Deck the Halls

Descriptive writing and art transform our bulletin boards and serve as a wall-to-wall portfolio of student work - just in time for the holiday season.

A descriptive holiday was the topic of this assignment. Words and language  paint a detailed picture of a holiday experience.

It's been a busy first semester with lots of writing. Students are learning to write in descriptive mode. Descriptive writing is an art form. It's painting a word picture so the reader "sees" exactly what the writer is describing. Descriptive writing relies on the five senses to create a word picture. 

Students work through the writing process in order to help them become the best writers they can be. Clearly, that last stage - - publishing - - brings a smile.

Bubble Gum Research

An article in Forbes Magazine cites several research studies about how gum chewing can possibly increase alertness, improve memory, lower anxiety, and accomplish a host of other good things. Chewing gum before taking a test may help improve the result, apparently by stimulating the brain with increased blood flow. 

It's been a hectic several weeks with lots of writing practice. Students have been preparing for the district writing prompt. The focus has been descriptive writing.  Descriptive writing is an art form. It's painting a word picture so that the reader "sees" exactly what the writer is describing. Students have looked at various ways to "hook" the reader with catchy beginnings, figurative language, vivid verbs, adjectives, and writing components to “show not tell”. 

Today the student writing samples were delivered to central office and Room 100 celebrated because we didn't just write - -we were able to "blow the top off this writing assessment."

Thanks, Shannon, for the cute font.

An Autobiographical Sketch

                                           sketch [sketch] n.

                                                    1. a simple drawing

                                                    2.  a short descriptive essay

This year our  writing curriculum will include the Step Up to Writing program with a focus on descriptive writing.  A descriptive essay describes a person, object, or event so vividly that the reader feels like he or she could reach out and touch it. Descriptive writing paints a picture. 

To help students understand the notion of vivid description, they started the year writing a brief description of a person, someone they know quite well. Students wrote an autobiographical sketch. After students  completed the writing, they had fun with a second sketch. Students drew their self-portraits.  

Parents, you will want to check out our bulletin board at fall conferences. Students are excited to share their first writing piece. 

"D" is for Dessert

Room 100 added a little sweetness to observe National Dessert Day, a day to celebrate all things yummy.

Fifth grade students are preparing for the district writing assessment, and today’s prompt was sweet. Since it is National Dessert Day, students were asked to write about a favorite dessert. What does it look like? How does it smell and taste? They were asked to describe a dessert so clearly the reader could see it, smell it, and almost taste it as well.

There were plenty of reasons to celebrate after the papers were collected. Students are becoming descriptive writers. We heard plenty of "oohs" and "aahs" as students shared their paragraphs.  

Students ended class with a cookie.

It's always a favorite!

Happy National Dessert Day!

If I lived in a snow globe . . .

Here it is! 
My favorite writing activity this winter.

Writing and art go hand-in-hand in this integrated lesson designed to develop descriptive writing skills. Students were asked to imagine life in a snow globe and then describe it in a writing piece. 

What would they see? 

What would they feel? 

What would they hear?

Students created snowglobes to showcase their descriptive writing.  

A Bit of WhoVille in Room 102

The season just wouldn't be the same without at least one showing of the movie "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."  Room 102 chose to extend the lesson of the greedy ol' Grinch and provide a creative outlet for students to write.

A descriptive holiday was the topic of this assignment. Students used words and language to paint a detailed and complete picture of a holiday experience.

This writing project was our introduction to Google Docs. One of the best features of Google Docs is the collaboration feature. Students were taught how to share their documents online. Essays were checked online and suggestions for revisions were provided for students online. When students finally printed their work, they had been proofed.

He may be grouchy, but he made this writing project a whole lot of fun. 

If you'd like to learn more about Google Docs, click the icon.