Things We Say Wrong

Parable of the Pencil- Author Unknown

Parable Of The Pencil

The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box.

There are 5 things you need to know, he told the pencil, before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be.

One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in Someone's hand.

Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you'll need it to become a better pencil.

Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.

Four: The most important part of you will always be what's inside.

And Five: On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write.

The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with

purpose in its heart.

Now replacing the place of the pencil with you; always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best person you can be.

One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow

yourself to be held.   And allow other human beings to access you for the many gifts you possess.

Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going

through various problems, but you'll need it to become a stronger person.

Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.

Four: The most important part of you will always be what's on the inside.

And Five: On every surface you walk through, you must leave your mark. No

matter

what the situation, you must continue to do your duties.

By understanding and remembering, let us proceed with our life on this

earth

having a meaningful purpose in our heart.

Author Unknown

Student: "I'm Stuck." Peers: "What If...?"

                    
Sometimes writers are clicking along and out of nowhere realize they are "stuck."  What to do?  With young writers in a classroom or small group setting, using peers to give them a jump start usually does the trick.  I used the "What If" strategy to teach kids how to ask this question of themselves as well as with peers to keep their story moving.

Try it!  What do you think?

Being a Good Writer: Writing tips and strategies from Lucy Calkins

You Might Try...

This is an easy way to teach kids to give one another feedback and keep it positive and constructive.  The ultimate goal is for kids to do this without any kind of frame to work from, but to introduce this kind of feedback I sometimes used little strips of paper that had the Sentence Starter "You Might Try..."  Each child would get maybe 3-5 of these when we were going to have a share time.  The child sharing could call on anyone he/she wanted feedback from unless they had already run out of strips.  This way they call on peers they trust to be supportive.  I also sometimes would have the young author choose two and I would reserve the right to call for feedback from two or three peers myself.  This kept the kids on their toes and helped them be better active listeners in case they were called on for feedback. Of course, I transitioned off the written slips ASAP once I felt comfortable the kids were a fully functioning, supportive writing community!

Bow Wows

     Bow Wows 

Bow Wows are:

Boring 

Overused 

Words !

Boring Overused words are:

useless, disgusting, pointless, a waste of time, a waste of space, annoying, dull, lifeless, worthless, monotonous, tiresome, uninteresting, dead, stale, generic, fruitless, futile, normal, feeble, flimsy, inaccurate, inadequate, and icky !

 Why would anyone use boring BOW WOW words ???

    

                                   REAL WRITERS DON’T !!!

We Agree/ We Disagree

      We Agree/ We Disagree

Interview someone about a topic you both agree on.  Write about the conversation the two of you had.

OR...

Interview someone who disagrees with your opinion.  Write about the items you disagreed on.

Possible Topics:

Bedtime

Favorite TV Show

Allowance

Pierced ears for boys

Make up for 4th grade girls