This post is part of a series of posts on mentor texts I recommend for showing students how authors use the 6+1 Traits of Writing. What is the voice trait? The writing trait of voice is "the tone and tenor of the piece - the personal stamp of the writer, which is achieved through a … Continue reading 6+1 Traits of Writing Mentor Texts: Voice
Writing
6+1 Traits of Writing Mentor Texts: Organisation
This post is part of a series of posts on mentor texts I recommend for showing students how authors use the 6+1 Traits of Writing. What is the Organisation trait? The writing trait of organisation involves "the internal structure of the piece, the thread of meaning, the logical pattern of ideas".Ruth Culham (6+1 Traits of … Continue reading 6+1 Traits of Writing Mentor Texts: Organisation
A Spelling Investigation in Action
One of the ways I approach spelling with my students is to use spelling investigations. A spelling investigation requires a student or group of students to inquire into a spelling pattern, sound, or observation about how words are spelled, and then to find and sort examples of this and create generalisations about spelling based on … Continue reading A Spelling Investigation in Action
Getting Started with Writer’s Notebook
What is a Writer’s Notebook? Sometimes called the ‘messy attic of the mind’, the writer’s notebook is a magical place. It’s a place writers can collect, store, grow and nurture their ideas for writing. It is often filled with a collection of seeds (artefacts that provoke writing) like photos, sketches, holiday mementos, lists, news clippings, … Continue reading Getting Started with Writer’s Notebook
The Things that Counted: Reflecting on 2016
When I moved up to grade 4/5 last year after teaching only the early years in my career so far, one of the things I both looked forward to and most feared was how to engage students in their learning by making it real. At the end of that year, I chatted with my kids about what … Continue reading The Things that Counted: Reflecting on 2016
Integrating the Class Blog into Literacy
Something I have been working on this term is making stronger and more efficient links between reading and writing, and authentically including the class blog into those sessions so we don't need a whole session allocated to blogging each week. Here is an example of what I have done this week. My students are learning about … Continue reading Integrating the Class Blog into Literacy
Publishing Writing using Tech
I give my students choices about how to publish their writing. We have enough iPads in our class for 10 students to publish using them. At the beginning of the year, they were reluctant to publish using the iPads as it meant they wouldn't have time to make a 'real book'. How far we've come. … Continue reading Publishing Writing using Tech
Similes and Switchzoo
My class has been learning about poetry and ways language can be used to paint a picture in the reader’s head. One of the ways we have been doing this is by writing similes. I introduced similes for the first time with a short discussion on their prior knowledge about similes (they had none) … Continue reading Similes and Switchzoo
Mrs Fintelman Teaches 