It seems some students always have an idea of what to write, but more likely students struggle with this. The first part of our writing workshop time together is going to be spent on writing personal narratives. Students are familiar with personal narratives from second grade, but in third grade the expectations go up a bit. We focus even more on zooming in with our writer's binoculars and writing with great details.
Writing workshop is set up so that I give a mini lesson to the students, something I would like them to focus on. I show them how other authors write as we read a mentor text, or a book. I model what it is I would like them to try and then off they go to write. I confer with many kids a day, checking in on what they are working on, what are their strengths and what they need to work on.
Sometimes, I get to a student and their page is completely blank. The notebook can help me give suggestions or ask questions that may give students an idea to write about. So far we have two strategies we are trying if we can't think of anything to write:
- Think of a person that matters to you.Think of small moments that you've shared with this person and pick one to write about.
- Think of a place that is important to you. Think of moments that you have spent at this place. Choose one moment to write about.
We will be adding to our list as the week goes on. Here are some notebooks that are decorated.