Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Writing Strategies Goal 4: Focus/Meaning




Welcome to our book study of The Writing Strategies Book:  Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Writers by Jennifer Serravallo! I am joining forces with some other fabulous teacher bloggers to discuss the writing strategies we come across in this AMAZING professional text!    

Because this book isn't your typical professional development book filled with individual "chapters" of narrative, each teacher blogger will be giving you a glimpse into the 10 goals that are represented in the text.  Each goal area is filled with many valuable strategies that will help you to support and guide your students as they become better writers.  Keep in mind, we are only highlighting a FEW strategies in each section.  There are over 300 strategies in the whole book!

If you missed our other posts you can find them here:






When we read a book or an article, we assume that the author is writing about a particular topic, and that the author communicates a point.  For example, if you were reading an article about global warning, you wouldn't expect the author to all of the sudden include  a section about why their favorite food is pizza.

Students often struggle with the process of focusing their writing on a particular subject or topic.  Serravallo suggests that we teach students that it's important to have a focal point in mind when they begin writing, but they should also be open to revisions as their writing progresses if they find that it is not going as planned.




When choosing this as a goal for your students to work on, you may want to consider students who:

* have a difficult time articulating their focus.

* have a difficult time matching details to their focus topic.


Serravallo recommends conferencing with a student to help determine if they could use support with this goal.  She suggests asking them, "What do you think your piece is mostly about?"

Does their writing reflect their answer? If not, consider this as a possible goal for the student.
Focus Strategy 1: Ask Questions to Focus

This strategy is a great one for those students who tend to have too big or broad a topic as they write.  This might be a student who is writing about every single detail about their summer vacation when they really want to write about learning to swim. It might also include a student who is writing about how to take care of a dog, but also includes lists of breeds or other types of pets.

This strategy has the writer ask themselves questions to narrow it down such as:

What are you really trying to say?
What is the most important thing about my topic?
What details support this particular topic? Which ones go off course?



Focus Strategy 2: Imagine Your Audience and Consider Your Purpose

My students often struggle with writing with their audience in mind, so I was really drawn to this strategy.  

Serravallo suggests that students think about the purpose of their writing.  Are they writing to entertain, inform, or persuade?  Then, they should think specifically about who the reader will be and what they will want to know about.




Focus Strategy 3: Find a Theme in Your Collection

This strategy is great for students who are working on informative or persuasive pieces.  It works best when the student has collected several pieces of research or writing material.

Students look back at the material they have collected to see if they can find patterns in the details that fit together.  They can ask themselves what main idea or ideas they could focus their informational text on.




If you would like to purchase the book mentioned above, you can find it here.



This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love.  

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Make sure to visit Tried and True Teaching Tools, our official hostess for this week, for even more ideas!

If you would like to link up your own blog posts about this book, feel free to do so in the linky below!  Don't forget to check out the other bloggers' posts as well as they write them for even more ideas!





Monday, May 1, 2017

Weekly $25 Teachers pay Teachers Gift Card Giveaway May 1, 2017





Can you believe it is already May? I don't know about you, but the last few months have flown by! We are finishing up testing, have a few field trips planned, and then this school year will come to an end!

As I was writing this blog post, I bumped into this funny May Meme.



It made me chuckle for a second, but we all know in reality, that it just isn't possible!  As teachers we want to squeeze in every last drop of learning we can into our kiddos before they leave us for the next grade!

To help you with that we are giving away a $25 Teachers pay Teachers gift card! 

AND... After you finish entering this giveaway, be sure to check out our Teacher Appreciation Giveaway as well!




GIVEAWAY DETAILS:  

Prize: $25 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card

Giveaway Organized by: Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher)



Rules: Use the Rafflecopter to enter. Giveaway ends 5/8/17 and is open worldwide.

Are you a Teacher Blogger or Teachers pay Teachers seller who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your store and social media?  Click here to find out how you can join our totally awesome group of bloggers! 


a Rafflecopter giveaway




Teacher Appreciation Week Giveaway!



In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, some of my blogging buddies and I have gotten together to give away teaching supplies that we LOVE!  Check out all of our favorites and scroll down to enter to win ALL of them!

AND... After you enter this giveaway, head over to enter our weekly $25 Teachers pay Teachers gift card giveaway for another chance to win!










Mr. Sketch Markers are my absolute favorite for making anchor charts and working with small groups!  I love the bright colors that rarely fade - and the fact that they smell good doesn't hurt either.  My students also love when I use them to grade their papers!  I buy them on Amazon using Subscribe and Save to save money!




Flair pens are another  one of my favorite markers.  I love to use them for grading and I also let students use them to revise their writing.




I do not know how I would live without my laminators.  Yes, that is plural! I have one at home and one at school and it is so convenient!



Even though I love my laminators, there are times when I need something quick and easy.  I love these dry erase pockets for being able to quickly re-use worksheets.  My students get extra practice, and I save time at the copier.


And speaking of dry erase, these are the absolute best dry erase markers out there!  My school buys a cheaper version, so I always stock up on my own, because they last so much longer! Again, I buy these on Amazon using Subscribe and Save.



Something about color makes everything better!  From boring worksheets to letters home, Astrobrights paper makes everything a little more fun!




Just like I don't like to compromise on my dry erase markers, I also don't like to compromise on the pencils we use in class.  Ticonderoga pencils are by far the best.  They sharpen so much easier than any of the others and they hold a point longer.



What teacher can't do without Teachers pay Teachers!? If you win this giveaway, you will  receive a $50 TpT gift card to spend however you like!



I love keeping all of our important dates from birthdays to assemblies on a large wall calendar that both my students and I can see.



Last but not least, sharpies always come in handy for labeling personal items, my class library books and more!

So, onto the giveaway...





GIVEAWAY DETAILS:  

Prize: 10 Teacher "Must Haves" prize pack including: Mr. Sketch Markers, Flair Markers, Personal Laminator, Dry Erase Pockets, Dry Erase Markers, Astrobrights Paper, Sharpies, Ticonderoga Pencils, a Wall Calendar, and a $50 Teachers pay Teachers gift card.

Giveaway Organized by: Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher)




Rules: Use the Rafflecopter to enter. Giveaway ends 5/8/17 and is open worldwide.


Are you a Teacher Blogger or Teachers pay Teachers seller who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your store and social media?  Click here to find out how you can join our totally awesome group of bloggers!




This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love.  



Monday, April 24, 2017

Weekly $25 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card Giveaway April 24, 2017



My class is knee deep in state-testing this week! I always like to plan for easy activities during our non-testing time because my students are burned out!  One of my go-to places to find activities is Teachers pay Teachers.  If you also turn to TpT, you will LOVE this giveaway!



GIVEAWAY DETAILS:  

Prize: $25 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card

Giveaway Organized by: Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher), 



Rules: Use the Rafflecopter to enter. Giveaway ends 5/1/17 and is open worldwide.

Are you a Teacher Blogger or Teachers pay Teachers seller who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your store and social media?  Click here to find out how you can join our totally awesome group of bloggers! 


a Rafflecopter giveaway




Thursday, April 20, 2017

Writing Strategies Goal 3: Generating and Collecting Ideas



Welcome to our book study of The Writing Strategies Book:  Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Writers by Jennifer Serravallo! I am joining forces with some other fabulous teacher bloggers to discuss the writing strategies we come across in this AMAZING professional text!    

Because this book isn't your typical professional development book filled with individual "chapters" of narrative, each teacher blogger will be giving you a glimpse into the 10 goals that are represented in the text.  Each goal area is filled with many valuable strategies that will help you to support and guide your students as they become better writers.  Keep in mind, we are only highlighting a FEW strategies in each section.  There are over 300 strategies in the whole book!

If you missed our other posts you can find them here:






Sometimes students struggle with writing because they have a hard time coming up with ideas to write about. This section of the book gives you strategies to help students generate ideas. 

 Serravallo specifically suggests that writers in grades 3 and above keep a notebook to store ideas that they can return to again and again.






When choosing this as a goal for your students to work on, you may want to consider students who:

* have a hard time getting started during writing time.

* say, "I don't know what to write about."

* You might also check writers' notebooks to see which students have generated short lists during class lessons on idea gathering.  These students may benefit from this goal as well.


Focus Strategy 1: Important People

In this strategy, students make a list of people that are important to them.  They then list memories they have of those people.  

I have done similar lessons to this one in the past at the beginning of the year.  I decided to try a slightly different version after reading this.  Instead of modeling myself with people who are important to me, I modeled with a character in our read aloud How to Steal a Dog.  The students were able to help add the people and the memories since they were familiar with the character.  I felt like this gave them more of a guided experience than just listening to my memories.



Student examples:








This student could benefit from working on this goal.
Focus Strategy 2: Moments With Strong Feelings

Using this strategy, students choose a strong feeling (worry, fear, embarrassment, etc.).  They then think about the memories they have that connect to that feeling.

I think this might be a fun activity to do using emojis.  Have the students pick and emoji, and then think of memories they have that relate to that emoji!

Focus Strategy 3: Jot Today, Write Tomorrow


This strategy really gets students living like writers by carrying around Post-Its or small notebooks to jot down things that happen around them.  My students LOVE using their small writer's notebooks for this!




If you would like to purchase the book mentioned above, you can find it here.



This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love.  


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Don't forget to stop by Melanie from Momma With a Teaching Mission who is our official host of this week's chapter!

If you would like to link up your own blog posts about this book, feel free to do so in the linky below!  Don't forget to check out the other bloggers' posts as well as they write them for even more ideas!





Monday, April 17, 2017

Weekly $25 Teachers pay Teachers Gift Card Giveaway




For those of us in the United States on traditional school calendars, we are heading towards the home stretch of the school year.  I only have 6 more weeks left!  Now is a great time to find new activities to keep your kiddos engaged the last few weeks or to start prepping for next year.

We would like to make that a little easier on you with a $25 Teachers pay Teachers gift card!



GIVEAWAY DETAILS:  

Prize: $25 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card

Giveaway Organized by: Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher)




Rules: Use the Rafflecopter to enter. Giveaway ends 4/24/17 and is open worldwide.

Are you a Teacher Blogger or Teachers pay Teachers seller who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your store and social media?  Click here to find out how you can join our totally awesome group of bloggers! 





Sunday, April 16, 2017

My Class is Eggstraordinary! FREEBIE



The past two months I have decorated my door with reasons why my class is amazing.  My students have absolutely LOVED it, so I have decided to keep the tradition going!



I placed a sign up on my door that said, "My Class is Eggstraordinary".  Then I printed out egg templates on pieces of card stock and cut them out.  In prior months I wrote out various shout-outs for the class as a whole.  This month, I decided to create an egg for each student.  



Every day I added a few more eggs.  I let them know that I would be adding an egg for each of them.  The excitement was high as they checked each day for their egg.



They even made one for me!



I have made a freebie for you just in case you wanted to try this project out with your students.  You can download it here.

Class Shout-Out Freebie My Class is Eggstraordinary

If you do decide to do this project, I would love to see pictures!  Please email me at kellys3ps@sbcglobal.net or tag me on InstagramFacebook, or Twitter!



If you would like to see the other months' projects you can find them here:



And... before you go, make sure to visit my Giveaways page to enter our weekly giveaway to win a $25 Teachers pay Teachers gift card!



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