Mrs. Corbitt

       

Week 24:  This week the students will continue to work on their reports.  Our goal is to have “excellent” reports by spring break.  Students that finish before this deadline will have the opportunity to work on a second report.

Week 23:  Last week the students helped me write our report rubric.  This week the students will continue to add to and make corrections to their reports to ensure that they are “excellent.”

Week 22:   The facts are all gathered and the writing’s begun and before you know it our reports will be done!  (They look awesome!!!)

Week 21:  This week the students will continue working on their reports.  Everyone’s research and writing is off to an excellent start!

Week 20: This week the students will begin evaluating the facts that they have found and determine if they are ready to begin writing their first drafts (sloppy copies).   

Week 19: This week the students will continue to gather more facts on their topic.  We will also see how we can incorporate some of the text features we have been learning/reviewing during Reader’s Workshop into our own reports. 

Week 18:  This week the students will continue to gather facts on their topics.  We will make sure that we use all of the text features to gather this information including interesting/specific vocabulary words, maps, graphs, charts, etc… An additional requirement that your child will be including in his/her report this year is a bibliography page, which must include at least three sources of information.  Your child may use any combination of books, websites, and/or magazine articles.      

Week 17:  This week we are ready to start our fourth writing genre, which is Report/Informational writing.  We will begin by selecting a topic and gathering facts.  This is always a fun genre.  I can’t wait to get started!

Week 16:  This week we are going to try and finish up the Procedural (How to . . .) writing genre.  The planning, first drafts and peer conferences are all almost done.  I am finishing up my list of teacher conferences and then everyone is ready to publish!   

 Week 15:  This week we will continue working on the Procedural/Functional (How to) genre.  This week the students will help me create our how to writing rubric.  Everyone has worked very hard and I think that we will be able to finish up this writing genre before the Christmas break!  

             Week 14: This week we will continue working on the Procedural/Functional (How to) genre.  We began with choosing topics and then planning out the steps.  It is very important that the steps are written in a very clear and concise manner.  

            Week 13: This week we are ready to start our third genre of the year, Procedural/Functional (How to).  This is always a fun genre because we get to tell how to make/do things.  In order to make the writing process a little easier we will make/do a few things so that we can write about them. 

           Week 12: This week the students will help me create our persuasive writing rubric. We will be using this rubric to evaluate all of the writing that is shared from this point in.  The rubric will also be used when grading the final published piece.

Week 11: Last week we began working in the persuasive writing genre.  The yummy cookie OREO will help us to remember each element of this writing genre.  O=opinion, R=reason, E=explanation, and O=opinion.  This week we will look at how we can take our planning papers that were written last week to write our persuasive essays (triple stuffed OREOs).

          Week 10: Wow!  The students' narratives look great.  I am very impressed with the work that has been done and I am sure that next year's teacher will be also when the work on goes with them in your child's writing portfolio.  Our next genre that we will explore is persuasive writing.

          Week 9: This week the students will continue to work on finishing up their narratives and working towards making sure that they are "Excellent."  My goal is for us to wrap up this genre by November 1st, which is very quickly approaching!

        Week 8: This week we will look at the writing standards and create our writing rubric.  The students will use the rubric that they help create to decide whether or not their writing is "good enough."  

           Week 7: This week we will be looking at how we can provide closure to our stories besides just saying "the end" as we begin wrapping up learning the elements of the 3rd grade narrative writing standards.

          Week 6: On Friday our hallway bulletin board was updated with a few student samples of exciting beginnings (one piece showing off each of the six new leads that were taught).  This week we will look at another way to make our writing more exciting by adding various author's craft.  We will learn about and learn how to use similes, onomatopoeia, hyperboles, and personification.  These crafts are always fun to include for both the writer and the reader of the story!

         Week 5: Goodbye "one day" and "once upon a time" stories and hello something more exciting!  This week the students will be shown five additional leads (or ways to begin their narratives).  These ideas are all thanks to the very talented Beth Newingham.  You can get your own copy of the strategies by clicking on the links below.

            Talking lead                 Action lead                 Sound Effects lead   

            Flashback lead            Question lead            Snapshot lead

        ***I can't wait to update our hallway bulletin board (in October) to some of the great writing samples that Ms. Russell and I have seen in class!!!

        Week 4: The students are really doing a great job trying to incorporate all of the skills and strategies that are being modeled in my lessons into their own writing.  Because of their willingness to try new things and of course their hard work, their narratives are starting to look really good.  I can't wait to get a few samples online for you to see for yourself!   

        Week 3: Last week I mentioned that I will be working toward helping your child move his/her stories to the next level.  One way is through including more details and focusing on one event and stretching it out (with details) as opposed to just writing a "bed-to-bed" story.  This week we will continue to add details, including a strategy known as "Show, Not Tell."        

        Week 2: Now that we have finished up learning about how and why we will write this year we are ready to leap into our first genre!  We will officially begin our Narrative (story) genre this week.  My goal for your child is to show him/her how to take his/her stories to the next level.  I have many skills and strategies that I will teach during our narrative genre study that I believe will help us reach this goal! 

        Week 1: The students have already begun learning about the expectations, rituals, and routines of Writer's Workshop in our classroom.  I am very excited to see all that will be done this year as we work to grow and improve our writing!