Tag Archives: writing

The Power of the Pen(pal)

Yeah, I’m that person. The one who is quick to point out that purpose and audience matters in writing. I also know that the realities of the classroom often means that purpose and audience can both end up being contrived as we strive to provide real world writing opportunities AND work in all the other demands of teaching writing.

So this year when a colleague asked if I wanted to have my students be penpals with her fifth graders, I was quick to say yes. I like the idea of starting out early in the school year so we can ensure that our students can participate in several exchanges. We’re hopeful that as we progress in this penpal process that we can arrange to have our students meet in person as well.

I’ve had students participate in penpal projects in years past. And I have positive memories from the experiences. The challenge is always finding the “just right” partner to make sure that the exchange of letters happens with some regularity. And of course, you have to keep up the energy and excitement for yourself to make sure you make space in the school day to get those letters written.

This year I offered to have my students write first. With first graders early in the school year, I wanted to make sure they started off from a place of abundance. Even before knowing who our penpals were, we created postcards illustrating things we loved. As they crafted their artwork, they were also thinking about their favorite activities giving them something to say in their postcards.

To make things a bit easier for my young writers, we used lined 5×8 cards to write our messages.

My students easily and eagerly completed their postcards, wondering just who their penpal would be. I realize that fewer and fewer people exchange non-electronic communication…I love that students are getting this opportunity!

I sent the postcards through district mail to our other school where they were delivered to the fifth graders. My colleague shared a cute video with me featuring her students and their excitement at receiving the postcards. It was hard to wait for them to write back.

But last Friday, it seemed that it was worth the wait! I distributed the letters written by the fifth graders. They had typed their letters, integrating a letter format lesson, and included a selfie inserted in the document. The letters were warm and welcoming. The fifth graders commented on the first graders interests, shared their memories from first grade, told the first graders something about themselves, and asked a question or two.

Our classroom hummed with energy. Students helped each other read their letters, compared photos, wondered about games they weren’t familiar with, and generally reveled in receiving a letter. We then took a few minutes to talk about how to respond to a letter and then they set off to write.

My students wrote and wrote. They chatted as they worked, encouraging each other, sharing spellings of more challenging words, asking for help from me from time to time…”How do you spell Seattle Seahawks?” “Does eclipse have a c or a k?” It was the first time this school year where we truly felt the phenomenon of flow when writing. Every one of my students was engaged, stretching themselves as writers, sharing their interests and inquiring about the interests of their penpals. They kept on writing…for more than half an hour on a Friday before lunch.

We finished the letters today, adding a drawing just for fun. I read through them all, marveling at students’ efforts and the high level of readability of these handwritten notes. I plan to send the letters off to the fifth graders by the end of the week.

There is power in the penpal. I can’t wait to see how this written exchange grows during the course of the school year! (Below are a few more of the postcards we sent to the fifth graders)

Inspired by Nature’s Colors and a Poem

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We study a poem each week in my first grade class and this week’s poem was Choose a Color by Jacqueline Sweeney. The first lines are… If I were brown I’d be cattail or turtle deep burrowed in mud… In our study we notice, we discuss, and we illustrate the poem. Today, we went a step further and. used the poem as a mentor text for our own writing.

Although my students didn’t know it at the time, I primed the pump earlier this week by posing the question, if you were orange, what thing in nature would you be? And then as they picked the thing (garibaldi–our state saltwater fish, a tiger, a fox…) I encouraged them to stretch out their idea…what is the thing (animal, plant, form) doing? And then today as part of our morning meeting I posed the question again, this time asking about yellow. So by the time we were ready to write after our snack recess, students had ideas galore! I asked them to include at least 3-5 colors in their own nature-inspired color poem.

Today is our minimum day, so time was limited. Students wrote and then used their crayons to illustrate. While we didn’t have time to go outside for our #writeout effort, we let our love of nature and color inspire our writing.

Here’s a few examples (typed by me for reading ease):

Choose a Color by M

If I were turquoise I’d be the cool ocean rising onto the shore. If red fire blazing in a forest. If yellow the sun blazing down to earth.

Colors that I Know by V

If I was blue I would be rivers floating by.

If I was purple, violets in spring.

If pink I would be a flamingo.

If green I would be grass swaying in the wind.

One of my more reluctant writers is now picking up the pencil and getting started. I noticed he was writing short–just picking a color and saying the thing. I quickly went over to get him to stretch past…but I could see him starting to shut down. I leaned in close and learned that he couldn’t do it because there wasn’t room…and he didn’t wait to erase. It was the perfect time to teach him a tool. I showed him how he could use a symbol to show that he needed to continue on another page. Lucky for him, he had written on the right hand page, leaving the left side open for those additions. This felt like a bit of a breakthrough teaching moment!

Colors of Earth by J

If red fire to be hot.

If yellow sun to be high in the sky.

If violet the sea to be big as a lot.

If brown wood as campfire wood.

And then there is my Star Wars aficionado who can turn any writing invitation into a themed piece that is Star Wars from start to finish. He checked in with me…does it have to be nature? I reminded him that we were in the midst of #writeout and so were sticking to a nature theme. Here’s how he made it his own!

Colors that are not Primary by O

If light blue I would be a pterodactyl hunting. for food.

If I’d be black I would be stegosaurus drinking water.

If I’d be green I would be sabertooth tiger running from a volcano.

It’s such fun to watch my first graders grow as writers, learning to add details and stretch out their compositions, and to find their own writing voices. And what better writing invitation than #writeout?

Under the Influence of Acorns

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On some days, my students and I head outside for inspiration for our writing and learning and on other days, we bring nature right inside the classroom. Fall is known for leaves changing colors, animals preparing for winter, acorns dropping… But in southern California that isn’t what we see outdoors. Our trees are mostly green, the weather is warm, and no one really hibernates. But in first grade students don’t seem to notice that our fall is different…and so, we often import the icons of fall.

Yesterday after reading, Because of an Acorn and talking about the interconnectedness of plants and animals, we watched a video from a park ranger at Sequoia National Park where we learned more about oaks, acorns, and the communications between trees. And then I pulled out my stash of acorns, saved from a year ago when a friend from the central part of our state shared some from her neighborhood. My students examined these extra large acorns carefully, delighting in the texture of their caps, the smoothness of the acorn itself, and the way it rattled when they shook it (they have dried out somewhat after being in my classroom for a year). Then then carefully sketched the acorns and some oak leaves (using our book as reference). Many spontaneously began adding notes, noticing the point at the bottom, the variations in color, and more. Obviously the note taking carried over from our nature notebooking described in my previous post.

In this case, the goal of the sketching was practice for a watercolor project. Our subject was the acorn, and then we experimented with three different watercolor techniques: oil pastel resist (using oil pastel to create a border to keep paint from running), wet on wet (painting the background with water before applying the paint), and then adding some pinches of salt to create a starburst effect. First graders have so much freedom as artists, they grab the oil pastel with confidence, seemingly not worrying that they will not be able to erase a mistake. They drew and painted…with stunning outcomes.

And since the ranger in the video offered as a prompt, imagine a dialogue between trees…which we expanded to include a conversation between acorns and oaks, students experimented with writing about that interaction. They are new to the writing of dialogues, but their first drafts show some promise. Here’s a couple (typed by me for ease of reading).

An acorn falls off an oak tree. Am acorn hangs from a branch. An acorn drops and a chipmunk will eat it. Hi oak. Are you going to drop the acorns? Oh. I will when it is fall. Hey oak trees, you want to drop acorns! Now it is fall. The oak trees wait. Let me tell the other oak trees so they know. Now it is winter. The animals are hibernating. The bunnies are gathering food for winter.

And…

A squirrel asks an oak tree, can I have one acorn? The oak tree said no you can not have an acorn. Acorn said please! Okay said oak tree but I’m keeping an eye on you! And if you grow into a tree then I will talk to a scientist, so don’t forget squirrel. But wait! I have to tell the other oak trees so we can do a masting said oak tree. Hey oak trees, let’s do a masting yelled oak tree. The oak trees did.

My students were most impressed with their own volume of writing, most filling more than a page with their words. I love that they picked up on some of the science from the video–the idea of a masting, the phenomenon where oaks drop an extreme number of acorns every 3-5 years was information directly from the park ranger.

How are you letting #writeout influence your writing and the writing of your students?

Thank You, Earth

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Gratitude and appreciation are essential elements in raising children to be naturalists and environmental stewards. We take care of what we love. Throughout the school year I have made an effort to integrate environmental literature and learning wherever I could across the curriculum. We participated in #writeout with the National Writing Project in October, doing wonder walks and exploring acorns. We made posters and wrote 6 words for the environment, advocating for the Earth. We learned about Ansel Adams and dandelions and made wishes that we hope will disperse like seeds–resilient and gritty–growing where they land, like dandelions themselves, making the Earth a better place. Last week we read Thank You, Earth by April Pulley Sayre, a beautiful book that combines photographs and descriptive language to express appreciation for all that nature has to offer. This became the inspiration for our own letters of gratitude to the Earth in the form of zines.

We made zines earlier in the school year, so it seems like perfect timing to come back full circle especially since students have made so much progress as writers and readers. To push their composition and zine making skills, this time we created a plan before launching into the zine itself. Students planned their front and back covers and the six interior pages before creating the actual zine. They were encouraged to stretch their ideas, adding detail and description for each page.

What I love the most is that students had so many ideas about what they are grateful for in nature. They love trees and clouds and rainbows. Animals (both cute and feisty according to one student), the ocean, and flowers were prevalent topics. Pollinators and water, and of course, constellations also were featured. In each of their zines, I can see traces of my teaching…about writing and art and the environment. Here’s a student reading her zine.

I am hopeful that these young students will grow up to be advocates for our planet, for healthy environments for everyone, for sustainable practices and clean energy. Finding spaces for students to learn about the challenges we face on our planet, about the importance of conservation, and about ways to stand up and voice both their appreciation and their concerns for the future are important and easily combined with the reading, writing, science, and art that are already the typical parts of school curriculum when you plan carefully.

Students’ notes of gratitude to the Earth will be on display for Open House next week, spreading their appreciation and awe of the natural world to their families and others who peek into our classroom. How might you construct and spread your message of gratitude to the Earth? I am looking forward to hearing your ideas.

Dandelion Dreams: May 16, 2023

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I admit it, I’m kind of obsessed with dandelions. There is something about the resilience and grit of this pervasive and well known weed that enchants me. I love that dandelions spring up in our lawn, in the cracks of rocks, right in the middle of an asphalt road, along the sandy edge of the beach… Last week I read my students the book Dandelion Seeds the World by Julia Richardson which follows dandelions across all seven continents. celebrating the multiple ways their seeds spread from floating on air to hitching a ride in the fur of animals…and even in their digestive systems! After reading and talking about dandelions…and the ways we make a wish and blow the seeds (which also helping them spread), we wrote about our wish for the world. Not surprisingly, at the end of the school year, they didn’t even need an example to get their pencils moving and write some important wishes. Interestingly, many were environmental wishes–about taking care of the ocean, protecting animals, preserving trees along with a couple of wishes about treating others with kindness and respect.

I always like to pair writing with some kind of art project. In the past I’ve done a variety of different kinds of dandelion creations…but for some reason was feeling uninspired by these projects. A colleague suggested the idea of black and white photography, a la Ansel Adams. Ah…a great reminder! And strangely enough, I hadn’t gotten to Ansel Adams yet this year. So, to get students started I read a favorite book of mine, Antsy Ansel, a picture book biography by friend and writing project colleague Cindy Jenson Elliott. I knew I wanted students to go outside to take photos of dandelions–we had just spent time talking about the dandelion life cycle and the different versions of dandelions they might find (puffball, yellow flower, tight bud…). I was a bit worried though. The gardeners at our school do a wonderful job of keeping the grounds well groomed–would we be able to find any dandelions?

But when I asked the students, they knew just where to locate some dandelions. Of course, the first place they mentions is the “out of bounds” area of the school grounds where they aren’t allowed to play! (And yes, I took them there.). So we set off with iPads as cameras, taking photos of dandelions in all of their stages. Our time was short, so we didn’t have time for any editing before we needed to head out for lunch. Luckily, I took a peek at some of the photos…and was greatly disappointed. They were blurry and ill composed. Hmmm… So after lunch, I showed students some of my own photos of dandelions. I showed them the ones I would discard–the ones that were out of focus, the ones that were too far away–as well as my better photos that were crisp and really showed off the dandelion. Then we tried again. Phew! They were much better.

Students picked their best image and inspired by Ansel Adams, transformed it into a black and white photo. They also cropped it to make it a square image (for the sake of my display).

Here’s a couple of examples:

My wish for the world is for people to use electric cars because gas cars invade the air with gas which is not good for us to breathe in.

People are throwing trash in the water, it is not only making our world dirty it is also killing animals.

My wish for the world is to stop cutting down trees because it is killing wildlife.

My own wish for the world is that this group of first graders continue to influence and inform the adults around them about the importance of taking care of our planet…and each other. What is your dandelion dream?

Errand turned mini-vacation: SOLC 5/2/23

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Have you ever had a day where a routine errand turned into a mini vacation? After working all day, I knew I needed to fill my gas tank. Knowing that my husband prefers this little out of the way gas station, I headed home to pick him up before getting gas. Since the sun decided to make an appearance today after days of a pervasive, gray marine layer, I had an idea percolating in my head. So I proposed, what if instead of taking our usual neighborhood walk after we get back from the gas station, we stop by the beach near the gas station and walk there? Tides are always a deciding factor at our local beaches. If the tides are not low enough, there isn’t enough beach to actually take a walk–and you never, ever, ever want to find yourself walking too close to cliffs that are known to crumble, showering rocks–some of them quite large–and who knows what else onto the beach below.

I lucked out. The beach just a couple of blocks away from the gas station had a modest amount of beach available. We parked, walked down about a million stairs only to be greeted by a dazzling view of the ocean.

Next we noticed hundreds and hundreds of Velella velella (also known as By-the-wind sailor) washed up on the shore. These brilliant blue relatives of the Portuguese Man of War have been washing up on our shore for the last month or so, although I’ve only seen them a few at a time before today.

As we continued our walk, the sun warmed my back and the sea breeze tickled my nose. The whoosh-whisper of the surf provided a perfect back beat for my breath, letting the work day slip away with each step I took.

There is so much character along this stretch of the beach. The residents of the houses along the shore have created whimsical ladder contraptions to give them access to the beach from their homes perched on the cliffs. And since they want access to the beach, but really don’t want visitors from the beach a ladder sticking straight out over your head doesn’t even make you bat an eye! I decided to play around with my camera. What would it look like to stand under the ladder and look up?

While the beach itself was mostly empty, I did come across a solitary shore bird out for an early dinner. It was pretty unconcerned by me and my camera, at times looking straight into my lens.

So, the trip to the gas station turned into a lovely break from the work week routine, a mini-vacation where I was immersed in sun, sea life, sounds, and a fresh ocean breeze. What a way to spend Tuesday afternoon!

Haiku for a Gray Day: NPM23 Day 30

I Need to Live Near the Beach: NPM23 Day 29

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Today as I wandered, looking for inspiration for a poem for day 29, I turned to the Moving Writers blog and found this post by Brett Vogelsinger, which led me to the poem I Need to Live Near a Creek that became my mentor text for today. I knew I wanted to write from this photo that I took today on a walk at the beach–the curlew flying out of the frame of my photo as I clicked the shutter.

I Need to Live Near a Beach

because

seabirds fly

somersaulting

on briny breezes

lifting my mood

with their wings

Making Sunshine: NPM23 Day 28

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Today’s #verselove prompt was all about expressing the abstract through concrete details. I’m not so sure I approached this in the right direction. I started with my feelings of irritation with yet another gray day–the kind of day that seems to wring out the energy and makes you want to curl up and take a nap–right in the middle of the day! But then when I turned to the concrete–pulling on my favorite sweatshirt, the one with the Linda Christensen quote on the back and our writing project name and logo on the front, something unexpected emerged. (I do wish my stanza breaks would stay where I want them on wordpress–but that is something I will take up some other day!)

Making Sunshine

When clouds are damp and thick

like wet blankets hanging

from the sky

and the sun has gone missing

in an elaborate game of

hide and seek

I shiver and grab my favorite sweatshirt

the one I seem to wear most days

from April through June

Luckily, the sweatshirt is an old friend

whose hug reminds me that I belong