On October 13, 2008 I started working Charlotte Bradshaw's classroom
with a fourth grade student. Today we just brainstormed things about her that she could include in her I Am poem.
Towards the end of class I read her my I Am poem so that she could see an example and maybe get some ideas of how to write
her poem for next week. I asked her to work on it and try to have a rough draft written before next monday. Next
week the students get to explain to us how the four block system works so that should be really interesting.
On October 20, 2008 Fredrick and I wanted to listene to our students read their I
Am Poems. Tyler seemed excited to read his and Deshandra was a little shy and did not want to read hers aloud.
However, she did agree to let us read it to ourselves. Then our students showed us how they write using the four square
method. I really like that method, and I feel like it is a great way for young writers to become better writers.
On October 27, 2008 my student was absent so I worked with Fredrick and Tyler.
He has not been working on his family story, so we helped him with a Halloween story instead. Charlotte said he was
really confused when he wrote his story and need help fixing his story. When Fredrick and I read it we just started
over from scratch and Tyler ended up with a really good Halloween story when we were finished. Fredrick and I even stayed
an extra thirty minutes to help him finish the story. He seemed pretty proud of his story when we were done.
On November 3, 2008 Deshaundra was there today and had worked with Frances last Thursday
and did some brainstorming about her family story. Today she was ready to start doing her four blocks to outline
what she wanted to put into her story. She was very enthusiastic about her story today and had several great ideas for
her stroy. She is doing her story on a family trip they took to California and went to Seaworld. She talked about
stoping in Phoenix on their way to California. She also talks about what they did there, what she saw,
and how she felt at Seaworld. We ended up finishing her four blocks, and she is now ready to start her first draft.
I keep reminding her that this is just a first draft and that it doesn't have to be perfect. We'll work up to the final
draft.
On November
17, 2008 I worked with Desaundra and Tristin. We started working on their second
draft for their family story. I started with Desaundra’s paper and gave
her ideas of how to add more details into her story. I had her explain when her
and her family took their vacation. I also had her describe what her hotel looked
like, were they on the top floor, and what did she see when she looked out her hotel window.
I told her she should express her feelings about the Shamu Show and the Dolphin Show, and give details about what they
did during their show. Did they do any tricks?
Did the audience get wet? Did they jump out of the water? Did they do flips? I am hoping that she can add the details
she needs to bring her story to life.
Tristin,
on the other hand, was a little more difficult. His story did not have many details
about his day at his cousin’s house. I asked him about what the day was
like. Was it hot? Was the wind blowing? Were there any clouds in the sky? I asked
him to elaborate on the video game they were playing. What colors were the legos? What kinds of characters are in the game? What
do they have to do the win the game? Everything I suggested he said he could
not remember, or he just wasn’t interested in anything I was saying.
On November 24, 2008 met Fredrick
and Frances at Apache to take care of some last minute details before we publish stories and create bookmarks.
