This week, we combined two of my favorite things going right now: The Writer’s Notebook and Voicethread. It all began about a week ago… I took my third graders to the computer lab to show them how to create pictures using Max Write. Their pictures were then saved, printed, and placed in the “Marvelous Mini-Lessons” section of their Notebooks. The next day, we read two stories that featured several similes (Quick as a Cricket and Owl Moon). After reading, students had to create a list of 20 sentences that each contained a simile to describe their picture. Then, they worked with a partner to rework and refine their sentences. Next, they uploaded their pictures into Voicethread and they had to “gimme” their ten best simile sentences which were recorded onto their Voicethread picture. What was so awesome about this lesson was how diligent the kids were about writing their similes. Since it was going to be on the Internet “for all the world to see,” they worked so hard to create really great similes so that they would look like “a really smart bunch of third graders!” You should have seen how many thesauruses and dictionaries were being passed around!
~ Jenna Wyks, 3rd Grade, Smithville
Jenna,
What great ideas!!! You are brilliant. I can’t wait to try this with our 3rd grade Inclusion class at Roland. This will work with any student regardless of their levels (what a DI lesson, combined with technology). I like your idea of “Marvelous Mini-Lessons” section in the notebook. Do you have any other great sections that you’re willing to share?
Thanks for sharing!
Barb
Hey Jenna,
Nice work!! Our students found a natural connection with Writer’s Notebook and Voicethread too. Chris Fuhs and I did the Writer’s Notebook lesson with the Ellison Die-Cuts to “spark” a quick write. We have also been experimenting with the technology tools that we learned from Betty to showcase student work. Two of our students used Voicethread to share their writing. It is tagged in Voicethread as Writer’s Notebook, but here is the link too. http://voicethread.com/share/71030/
Let your students know, Room #28 agrees…they are a really smart bunch of third graders! Smart as a whip:)
Kim Monroe & Chris Fuhs
Room 28
Reeds Road
We have a few sections in our Notebooks: our “Bright Ideas” section where we keeps our lists of potential topics; our “Super Spicy Stories in Progress” section (this is where we keep the stories that we are thinking about publishing and stories that we work on during free writing); our “Perfectly Polished Published Pieces” section; and of course the “Marvelous Mini-Lessons” section. We try our best to keep them neat and tidy, but my students really have trouble with the papers getting ripped out of the binders and then putting them back in the right section! Since I’ve instituted a Writer’s Notebook Rubric and the Writer’s Notebook Self-Evaluation, which we complete periodically, they’ve been more serious of keeping it organized. But next year I’m spending a good part of my order on those little, round hole protectors for the papers in a binder
You would be laughing if you saw me as I am reading this post and the comments. My smile is as broad as the grand canyon while I am doing a silent cheer. Bravo! This is exactly what I envisioned with both writer’s notebook and our entrance into web 2.0 tools. How refreshing to read about students being intrinsicially motivated to do well – the power of an authentic audience.