Meredith

I agree that Teresa is the queen of guided reading, but she is the Yoda of writer's workshop. Thanks for your awesome lesson today. You are really giving me some great ideas to help get me out of my writer's workshop funk. Just to let everyone know, she taught a lesson on how to write an autobiography. The kids (5th grade) first completed a graphic organizer with different boxes dedicated to different phases of their life (birth, early years, school years, family, friends, things I love.) She told an awesome story about a memory from her early years. She used this story to model how to complete the graphic organizer. She filled it out with the students. After they completed the G.O., they had a chance to share parts of it with someone next to them. Then she showed them how to make a life map. They used their G.O. to make a life map that had little sketches of memories from each phase of their life, much like an illustrated timeline. She modeled this with her own and completed her life map with them. Again, they had a chance to share their life map with someone. They loved sharing, and hearing funny memories about their friends' lives.
She advised me to have the students write their autobiographies in chapters. This will help everyone stay somewhat together (which is my main problem with writing, the gap that forms between students who work efficiently, and others who are much slower.) I'm excited to start the writing process tomorrow. I know it will go super well because of all the awesome prewritting she did. Thanks Teresa!!!