Writing Center Graffiti

It's about time, teachers,... that I admit I am a word collector.  I {heart} words.  I {heart} interesting phrases.  Although I do not feel a need for an intervention, I will (gulp) admit that as a child I used to read the dictionary.  

This love affair with words has continued throughout my adult life and I strive to share my passion with my students.  That is what led me to create a graffiti wall in my writing center.  

My graffiti wall is simply a bulletin board dedicated to posts of interesting words and phrases.  Both the students and I can write words on strips of paper and post them on the board.  At the beginning of the year, I demonstrate this by extracting words and phrases from our read-alouds to post on the board.  Before long, my students are pointing out the words they find interesting.  I invite them to copy them and post them on our graffiti wall.  Students who "catch my fever" even bring phrases in from home.

I've forged an alliance with the computer teacher to further spur our graffiti.  When he introduces fonts to my class, he uses some of our graffiti wall words.  Using the SmartBoard, he gives our words "life" by applying cool fonts to them.  You should hear the ooo-s and ah-s! Naturally, there is a marked increase in graffiti after that lesson!  

As a corollary to our graffiti wall, I have a "tired words" board.  We put overworked words to bed and list alternatives on the foot board.

This, too, gains momentum over time.  Before the year is over, we have a dormitory of beds with tired words!

Both of these boards have improved my students' writing markedly.  They are easy to accomplish and the payoff is huge.  Try it.  You'll like it.

USING POETRY IN THE CLASSROOM -- Part 7 -- POETRY LEARNING CENTERS

It's about time, teachers,... to talk about using poetry centers for POETRY!

Depending on the age and stage of your students, you may wish to begin a study of poetic structures with rhyme scheme, meter, and/or stanzas.  The figurative language synonymous with poetry is a rich source of study for centers.  For example, metaphors are an appropriate subject for task cards:

Similarly, assonance, similes, alliteration, onomatopoeia, etc.  can be studied at centers.

Writing responses to poetry are appropriate for centers, 

as is creating original poetry.  I find that elementary students are more comfortable writing poetry when they have a "prescription" for writing.  For example, they love writing haiku.

There are many, many types of poetry that are engaging for students to write, but the "prescription" may be elusive.  At my poetry centers, I place poetry posters with the task cards that ask them to write specific poetry.  For instance, when using the task card for haiku, I put this poster at the center:

My goal at learning centers is for the students to be as independent as possible.  After all, I'm conducting guided reading groups during center time.  By using task cards and posters, I have largely accomplished this goal.  There will always be some children who struggle to work independently, either because of their personality or learning needs. The majority, however, can act independently or find the assistance they need from their peers.  

Please remember that none of this happens overnight.  You must invest time in training your students to use centers of any type.  With poetry centers, it is essential that you model the things you want your students to do and ensure that your students are very familiar with the poetry before you place it in the center.

Next time, I will address some random thoughts about poetry learning centers.

If you are interested in my poetry task cards and the poetry posters I created for poetry centers, you can find both at my TpT Store or in my TN Shop.

March Poetry Freebie

It's about time, teachers . . . to add some March poetry to your students' portfolios.  My series of Poetry Possibilities on TpT now includes March themed poetry.  

Here is a free preview:

These poems each come with a teaching point and an eclectic collection of mini-lessons and activities.  The readability of the poems makes them appropriate to both primary and intermediate classrooms.  The skill lessons allow for remediation of older students or differentiation for younger ones.  Concepts and skills included in this 33 page unit are described here:

Stop by my TpT store to check out Poetry Possibilities for March.  I think you will like them.

Black History Month

It's about time, teachers, to get ready for Black History Month; a month to celebrate the accomplishments of Black Americans who have done so much to make our lives better.

Assigning your students to report on noteworthy people is fine, but, let's face it, a little boring.   Couple that with the time constraints we all face for prescribed curricula, and you have a common conundrum: how can I blend what I WANT to do with what I HAVE to do?  In the case of Black History Month, I find that poetry is a perfect way to solve it.   For example, the following poem gives you the heart of Matthew Henson.

But just reading a poem doesn't seem worthy of the study of Black History. So, I try to incorporate required curricula with some creativity. I call it Poetry Possibilities, just to remind myself that I don't have to do EVERYTHING every year. Rather, I can choose what is most appropriate to this year's class, and what appeals to me at this time. Honestly, sometimes I do all of the listed ideas; sometimes I just copy the poem and share it with my class.

As you can see, one of the things I could assign my students to do is design a postage stamp just for Matthew Henson. I was impressed to learn that there are more than 60 U.S. stamps honoring black Americans. Check it out for yourself at: 

http://library.thinkquest.org/10320/Stamps.htm. 

For Black History Month, I have collected 14 poems, which means you can use 1 poem per day for nearly 3 weeks. Each is accompanied by a teaching point covering a variety of skills, including: types of poetry, poetic devices, poetic structures, choral reading, text innovations, creative writing, and a host of reading skills. Because I am committed to differentiated instruction, I have included enrichment opportunities and research topics. You will also find graphic organizers, art projects, and book links.

This is just one piece of my Black History Month poetry unit, Black History Month Poetry Possibilities. This unit has a cousin unit that is absolutely FREE, called Poetry Possibilities -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I hope they help to make your Black History study more enjoyable.