Wow, time does fly when you're teaching little children! I can't believe it's October already! I have been busy creating and want to share two new items I have posted on Teachers pay Teachers.
This file was created to supplement our noun unit and then will lead us very nicely into creative story writing. I attended the Empowering Writers workshop this past Summer, and loved their "Getting Ready To Write" for K-1. It aligned so well with my philosophy of how young children evolve in the writing process.
Along with that, I finally put my "Show Me Pictures" idea on paper. I have been using this for over 15 years with my young students who draw one thing on the paper and declare it finished. I want to develop creative thinkers who use their imagination when they draw and in turn when they write. Here's a sample of that.
I begin with a mini lesson, all the children gathered on floor, and draw a simple stick figure. "Tell me about my friend." I ask the children. "Oh, he's a boy", claim the boys. "No, it's a girl!" reply the girls. "How do you know?", I ask. Here's where the fun begins. As I begin adding color and details, the children are glued to image and what it is becoming. It's different every time, a clown at a circus, juggling balls, then a man at the lake fishing on a bright sunny day, you never know what's in my head. Over the years, I have added random shapes, and stick animals to the mix. The kids always enjoy this activity, especially when I hand out the black line and they get to show me what's in their brain! We use this activity to bridge into adding details to writing. However, don't leave the pictures too soon, as the saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words", and young children begin as illustrators and evolve into authors!
