I find that students constantly struggle with distinguishing the theme from the plot. I try to read a lot of picture books and have them tell me the theme after we have read it. I recently read Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting to my students and I had them pick out the theme. It is a story about a dad and young boy who live in an airport because they are homeless. It is also a good segway into discussing the topic of homelessness and reasons people are homeless etc… We also talked about symbolism (the bird represents that there is hope and that the boy and dad have hope to someday get a home). This can be used as a warm up to spark student’s writing ideas in their writing notebooks.5 minute picture book= symbolism, theme and a discussion, or at least a thought in student’s s mind about a social issue- can’t go wrong!
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- Congratulations! March 29, 2013Thanks to those who commented to enter some great gift certificates from Banners On the Cheap! Here are the winners….. (Check your email, to claim your prize!) Elizabeth- enjoy your car magnet! Karen Mueller- have fun creating your banner! Megan- Congrats on winning the canvas print- enjoy your first class!writereadtalk
- Awesome deal for you! March 7, 2013I am always looking for cheap ways to get signs, banners, and prints made, whether for home or school. I recently came across a website- Banners on the Cheap and was REALLY impressed by their prices for custom banners. I decided to try it out and I created a poster for my classroom that I put [...]writereadtalk
- A Non-fiction Article That Will Silence Your Students! January 31, 2013Looking for an awesome multi-media nonfiction article that will engage your students in ways that they haven’t been engaged before? Then, you must check out this article! The New York Times has really outdone itself with the info graphics that are included in this amazing article about an avalanche in Washington state last February. The [...]writereadtalk
- I Wonder ? January 28, 2013Tomorrow I will begin reading aloud to my 8th graders the book, Wonder by R.J. Palacio. If you haven’t read this book, or even heard all the buzz about it- you’re missing out! Check out this book trailer. You also may want to read the summary and reviews. This is also a strong contender for the [...]writereadtalk
- Where Kids Wonder! July 24, 2012Non-fiction is something I really want to focus on this year. I want to increase my non-fiction selections in my classroom library and I want to read more nonfiction aloud. One of the ways that I found to incorporate non-fiction into our classroom is at a website that I found. It is called Wonderoplis. It [...]writereadtalk
- New ideas, fresh start! July 21, 2012Is anyone still reading this blog???? I have been absent form this blog for a while. Life has been a whirlwind the past few months as I welcomed my daughter into the world. I have plans to post regularly again and share my reading, writing and learning ideas. There have been some big changes in [...]writereadtalk
- Snowy Day Writing Activity February 13, 2012Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner She has also written Snowmen All Year. Since we are in the middle of winter, I thought I would share a short create writing activity that you can do with your class. I recently read to my students, Snowmen at Night. It is a neat book about snowmen that [...]writereadtalk
- The Mysteries of Harris Burdick revealed! October 31, 2011I use the book The Mysteries of Harris Burdick at the beginning of the year , as a writing prompt (click here to read more about how my lesson). My students pick a picture and then they use that to spark their writing idea. I recently came across the book, The Chronicles of Harris Burdick. [...]writereadtalk
- Words… Words… Words September 3, 2011Words floating from the ceiling, words scattered allover the desks, whiteboard, even floor? This is how I want my room to look when my students enter one day during the first week of school. I am going to gather as many words as I can, print them in large font and colors, laminate them and [...]writereadtalk
- From lists to graphics- creating writing territories August 28, 2011At the beginning of the year, I always want my students to make a list of of writing territories (ideas that they can keep in their writing notebook for when they are stuck and have nothing to write about). This year I am going to throw magazines at them and have them cut out words, [...]writereadtalk
I enjoyed your site. It seems we have very similiar interests. I’ve taught elementary school for 36 years and also am the Co director of the Indiana University Southeast Writng Project. I hope to come back to your blog often. Have a great day.
Hi- Thanks so much for checking out my site, I appreciate it.