I asked my best friend (and one of the best teachers I know) to be a guest blogger this week! She has shared a great Writer's Workshop strategy with us!
Keep reading...
As
a teacher who has worked with young writers (K-3) for the past 10 years, I have
gained some insight into how to motivate and acknowledge kids in this area.
Although I'm always looking for new tips & techniques I can use to enhance
my Writing Workshop, I have come to realize that no matter the curriculum or
content I'm presenting to my students, it's
the way kids feel about their abilities that encourages them to learn something
new. (Amen Rachel!)
In
my classroom, celebrating the efforts of young writers is a daily practice
during Writer's Workshop. Compliments and words of praise go a long way and
help children begin to recognize their own strengths (and areas for continued
growth) as writers.
One
of the strategies I utilize to celebrate and acknowledge every effort my
students make is called, Did-It Dots. I purchase little,
plain, colored circle stickers to place on student papers during the independent
writing time of my Writer’s Workshop. I use these stickers to acknowledge the
writing techniques or strategies that I have introduced during my mini-lesson.
I walk around the classroom and look for examples of students trying the concepts we are working on as a
class or the various personal goals
my students have set for themselves.
When
I see evidence of their effort to try something and focus on the new learning,
I simply place a little circle sticker on their paper. As I do this, I say,
"You did it! You ________." (I state what I notice they did.) My
students have been trained to respond with, "I did it! I _______!"
(Repeating what I said about their writing.) I find it important for my
students to understand how proud I am of all they are learning, but also how
important it is for them to see their accomplishments themselves.
I
don't use Did-It Dots every day during Writer’s Workshop because overuse seems
to diminish the excitement of this strategy. If you find yourself needing to
rejuvenate this idea (maybe you already do something similar), I have adapted
Did-It Dots by using a hole-punch instead of the stickers. Children get excited
to see their papers look like Swiss-cheese by the time we get ready to publish
their stories.
No
matter what strategies you use to celebrate writers, always remember that
building positive self-awareness in little learners can last a lifetime.
Opportunities to acknowledge every effort kids make will help your learning
environment flourish! Starting small will soon have you saying, "I did
it" too!
Rachel
Huntley
Kindergarten
Teacher: Charlotte Public Schools
Red
Cedar Writing Project Fellow and Teacher Consultant
