2. An idea for teaching…
Ideas
1. Read Dear Mr. Blueberry
2. Explain RAFTS
3. Students choose random animal (toy) without
letting peers see it.
4. They research about the habitats and living need of
their animal.
5. They write a letter to the zookeeper, telling him
what they need in order to live happily at the zoo.
6. They seal their letters, properly address them, and
put them in the classroom mailbox.
7. I read their letters aloud
8. Students try to guess what type of animal wrote the
letter.
9. Student who wrote the letter, shows their animal
toy for verification.

3. Dear Mr. Zookeeper, March 12th, 2011
I am traveling from far, far away on the continent of Africa. I grew up in the savanna
and on grassy plains, so I would prefer a sparsely vegetated desert landscape with shade for me to
rest in. You will need to plant some very large trees, however, because I am quite large. As far as
food goes, you better make sure you have an awesome garden. I love to eat
roots, bark, leaves, berries, seeds, and lots of fruit…actually I will be needing 300-350 lbs of this
stuff every day. Also, I will need a large supply of water – perhaps a stream running through my
new home – so that I can drink at least 50 gallons of water each day.
That’s basically it, but here are a couple of things to keep in mind: Although they are
horrible for my “girlish” figure, I will never turn down a peanut as a snack. I hear there are other
herds who live in Asia. Contrary to popular belief, I can’t fly holding a magic feather. And you
better put my home as FAR AWAY from the mice habitat as possible, if you don’t want a disaster
at the zoo!
Looking forward to meeting you!
Your friend,
Ellie

4. Biocrostic
Rotten adults in every story
Outside the normal children’s author’s box
Always writing about kids that struggle
Loud, rambunctious characters
Descriptions that touch all senses
Dives right into the character’s mind
Action surrounding every story
Hard to believe his biography is true
Laugh in shock of what happens

5. Writing a Narrative
Married
Biography high
school
• Using a “Web Map”, they sweetheart
brainstorm ideas about events Husband
Graduated
left for Iraq
in their lives. college
4 times
• They share these ideas with
group members who vote on
most interesting topic. Got 2
• (After teacher modeling)
students will create drawings
awesome
dogs –
Steph Bought a
of the scene they choose with home
Lucy &
talking bubbles etc. Ethel
• They will then use these
drawings to write a narrative Held at Moved
(short, appx. 10 min). gun point across the
• They will exchange papers during country 11
& write 3 questions they have robbery times
for their partner’s narrative.
• They will revise their
original drafts & present final
drafts w/ drawings. A way to… Organize

6. What connections exist between real-life
R writing and school writing?
e • Students need to make authentic connections to the
f writing assignments that they are given – in all levels of
schooling.
l • As teachers, it is our job to help our students find the
bridge that connects these two very different aspects of
e their lives.
• Simply having students “write about what they did
c over the weekend” is not sufficient for a teacher to be
t able to say that they are connected with their students’
interests.
I • We need to make sure that our students know (not
think) that we genuinely want to know their thoughts,
o lives and aspirations.
• In every grade level, we can pay attention to the lives
n of our students – we should keep in mind the area of the
community they live in, the country (or state) their family

7. I will begin by
explaining to
my students
that we will be
learning how
words work
through the
use of
antonyms, and
As a fun way to explain what
get them they are.
thinking about
antonyms, I
will read The
Foot Book by
Dr. Seuss.

8. Reflection:
Our presentation
went pretty well.
Because of time
constraint, I think we
Grade 3-5: T-Rex went faster than
Create a Predator, Carnivore normal, but the
“Diamante” Hunting, Searching, Killing class seemed to
Poem using understand our
Teeth Scales Neck Legs
Opposite ideas. Next time I
Hiding, Walking, Eating
words would spend more
relating to Lengthy, Herbivore time collaborating in
Dinosaurs. Brachiosaurus our group.
Interdisciplinary Teaching

9. Sometimes when we get into “teacher-mode” it can
be easy for us to forget to remind our students to be
themselves in their writing. When discussing specific
content, especially when reading novels, they might
accidentally use the voice of the author they have been
studying. It is important that we model writing for the
students that use various types of voice, so that they
understand that it does not have to always be exactly what
they would specifically do or say if they were the ones
Tell „em “speaking” or “acting” in the piece. By having a bag of
to use
their… tricks for teaching young students to use voice in their
writing, we can try out different methods and find out what
Voice really gets their creative juices going. One of the best ways I
have come across for getting my reader to really understand
my voice, is to constantly remind myself to get them to feel
like they’re “walking in my shoes” as they read.

10. W
W
o
r
r
i
k
t
S
I
h
n
o
g
p

11. Book Talk Strategy I Plan to use:
“Write-Around”
In a groups of 3-5, students write short
notes and pass them around to create a
string of conversation.
The first person quickly writes their
comments on a sheet of paper (each
person can start a sheet, or there can be
one for the whole group to
share, depending on grade level).
When the teacher says “Pass”, they
pass it to the next person who reads it
and adds their own.
This continues until each person has
written on each piece of paper.
They then receive their original piece of
paper and read what their peers wrote.

12. Have younger “Switcharoo”,
students draw a “Bumper Sticker” &
picture as their “License Plate” for
“plan for familiar stories.
writing”.
“Senses” activity
where they are given 3
possible topics about a
specific sense. Then
write descriptions &
guess each others’.
Teacher Tool Box

13. Free Space

14. I know am heading into a profession that takes a lot of heart. There
are not many jobs that compare when considering the how we can
affect a person‟s life from a very young age. There are a few teachers in our
lives that we all remember, for one reason or another, and I hope that I can
be that teacher who instills a love for learning deep inside the souls of my
students. I hope that they can walk away from my classroom with a
confidence in themselves that in some way I was able to help them find. If I
can help one person do better in their life, whether they remember me or not,
then I believe my career choice was perfect.
“One day, I too will make a difference.”