes, anticipate consequences, explore options and consider motives… It is through talk that our children learn that their observations, hunches, and insights are interesting and worth developing. It is through talk that our …
Sharing stories in the classroom and at home is the most important way to support literacy, according to Gordon Wells, who conducted a 10-year study of oral language development in the home and at school at the University of California at Santa Cruz. “Constructing stories in the mind — or storytelling, as it has been …
The simple truth is: pets and animals add value to our lives. They fill us with happiness; we can physically feel their love for us when we feed and talk to them in the morning. When we return home in the evening they burst with excitement that we came back. Our pets give so much …
In her book Raising Lifelong Learners Lucy Calkins states, “Teachers know the value of talking about books… helping children to have conversations about texts, will help them to have conversations in their minds’ eyes as they read silently. This sort of learning into the story makes for active, powerful reading.” Powerful reading broadens the mind …
By investigating junk mail, students learn to think about and question texts in ways that develop their analytical capacities and critical reading practices. Students work in small groups to investigate and sort junk mail into categories of their choice using a Venn diagram. They discuss the purpose of junk mail and compose a class definition. …
At the time Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, it is a good idea to pause to teach children how to EXPRESS thanks. The Today Show has many wonderful ideas for all ages, including these for elementary school-age children: 1. Hand-write thank-you’s. One sentence per grade is a good rule of thumb, and be sure to send them out promptly. …
Children’s Illustrator Angela Padron once again bring insight and storytelling ideas to those who create art with their words.
