I'm going to create a poster to show my students how I used Meg Kearney and the knowledge of format elements to help me improve my writing and how they can use authors and their posters to understand more deeply what they are writing and how to write it. Thanks Meg for the inspiration! I like this planning sheet because it illustrates many aspects of our curriculum and acknowledges many aspects of the writing process. Form, main message, conventions and those literary devices we explore. It is always overwhelming for them when they first start to write though. Hopefully this will make it easier for me Here's the Prezi:
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One thing I love about summer is that one friend and I always make it a ritual to turn our weekly run at the gym into a bi-weekly event in the forest and there's not much better than that. I went to my first writer's course this week and I was given a picture of a forest and 5 minutes to write. An ode to one of my favourite summer rituals, my friend and our friendship came out. September will soon hit and we'll be waiting for the forest again...or enough snow to cross country ski! Image from www.fitforadog.ca Rhythm of Summer misty idyllic damp rustling of branches from the forest beyond rhythmic crunching of two sets of feet eternal discussions of children, jobs, life....our days complaints of aching muscles and that extra glass of wine summer morning runs I love summer, but that doesn't mean I don't love the rest of the year too! But what I do love about summer is that time, especially for me, in the morning. I get to focus on the things that I love, and being as nerdy as I am, that often means professional reading and personal writing.
I am participating in Teachers Write this summer and one Quick Write assignment was to write a thank you letter. I didn't know what to write, but Be...Like a Tree was written a day or so after. I had no idea, until I reflected on it that it was a thank you poem, thanking my profession, my mentors and the quiet mornings before the kids get up for the chance to learn & strengthen my roots so I can aim higher in the school year. I find friends in the professional books I read. To me they read like novels of self-discovery, which they are. I find shared dreams. I love Nancie Atwell, Ralph Fletcher, Penny Kittle and many more. I understand their dreams of wanting to tie in those kids and with reading and writing. I want them to use their reading and writing to find a place to be, understand and grow or as Penny Kittle states, "to find the answers to the questions you didn't know you were asking." (Book Love, 2012) I found a friend in Donalyn Miller when I read her Nerdy Book Club Blog post, Fangirl. These authors and teachers are my super stars. I would love to meet them, but would be struck dumb, probably on both levels, if I met them. By the way, I can't wait for her new book, Reading in the Wild, due out November 2013. See...teenager lining up for concert tickets. Thank you too, to all the fabulous people who fully embrace their inner nerd and create such fabulous forums as #NerdyBookClub, #TitleTalk , #TeachersWrite, #nErDcampBC and Poetry Friday which allow me to connect with my "stars", to find authors, books and experiences that nourish my teaching and allow me to explore "the questions I didn't know I even had." Kittle
It's funny or not, but doing rhythmic activities like biking or running...or even driving the car is where I compose poetry the best. It's like the rhythm of my legs moving under me or the sound of the bike creates a beat that my mind can't resist. It's also a freeing time. You aren't directly involved in stopping your children from fighting, timing dinner so everyone can get to their sports, so my mind opens up to its own possibilities. I've always like running and biking, not just for the exercise, but for how it allows my mind to play. Not a bad mix, really. Healthier body and a creative rejuvenating time.
Just realized though...that creativity does not happen on a treadmill! Outside with open spaces for me! |
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Who Am I?I'm a Teacher Librarian and Grade 7 Language Teacher. Many thanks to these forums which inspire, educate and promote collaboration & communication!
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