best / favorite lessons

Hi all! Today we're blogging about our favorite and/or best lessons! I can't wait to read about all of yours! Be sure to link them up below (and if you want to write about something else, do that, too!)

One of my favorite lessons I used to do was an introductory lesson to the Writing Process. In this lesson, each child uses Play-Doh as I walk them through the process of creating a pencil holder, which serves as a metaphor for teaching writing. The kids end up creating all kinds of little sculptures, like these:

During the lesson, they "Rehearse" their piece in the beginning and we talk about not letting the critic's voice come into play - to just go ahead and create without fear of it not being good enough/pretty enough, etc. After a few minutes of working, I tell them to smash it up and start again, so the creator within them can continue to put ideas forward. They continue working, ignoring the critic, on something new. We spend a fair amount of time rehearsing - creating and then beginning again.

As they carry on, I prompt them to think about their purpose - something that looks good and serves the purpose of holding the pencil. We remind them to think about their audience, and so they ask for feedback from a friend about their creation thus far. They ask their partner, "Do you know where the pencil will go?" If so, the piece has unity and a strong message. 

Next, we encourage students to "see their piece again," as writers do in revision. They are asked to look at it from all points of view - from up high, down low, from across the way. Students make adjustments as needed.

They are then told that we also look at the fine details, which writers do as they edit, and so the kids ask their neighbors to exchange pieces of Play Doh to add the finishing touches to the piece with new colors.

Finally, students display their piece of art on an index cards that has a title and their name. Students gallery walk all pieces so all creations can be seen.

This lesson is super engaging for kids and a fantastic metaphor for the work they will do with the writing process all year! Plus, their pencil holders turn out so so cute!

This was just a little overview, but you can find a more detailed lesson plan here. Additionally, I'm discounting my Writing Process Posters - something that you might like to add to your own Writing Workshop! Check those out here. In addition to the process posters, this doc includes ideas to use for teaching the writing process at each of the six stages!

Get the details for this challenge here!

An InLinkz Link-up

poetry blog hop 2015: the power of the mini-lesson

Credits: Edu-Clips, Hello Fonts, & Epiphanous Owl

Super excited! It's National Poetry Month and you've reached the end of an amazing Blog Hop. Thank you to Carla over at Comprehension Connection for organizing everything and for the super cute images! Did you pick up some great freebies along the way? Well, you're right in time for one more, here at BigTime Literacy! 

I wanted to talk to you about one of my favorite parts of teaching literacy under a Workshop philosophy - the mini-lesson! (I promise, I will get back to the poetry momentarily!)

Some people might think that mini-lessons aren't important because they're mini. I beg to differ! Mini-Lessons are the universal curriculum when you teach with workshop. They pack a powerful punch quickly, and then set students off to do the hard work of literacy learning. In a mini-lesson, there are four parts: Link, Teaching Point, Active Involvement, and Connection. 

Here is a quick review of the parts of the mini-lesson, and then after, you can find my freebie, which is a set of lesson plans for the beginning of an intermediate poetry unit!

Link: Students access their prior learning to set them up for new learning. For example: "We've been talking a lot about poetry, and how poets use emotion and imagery to enhance their poems."

Teaching Point (& Explicit Teaching): Here, the teacher names exactly what students will do and explicitly demonstrates what it looks like. For example: "Readers, today we will learn another technique that poets use: rhythm. You probably already know about rhythm...I'm sure in previous grades you learned about alliteration, onomatopoeia, and repetition of lines within poetry. There are a few more ways poets use rhythm in their poems! One way is with rhyming poetry, which gives the poem rhythm. (Use Casey at the Bat to share an example of rhyming lines.) If the poet counts syllables and makes patterns for where the stress of the syllables lie, they are tending to the meter of the poem. (Illuminate with example.) If the poem has no rhyming words and there isn't a pattern with syllables, that is a free-verse poem."

Active Involvement: In this part of the mini-lesson, student have a brief opportunity to think through the teaching point with a partner. It's important to keep this brief, so that the mini-lesson stays mini! Remember, in a Reading Workshop, students get the bulk of their time to think about what they're learning, and share back at the end of workshop. For example, "We've been reading and studying Casey at the Bat, and I'd like you to listen to a few stanzas from that poem. Now, listen as I read First Baseball Glove by Donald Graves. (Project the poem for so students can follow along.) Now it's your turn: Turn and talk with your partner about the similarities and/or differences in rhythm between these two poems. Students share out briefly at conclusion of share."

Connection: In this final part of the mini-lesson, you set purpose for the work students will do during their independent workshop time. For example, "As you read poems today during workshop, be thinking about whether or not the author used rhythm as a device to engage you with their poetry. Also, we will share about this: Do you prefer poems with emotion, imagery, or rhythm most? Be thinking about that today as you continue your poetry study."

With that background, you are ready for my freebie! I've been working on a poetry unit for the fifth grade teachers in my district, and I'm making the first week of those plans available to you!

In my freebie, you will get five days of plans, each with the four parts of the mini-lesson. The teaching points in these first five lessons are...

1. Poetry is different than prose.
2. Poets use emotion as an element to create engaging poems.
3. Poets use imagery to draw their readers into their poetry.
4. Poets use the devices of simile and metaphor to enhance imagery in their poems.
5. Poets use rhythm to make their poems 'musical'.

So here it is, a week's worth of lesson plans for poetry! Download my freebie by clicking here.

And, if you're interested enough for the full unit, you can download that here. The complete unit includes three weeks of lesson plans, standards alignment, key vocabulary, a list of mentor texts, teacher notes page, and four graphic organizers your students will love to use!

If you like what you've read here, please follow me! I love to write, I love to create curriculum, I love to share ideas with everyone, and really, I love this community of bloggers I've found - they teach me new things and collaborate with me on great projects like this blog hop!

And now you've reached the end of the Hop, but you can jump right back to the beginning by clicking the image below. I know my friend Carla will be happy you stopped by Comprehension Connection!

Before you go...since you made it this far, enter my raffle for a chance to win the complete Peel the Onion Unit!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy National Poetry Month!