EXPLODE that Sentence!!!

I was chatting with one of the cute moms at Writers Workshop this week and I LOVED the mini-lesson she did w/ her kiddos! I just HAD to share! :)  

She wrote some plain sentences on the board like... The cat sat on a rug.  Then she taught her kids to EXPLODE the sentence with description and meaning! They would end up with something like.... The sleepy, fat cat lazily sat on the colorful, soft rug.  Ok- her sentences were better than THAT, lol, but you get the idea.  And telling the kids to EXPLODE the sentence, well, it's just plain fun! What a GREAT way to get them engaged and excited about the mini-lesson.  And GREAT practice with their sentences! Way to go!!!

I have jotted this idea down as a mini-lesson I'm going to do this week.  I think I'm going to put THIS thank you dynamite out to decorate the table for the mini-lesson.  Then we of course will need to have a couple after we work on our sentences!!! :)

Have fun EXPLODING your sentences! 

Tips for Writers- Part 2

3. Have fun with writing. Play with words, use your imagination, and tune your ear for language that
tickles you. One student coined the term “sizzling pickles” for pleasing words and phrases that jump out
when you read them. Look for your own “sizzling pickles” and use them in your writing. And keep your
eyes and ears peeled—ideas and inspiration for writing are lurking everywhere.

4. Don’t be shy about passing your writing around—it’s good experience to get feedback from friends,
family, and writers you respect

Journal Writing

Ok, I'm in LOVE with THIS blog post!!! She did a GREAT job breaking down journal writing  into small steps for the younger kids.  And a FANTASTIC job helping the kids know what to write about!! I may tweak a few things to personalize it for my children....but this is a GREAT place to start!!!!

It also made me think of THIS idea that I have on my TO DO list to make this weekend. I was going to make Doodle Mat #1. I think it would be great for the kids to show their dad and talk about their day over dinner. Now I'm thinking I want to tie this in with their journal!! I also LOVED Doodle Mat #4! Every once and a while we do best and worsts around the dinner table.  I LOVE that the mat does two awesome things and one not so great thing.  Hmmmm... the wheels are turning over here!!

If you come up ideas from these posts, PLEASE SHARE!!! :)  I'd love to see how you are using them to support your cute kiddo's journal writing!!

Pen Pals ARE HERE! :)

It's time for PEN PALS!!! :)  I ask that if you decide to write a pen pal, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE make sure you are going to commit.  Several of the mom's said they had pen pals before but they would never write! :(


Here is how this works.


         I've divided up the pen pals by yahoo groups.  These are some of the yahoo group I subscribe to and it is where I advertised and found the pen pals from. I thought that would be helpful as far as to quickly see if your family has something in common with theirs.  Ambleside is one of the places I got pen pals from.  If you use their curriculum, it may be fun to have a pen pal who is doing the same thing.


          Read through the description of each child. If you find a match for your child let me know and I will send you their personal information.  Please try to drop a letter in the mail this week.  I have NOT put the child's name or address on the blog to protect their private information.  So all you will need to send me is the letter for that child.  You are MORE THAN WELCOME to have more than one pen pal!!! It might be nice to give your child those options to see which one your child will connect with.


HAVE FUN!!!!!!!


LDS HOMESCHOOL

A
Age 15
Birthday: June 28, 1996
Address: Farmington, NM 
Info: She is very bubbly and outgoing and loves to collect friends. She is very much into fashion and loves to read. She wants to be a Marine Biologist. She loves listening to music.
 

B

My daughter has been wanting a pal since we moved away from all her cousins. She would love this! And it will be great for her writing skills. Here's our info:

Age: 6
Birthday:  9/9/05
Address: Cedar City, UT 

Info: McKinley loves swimming & dolls. She loves camping & fishing. She is a really great reader & loves to read. She also loves to write & use her imagination. She loves animals - especially her 2 dogs, Tundra & Sydney.And her younger sisters - Ireland & Kezia. 

Note: My daughter has been wanting a pal since we moved away from all her cousins. She would love this! And it will be great for her writing skills.

C

Age: 4

Birthday: December 8, 2006

Address: Tooele, UT

Info: She is learning ballet. She loves camping, animals, and learning geography. She has a little brother. She's feminine and usually wears dresses or skirts instead of pants.

WORKBOX GROUP


D
Age: 9
Birthday: 7/23/02
Address: San Antonio, Tx
Info: He loves legos, dinosaurs, and super heroes.  He likes to read and draw.  He also wants to learn to play the drums  is trying to learn to pay the guitar.


*E, F, G are siblings*


E
Age: 8
Birthday Aug. 31, 2003
Address: Summerville, SC
Info: loves to read, horses, American Girl dolls, crafts


F
Age: 5
Birthday: December 2, 2005
Address: Summerville SC
Info: learning to read and write, cars, motorcycles, coloring, sports, power tools, loves being outside, typical boy. :)


G
Age: 4
Birthday: May 2, 2007
Address: Summerville SC
Info: loves cars, motorcycles, planes, power tools, being outside, typical boy. :)


E, F, G Note: Thank you so much!!!  We have signed up for penpals many a times and we have only received one letter in return :(  Praying this time is different!!!  My 8 yo writes a letter every Wednesday ad has done so since January, but no one seems to write back :(


*H and I are siblings*

H

Age: 10, 11 on November 8

Girl

Address: Brentwood, CA

Likes horses

I

Age: 8

Boy

Address: Brentwood, CA

Loves legos

J

Hi Lori. My son would like to have a Pen Pal who is 5 or so years old. My son is learning to write and this would help make it fun. He is very interested in learning about new places and is a great swimmer. I don't know what all you want to know to pair him up with someone. Let me know.

I will need to email her and she will give me the info when he is paired up with someone.

K

Age: 11
Birthday: 08/05/00
Address: Travelers Rest, SC
Info: She LOVES animals and to read.  She is the youngest, by 10 years, of 4 girls. She is NOT a girly girl.

Notes- She will be very excited…I have tried to get her a pen-pal 3 times and it hasn’t worked out.

Ok- I can't seem to get rid of these lines on the bottom.  I'm taking a much needed break for the night and I'll post the rest on Friday! :)

Today's Mini-Lesson- American Fork

We had a lot of fun with our mini-lessons today and I wanted to share!

For the YOUNGER GROUP I covered the importance of having a beginning, middle, and end to their stories.  I had a stack of hamburgers in the center of the table.  I told the kids that I was going to tell them three stories today. I asked if they wanted a hamburger while they listened to them.  They, of course, said yes.  I gave one child the top of a hamburger, one the meat, one the pickles and onions, and one the bottom of the burger.  lol- they looked at me a little shocked! I then told them the first story.

It was a true story about something that happened to me at the zoo. I told them all about my trip and then what happened when an alligator became upset with me.  We talked about how he opened his mouth up VERY wide, every so slowly... and then all at once he came charging toward me.  And then I said, "Then End"

Now it was time for the second story. I started this story by saying, "And we were laughing and laughing because that joke was SO funny!!!! We ended up going on lots of rides at the carnival and had a great time! The End"

Then I told the third story.  I started out by telling about how excited I was when I woke up because I knew that I would be going to a party that day.  I got dressed in my cute party clothes and curled my hair.  It was such a fun party.  By then I was so tired I went to bed.  The End

HAHAHAHAHA- the sweet, cute kids looked at me as if I had lost my marbles.  I think their exact words were, "Ummm... those stories were horrible. And we really would like a whole hamburger."  HEEHEE!!! I asked them to tell my WHY they wanted the WHOLE hamburger... and WHY on earth didn't they like my stories?  They picked up on it REALLY quick and were able to articulate what was missing in each area!

Stories are like a hamburger, we want a beginning, middle, and end.... not just a PART of it. Not only do we want a WHOLE hamburger or story.... .but we want JUICY hamburgers with LOTS of yummy stuff added!! We discussed several different ways to add the JUICY details!! Sensory description, conflict/resolution, etc.

I gave each child three index cards.  They were to go and write a story putting the beginning on one, middle on the other, and end on the last.  Then they were to mix the cards up and see if their mom or friend could unscramble the story!

For the OLDER GROUP we practiced writing a first draft. We briefly spoke about what a first draft means.   We talked about how you just write, write, write to get all your ideas out on paper! After that discussion we decided to practice.  I would show a picture and each child had ONE MINUTE to write a story based on the photo.  They didn't have to finish the story... they just needed to work on it and get a much down on paper that they could in that one minute. OH. MY. GOODNESS. These kids were AMAZING!!!! We had a BLAST with this activity.  After each picture we would go around the circle and read what we had written and then we started again.  I also took SUPER FUN Halloween game cards and placed those on the table for the kids to make a story from .  SO, SO, SO, FUN!!! This kids really make this group the AMAZING group it is!!! Their assignment for the week was to pick one of the stories they started and finish the first draft. :)

Halloween Writing Game

Have you ever played the ABC game where you pretend you are going on a trip and need to think of an item to bring with you that begins with each letter of the alphabet? For example, the first person would decide an item for the letter A.  They would say, "I'm going on a camping trip and I'm going to take with me an APPLE" Then the second person would repeat what the first person said and then come up with something for the letter B.  For example, "I'm going on a camping trip and I'm going to take with me an APPLE and a BANDANNA."  You go around and around the circle trying to remember and come up with ideas for each letter of the alphabet. 

Why not change this game into a Halloween writing activity!!  Tell your kids you are going to take a trip but you need their help packing.  You can decided on a place to travel to or an activity to do. You could say that you are going on a trip and you will be sleeping in a haunted house and you need to think of items to take with you.  OR you could say that you are heading to battle to destroy all the zombies on the planet.  Have fun with this and think of things that would be most appealing to your child.  Then begin the game.  The only rule you have is that you can NOT say the item you are adding to the list, you just need to write it down.  For example, If we had been playing the game for a while and it was my turn, this is what I would do.

I would SAY..

I'm going on a camping trip to a swamp and I'm going to bring with me

A- an axe to cut though all the vines

B- baseball bat to help protect me from the SWAMP MONSTER! EEK!

C- can of silly string to spray on an alligators to blind him while I run away!

D- doll to cuddle with when I am scared

and then it's my turn to think of something and my letter is E.  I would WRITE on the paper

E- envelopes to mail a letter if I need to send for help!

Sorry- those aren't the best ideas... but it's all I've got at 2:00am! Another way to play the game is to NOT repeat the list each time.  Just pass the paper back and forth between you and your child as you work your way through the list.  

If you play this game I would LOVE to hear where you went or what adventure you had and PLEASE don't forget to post the lists!!

ENJOY! 

Tips for Writers Part 1

1.As with any skill, writing gets better the more we do it.  Let your child see you write often and encourage him/her to write often, too.  Writing might include e-mails, instant messaging, thank-you notes, scrapbook 
descriptions, diaries, and what’s-for-dinner notes. 

2.We write differently for each audience.  Encourage your child to expand his range and abilities by writing for many different audiences.  He could try a letter to the editor or to a legislator, a silly story for his younger
sister, or a “list of ten” to cheer up a sick friend. (I LOVE these ideas!)
               

                                                         --NCTE