the thanksgiving interview project

Teaching writing has never been a strength of mine.  Something about all the lack of rule following just makes me nervous.  I am structured and analytical.  I like order.  Except for my bedroom.  That's a mess.  Laundry everywhere.  But I digress.

This year, I have been concentrating on improving the way I teach writing.  My first thought was, "AHHHHHH, WHERE DO I BEGIN???"  I decided to start with what I know: the assignments I currently have.  I'd make them better.

If you are anything like me, you are reading this and thinking, "Yeh that's great and all, but WHAT DO YOU MEAN?"

Here's what I mean.

Last year, I gave a 4-week writing assignment that spanned over Thanksgiving break.  The assignment was to generate questions, interview a family member, and then reflect on what they've learned.  Overall, this project was a success and the kids enjoyed it.  

Buuuuuuut, it lacked refinement.  And more importantly, it lacked excitement.  Take a look at the layout for example.  

See what I mean?  Ugh.  Just looking at it makes me want to fall asleep.

Here's what it looks like now:

So much better.  And my class was so. so. so. excited.  You know when the kids won't stop asking questions the entire time you are trying to explain, to the point where you have to say "STOP ASKING ME QUESTIONS SO I CAN TRY TO EXPLAIN!!!"  Yeh.  That happened.  

I also changed the layout.  I created a page that gives an overview of the project with the due dates for each of the 4 parts.  Now it's easy for the parents kids to stay organized and manage their time.

Then I gave each part it's own page.  No more pages full of language that are hard to follow.

Currently, we are set to begin part 2 of this assignment on Monday.  But I am already receiving lots of positive feedback from parents.  

-My child is excited about her writing assignments.

-There's no anxiety at home.

-My child isn't waiting until the last minute this year.  

-We haven't had one night end in tears.

Assigning this project right before Parent/Teacher conferences was an unexpected bonus!

Psst!  This project is for sale at my TeachersPayTeachers store and IT'S ONLY 3 DOLLARS!

(Note: To save your job ink, I recommend only printing the first page in color.)

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classroom court case

The other day I was cleaning my desk (a rare occurrence) and I found a letter from a couple of my students. Now, to understand the letter, I first need to give you a bit of background:

1. We have a classroom economy in my class where kids apply for classroom jobs and then are paid weekly in classroom money.  They can buy homework passes, lunch parties with me, and raffle tickets for prizes.  They can also be fined for calling out, losing worksheets, whining, etc.  
2. Some of my kids have created book companies and are selling their published work to each other for classroom money.
3. LW Books is owned by two boys.
4. NNE Books is owned by three girls.

Okay, back to the letter.

Dear Mrs. Eddy,

We feel we have the right to sue LW Books.  Emily willingly bought one of our "How to Survive School" books.  LW Books writers came up to us and told us that they told Emily to write a bad review on "How to Survive School."  We feel we have the right to sue LW Books for this. We would also like you to know that we have hired Connor as our lawyer.

Sincerely,

NNE Books

Well, at first I told NNE Books that they didn't have a right to sue because Emily has the freedom to write whatever she wants.  But then I thought about it a little.  LW Books hired Emily to write the review and because of this, other kids aren't buying books from NNE.  Well I am no legal expert, and so I emailed my sister (who is a lawyer).  Turns out that NNE Books does have a case!  So I decided that we would wrap up the year by pulling together many of the writing skills we have learned and put together a mock trial.  My sister has volunteered to help each side with preparing their case, and then she plans to come in and oversee the trial.  Ahhhh!  This is going to be great.  I simply cannot wait!

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