A Mini Celebration in My Head While the Class Worked

Ever have one of those days when you get a moment to sit back and take in all the hard work you've put into your kiddos and the curriculum?  Well today, I had that moment!!  

While the kids were working I sat back and watched them diligently working during Writer's Workshop.  LOVE those moments when everyone in your room seems to finally get the routine and expectations.

Today our mini lesson was reviewing ALL we've learned about what good writers do.  We talked about having detailed illustrations, a catchy opening, meaty middle, and wrap up sentence.  

I still have some writers who write 3 or 4 sentences and think their story is done.  I pulled some books from our library and we looked through them.  We looked for openings, middles, and the ending sentences.  A light bulb went off for some and they realized that most of the writing took place in the middle.  

I also introduced a Writer's Checklist.  I told the kids that when they were done a story they would now be responsible for looking over their work.  No more, "Oh, you forgot a capital"...or "Where's your ending punctuation?" from me!  They would now be checking their work and then writing their names on the board to meet for a more formal conference.  

I'll continue to do Drop In's (which is something new I've been doing this year) but I'll begin sitting with students at the jelly bean table to conference with them.

Well, I had kids filling pages (and staying on topic) today and they understood the Writer's Checklist.  Can't wait to see how tomorrow goes!!

Here are a few samples.  Look at all their hard work!!  One PROUD teacher here.