Yesterday, my team attended a training session titled, "Writing Strategies for Special Needs Writers." After sitting through the training, I believe most of the strategies would be good for all writers - especially at this particular age.
I was glad to walk away with a few new strategies in my toolbelt and immediately went to work making changes to our expository planning document.
We added the box for drawing their thoughts/brainstorming. Why didn't we think of that before? I even used this page with my students today, and the KIDS LOVED IT! How great it was to spend 5 minutes or less drawing our thoughts on a prompt (today's prompt was about your favorite time of year) and then talking about how the pictures connect to the main ideas. Fantastic and SO EASY!
Of course, my biggest take away might be this quote:
"I don't teach writing. I teach writers."
Who knows? Next year, our planning document might look completely different. It'll all depend on what works for the kids. What works for your writers? I'd love to see some of your ideas!
