Tips, Tools and Training for Language Arts Teachers

Frustrated by challenges with the new STAAR exams?

2012-01-05T10:49:00.002-06:00

"The fact that students will have 26 written lines to execute a complete essay for the STAAR exam is really starting to frustrate me."

This is a quote I found on Twitter and I know this person is not alone in how she feels. If you are also wondering how best to direct your young language arts students to meet the new tougher criteria, here are some tips I offer you:

I can understand your frustration! It has always been very difficult for students to be focused when they have TWO pages to work with and now they are asked to condense their essays to ONE. Since the rubric is very clear that in a personal narrative, the students are to write about ONE experience or one event, limiting them to one page and 26 lines will help make or force this to happen. Teach them to think of the most interesting event that happened in a specific (GPS) location, then explode THAT idea only, leaving out all the other trivial or less important events.

For the purpose of expository, follow the same general idea. For example, if the students are writing an essay based on the prompt that T.E.A. released, Write about a special person, only allow the kids to give ONE or TWO related reasons why the person is special, without responding in what I call an exposiSTORY format.

If you would like any ideas on strategies that would assist you in teaching student to be focused and to develop around a focus, feel free to contact me!

STAAR Language Arts Store for teachers

2011-12-13T16:06:00.003-06:00

Have you checked out the STAAR section of our store lately?

We have continued to create and add new classroom posters, student folders and other teaching aids to help teachers and students alike quickly gear learning towards the new criteria of the Texas STAAR standardized testing for Language Arts.

Visit The Write Prescription store and see what's new!

S.T.A.A.R. Questions & Answers

2011-10-03T10:36:00.001-05:00

FAQ regarding the new Texas S.T.A.A.R. Standardized Testing

· Are breaks allowed during STAAR assessments?

Breaks are allowed during STAAR assessments;however the following breaks must be included in the four-hour time limit.

§ Breaks for water orsnacks

§ Bathroom breaks

§ Breaks for physicalactivity (e.g., standing up and stretching)

§ Routine medical breaks(e.g., to take medicine)

Breaks for lunch are not included in thefour-hour time limit; however it is recommended that lunch be scheduled outsideof the testing time.

· How will reporting change when STAAR is implemented?

The implementation of STAAR will bring somekey changes to the way information is reported.

For TAKS all reports were provided in hard-copy format with the option toreceive online reports for a fee. With the new STAAR program, all reports willbe provided online. One copy of each of the Confidential Student Reports (CSRs)and labels will be provided in hard-copy format.

· What happens to students who arrive late or after testing has begun?

All students must be given the maximum of fourhours to complete the tests. Districts will need to determine if the studentcan test on that day or on a make-up day.

· For which assessments will make-up testing be available?

For the STAAR program, make-up testingopportunities for students who are absent will be available for all grades,subjects, and courses. Make-up testing opportunities will also be available forall administrations, including the summer administrations.

· Will the dyslexia bundled accommodations continue to be offered toeligible students taking the STAAR reading assessments?

Two of the three bundled accommodations willbe available for students with dyslexia and other reading disabilities on theSTAAR reading assessments in grades 3 through high school—the oral reading ofitem stems/answer options only and extended testing time, if needed. Theseaccommodations do not need to be offered as a bundle; the needs of the studentshould be considered when determining which accommodations to use. Aproper-nouns list like the one used in the TAKS assessments will no longer beprovided.

Texas STAAR Teacher Training

2011-08-02T10:54:00.000-05:00

Our available dates for language arts teacher training seminars are starting to book up for the fall already.

Especially in Texas, your schools need to be learning how to adjust your teaching focus to help students score well given the new tougher S.T.A.A.R. standards. That's exactly what Bill MacDonald of "May The Fours Be With You" fame can do for your entire language arts teaching staff.

You may view more information about our on-campus language arts staff development training but most importantly, call us soon to get your dates book. 1-866-398-5605. You may also email Bill directly with questions.

One more thing: teachers who are responsible for getting a training day booked at your school will earn $100!

S.T.A.A.R. takes over from T.A.K.S. in Texas

2011-07-19T16:54:00.000-05:00

Standardized testing for students in Texas is getting a makeover.

The Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) is being replaced by the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR).

Students in the graduating Class of 2015, who are currently in seventh grade, will be the first students who must meet the end-of-course testing requirements, as well as pass their classes, in order to earn a diploma.

The new tests will be significantly more rigorous than previous tests and will measure a child’s performance, as well as academic growth.

Be prepared and get your teaching staff up to speed on the new standards.

Language Arts Teacher Development: Helping students develop story ideas

2011-07-13T13:47:00.000-05:00

Completely Developed Ideas

I came up with a little saying to remind students of the importance of developing their ideas sufficiently. It goes like this: My age or more to get a good score.”

Too many kids do what I call developing their ideas horizontally. For example, they may go to the beach, which is fine, but have 5 to 10 different events instead of just one or two. The problem with that is that most writing assignments have limited quantity of pages and lines, usually one or two at the most. If they have too many events, odds are they will only be able to spend two or three sentences on each idea/event.

Try this visual idea on your students. Go to an office supply store and purchase either a 12 fine point set of markers or a box of 16 crayons. Start with any color by underlining an event that is written about…..usually a topic sentence. Keep using the same color until the student switches to a new event. Sometimes you will have used the entire box of crayons or markers by the time you finish the paper!

I use colored trains as graphic organizers for my students, with yellow being assigned to the introduction, blue for the 1^st event or idea, green for the 2^nd event or idea, and red for the conclusion. If the beginning middle and end are developed enough, all the space available would only have 3 or 4 colors. I also use colored blocks, monkeys, plastic balls and anything else I can find at Walmart to show the students visually how much they are developing or NOT developing their essays. That way, it’s not just theory but practical strategies happening right in front of you with your very own students!

Allow me the opportunity to model development of ideas with YOUR school soon and see your scores skyrocket! Call my office to request a teaching training seminar at your school. 1-866-398-5605.

Low Composition Scores: Not enough writing training

2011-07-12T12:56:00.000-05:00

The real reason our students are getting low composition scores each year....not enough writing training in the lower grades!!!

Trying to get our students to get higher than a zero, one, or two on their Writing compositions without the pre-requisites needed in the lower grades would be similar to flipping a pyramid up-side down and trying to make it balance on its point. It is nearly impossible! If we want our students to succeed, we must give Writing training to all grade levels, not just the testing grades.

The training I offer models visual and auditory strategies at the bottom of the pyramid, then oral skills, next the reading, and finally the writing skills. I can show teachers in all grade levels how to analyze the pyramid level of their students. They can then give instruction at that level and move up when the students are ready.

Please allow me the honor of coming to your school and showing your teachers how to make the writing connection.

Earn $100 per day for booking Language Arts teacher training seminars

2011-07-04T15:18:00.000-05:00

How would you like a little cash incentive? Simply arrange for Bill MacDonald, 'The Writing Doctor', to come to your school for a language arts teacher training seminar and you'll receive $100 finders' fee for each day of training!

Book now and your school will be eligible until September 30th for $1000 off the regular price. Between September 30th and December 31st, a $500 discount will be available.

Contact us to find out more information about what you can expect from The Writing Doctor's seminars and to obtain a custom quote based on your school's needs.

1-866-398-5605 or email us.

Keys to preparing students for the new Texas standardized S.T.A.A.R. Test

2011-06-28T11:27:00.000-05:00

Well Chosen Ideas

The first key to getting a four on the new S.T.A.A.R. Test is development.....the D in D.O.C. (Development, Organization, and Conventions)

The scoring guide is written and designed for teachers, because of its difficulty level. Think about these points as you train your students this coming year in writing. The ideas they choose must be very well chosen. Since the graders have to score anywhere from 100 to 200 papers per day per person, it is crucial the students put some thought into their main points and ideas.

Let me prove my point by sharing an experience I had once as a consultant. I was asked to analytically score a hundred compositions for a campus and the prompt was, Write about a time you were proud. Over 75 students chose to respond with the same idea! They had just taken the benchmark in Reading and Math on the two previous days. The majority of them wrote about being proud because they passed their benchmark tests! If that is happening that often in ONE school, imagine what is happening at the state level with over 300,000 students!

Allow me the opportunity to work with your campus/district in providing high quality research based staff development on writing original well thought compositions! Call us for more information about in-school trainings at 1-866-398-5605.

Teacher Training for the new Texas S.T.A.A.R. Test

2011-06-27T11:15:00.003-05:00

There are three keys to getting a four on the new S.T.A.A.R. test. One way to remember them is the acronym D.O.C. (Development, Organization, and Conventions).
Bugs Bunny used to exclaim all the time, "What's up, Doc!" Imagine you the teacher being a doctor for your patients, the students. Each week you write a set of prescriptions, better known as lesson plans, to help your students improve their writing skills.
Be sure to call us toll free and ask for information on how to teach students the process of writing to perform well on the S.T.A.A.R. test. You may also find out more information about our on-campus writing staff development seminars. We can work with teachers or with students while the teachers observe.

LET'S ROLL Sentence Structure Learning Game

2011-05-13T13:59:00.000-05:00

In this fun activity, the students will have the challenge of coming up with sentences that match the total of the die that are thrown. For example, if a six is thrown, the student would need to come up with a six word sentence using a pre-determined topic. If the topic was fear, then this might be the sentence: I flew out of that room!
The more difficult the sentences are those that need to be just one or two words. They can be fragments in this case. This game can also be played by having students pull out colored plastic numbers, usually magnetic, that can be bought for under a dollar.

Teaching Volume Classroom Poster

2011-04-29T12:56:00.001-05:00

Teaching Volume Classroom Poster, a photo by The Writing Doctor on Flickr.

Just one example of The Writing Doctor's new mathematics posters for elementary classroom.
The entire set is now available in "The Write Prescription" online store.

Teaching students to be concise writers.

2009-04-20T13:07:00.001-05:00

Let’s Eat!
Everyone loves to eat, talk about eating, and even to buy food! Here is a fun variation of my "less is more" activity.We all have to go shopping, so ask the students to save a copy of a receipt from a store with at least ten items on it. Usually, within a week, everyone will have a receipt to work with.For the lesson, ask each student to pick two or three items and go into great detail when explaining what it is. The shopping list is the specific, to-the-point example and the student’s version would again be the non-example.
This activity reminds me of a commercial I saw several times about a man and his wife ordering dinner in a restaurant from a waiter. The man communicates his entire order to the waiter in about three seconds, but when the attention shifts to the woman, we realize that this is going to take awhile! From the very first question, “How would you like your meat?” she responds with, “Well, when you say medium, what do you really mean? Sometimes I ask for medium rare and the cow's practically still mooing, and in other restaurants the meat is burnt to a crisp when I ask for medium!” She then proceeds in the same manner with her responses to every other thing that she orders. So we have the non-example!
This activity can also easily be done with a Christmas wish list written by the students. Just have them write both versions so they can get used to telling the difference between fully explaining something and just writing a brief explanation and moving on.

Teaching students to ELABORATE their ideas in creative writing.

2009-04-20T13:06:00.002-05:00

Elabor8!

One way to work on developing ideas at the beginning of the year is for the students to actually count sentences as they develop an idea. This can work with specific writing concepts such as developing a setting or the feelings and emotions that a character is going through. Many teachers cringe upon seeing the word elaborate and would rather refer to it as developing an idea, but if you'll indulge me, this term is used simply for the "8" in the title. Whether working in groups or on their own, the students are given a topic to write on and cannot stop or switch to another topic until they have completed eight sentences that flow well and relate directly to the topic. Let me show you an example with the emotion nervous.

I was so scared I thought I might pee my pants! My legs trembled as I stood like a statue, not knowing what to do. Sweat began to drip from my forehead and back, and my arms were starting to shake from the anticipation of what might be waiting for me on the other side of the door. My legs were heavy lead weights as I forced them forward one baby step at a time. "Oh God, please help me!” I whispered quietly, over and over. My heart was now beginning to race, and I felt that at any moment it was going to explode. Turning the handle slowly, I pulled the door open and as I nervously peeked into the strange room, my eyes bulged out of their sockets at what I saw.

Developing ideas in this way not only creates a more complete story, but engages the reader more fully because he is actually able to see the writer behind the writing. Compare this to a writer who merely states, "I was really scared!" BIG DIFFERENCE! The trick here again is knowing when it is important to "elabor8", and when it might be more appropriate to say it in a word and move on to the next idea.

Fun Interactive Story Development Student Exercise!

2009-04-20T13:06:00.001-05:00

Stuck on You!

This activity is a very strong hands-on visual that allows the students to see and hear whether their ideas are developed or not. You will need to purchase a set of paddle sticks with the suction cups on one side and the rubber ball that comes with it. Give the paddles to two students to hold, standing about ten feet apart. Have another student read an essay, and as long as the author is talking about the same idea, keep the ball stuck to one paddle. As soon as he switches to a new idea, have the student holding the ball pass it to the person with the other paddle. The ball will again stay there until the author switches to another idea. When a student writer needs more practice with development, you will notice that the balls will be moving back and forth very quickly. As they are taught to develop more fully, they will only have a few passes back and forth for the entire paper. Yes, the students will have a blast, but they will really learn how to develop each idea more completely before jumping to the next one.

Helping elementary writers add SENSES to their stories.

2009-04-20T13:05:00.001-05:00

In many stories, especially those written by children, you may as well leave your five senses at home, as you won’t be needing them while reading.I have a suggestion for you teachers, and this is probably one of the most effective visual aids to try when your kids are not using enough of the five senses to tell their story. At any store that carries the Mr. Potato Head game (Reg. U.S. Pat. and Tm. Off.), purchase the type that has two or more characters so that you can involve more than one story character in the activity. As each story is being read, begin with the game pieces out, but nothing attached yet. When the author allows the reader to visualize something, plug in the eyes. If the reader gets to hear what a character is hearing, go ahead and plug in one of the ears. If the story shifted its setting, you could put in his feet, and so on. Many of the Potato Heads have accessories, so you can utilize them also when certain things are mentioned in the story. For example, if a reference is made to weather, you might put on his sunglasses. When the characters express feelings or emotions, you could place a heart sticker where his heart would be. There are two extremes to be aware of when using this activity. The first one is that at the beginning of the year, many students will go through an entire paper without using any of their senses whatsoever! You would only put feet on the Potato Head, because all the author did was go places and do things. The other extreme is the student who wants his Mr. Potato Head to be completely filled with body parts by the time the story is finished. In his quest to do this, many of the details that are mentioned seem forced into the story, instead of sounding like they developed naturally. In a situation such as this, I would not give credit for use of the senses. After a while, with plenty of practice on their part and much patience on yours, you will begin to hear nicely balanced papers, full of exciting ideas that include most of the five senses.

Helping students write focused stories.

2009-04-20T13:03:00.000-05:00

Zoomin’ In

Many students are very similar to a disposable camera when they write compositions. Everything in the story has an equal value. They don’t have the ability to blur out the minor information that has no real importance to the story's plot. They will spend as much time writing about eating breakfast and getting ready in the morning as they do actually developing the main event of their story. Try this: Ask the students to begin by telling about their summer vacation. This would be too broad for a two-page paper, so you must help them decide which was the most interesting activity of the summer and "zoom in" on that.

Develop the event fully and it will usually be something that took place over a period of a week or less. Then from that week, try to find an event that really stands out which took place over a period of just one day and zoom in to develop that. Finally, from that one day, decide which activity is the most unique and original, and make that the focal point of the story. This event might be something that took only a few minutes or hours, depending on the ability of the student to develop a focused idea. Zooming in like this will really help to create a more focused story, eliminating a lot of the unnecessary information that students usually want to include. A good test of the relevance of an idea is to take an imaginary picture of each idea the writer includes in the story. You will often find that because of extraneous information there are many more pictures than are actually needed to show the story.

Hyperbole Creative Writing Classroom Poster

2009-04-20T13:01:00.001-05:00

Checking our hit counts and our sales totals, this poster consistently ranks in the top 3.

22"x17" and ready for laminating for years of use in your classroom.It is available now for purchase in our store.

Metaphors Classroom Poster for student reference.

2009-04-20T12:59:00.002-05:00

Just one example of the language arts / creative writing classroom posters created by Bill MacDonald, the "Writing Doctor".

22"x17" and ready for laminating for years of use in your classroom.It is available now for purchase in our store. Purchase Orders from your school are acceptable!

Adding some WEATHER to creative writing.

2009-03-25T14:31:00.001-05:00

Weather or Not?
One creative way to sprinkle a little weather into a story is to show it by what the character does, wears, or even says.
Try the following exercise on your students.

In the following sentences, try to figure out what the weather is like based solely on what is written, with no mention of weather at all.
1. My swimsuit looked great as I admired myself in the mirror.
2. I quickly grabbed my umbrella and coat and raced out the front door.
3. The window was so foggy, I had to rub it with my hand to see outside.
4. “Why don’t we go to the beach....it’s so nice out!” I exclaimed.
5. The sweat began to drip down my face and my shirt was soaked.
6. My legs were trembling and my teeth chattered loudly.
7. The trees were dancing slowly with one another like couples in love.
8. “Hey, look at my miniature snowman!” I shouted happily.

Composition topics & writing guidelines for elementary students.

2009-03-05T16:49:00.001-06:00

Look What I Found!
I watch a lot of movies, especially ones made for kids, since my four children are between the ages of 1 and 11. I saw that in a large percentage of the movies, the plot was centered around something special that the main character found, and how that object changed the lives of everyone involved. Here are a few examples:
In the movie The Lord of the Rings, the main character finds a ring (and spends three movies trying to get rid of it!) Aladdin finds a bottle, a genie, a magic carpet, and a girl......they always seem to find the girl! In Like Mike, the boy finds shoes that make him play basketball like a professional. Beauty and the Beast allows the main character to find love in a person she never expected could have provided it.
I could go on and on; there are hundreds and hundreds of movies that use the plot of discovery as their main thrust. The prompt below and the planning outline on the next page are based on this fact. Allow your students to respond to this prompt and watch them come up with some very interesting papers. Some will use the ideas from movies they have seen, which is fine as long as they make the story their own, and borrow from the ideas, not simply copy them.
"Write a composition about finding something special."
Try this prompt with your students and see how they do!

New Creative Writing Ideas for elementary students.

2009-02-26T10:44:00.002-06:00

Out With the Old?

Many students develop old ideas in their stories: the beach (which we discussed earlier) theme parks, the zoo, birthday parties, are all ideas that are worn out from being used so often. I got so tired of my students picking the same old ideas and doing the exact same things with those ideas that I designed a poster with many of the most worn-out story ideas.
I then told my students that the only way they could choose one of the ideas listed is to change it from a dinosaur, as I mentioned earlier, to at least a parrot idea, one that has been done, but is at least engaging and creative in its presentation.
Here are a few examples of how my students keep the old idea, but just "freshen it up" a little in the development. A birthday party would become interesting if the piñata suddenly came to life. A trip to the zoo would be exciting if perhaps one of the animals escaped or started to speak English. A ride on a roller coaster would be engaging when the ride is a means of getting to another time or place.

Fun Way to Learn New Vocabulary

2009-02-09T11:51:00.001-06:00

Students love to find words they've never seen or heard of before. A fun way to put their curiosity to work is directing them to search for high level words in their textbooks, class sets, or any library books. Once they have found several, they will write the sentence containing the words in context, predict what the word means, then look it up in the thesaurus or dictionary. After they have learned what the words really mean, have them make up three other sentences using the words in a meaningless, nonsensical way. Now the competition begins! Ask your students to take turns reading a sentence to each other and guess which one uses the word correctly. The winner is the team of students which guesses the most correctly written sentences after everyone has had an opportunity to read. This activity will be beneficial in the following ways: Number one, it exposes your students to more vocabulary to include in their compositions; and secondly, it helps in the area of Reading with word meaning. Have a bodacious time!

Change sentence structure to add story variety.

2009-01-15T11:27:00.001-06:00

Around the Word in Eighty Ways

Humans are creatures of habit. We get used to doing things a certain way, and it's often hard to change. The point I will make here is that students develop the habit of writing sentences in which the subject is followed by the predicate. Once they are made aware of this trend, which makes sentences sound "sing-songy", they can usually take care of the issue by making a few minor adjustments in the sentence structure. One strategy to try is asking them to write or find sentences with a variety of sentence structures, using the parts of speech in different orders. Look for sentences opening with the following parts of speech: verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, objects of the preposition, etc.
Here is an example of a sentence playing Around the Word in Eighty Ways. Example: Adjective beginning--Sour pickles are what I love to eat early in the morning. Pronoun beginning--I love to eat sour pickles early in the morning. Verb beginning--Eating sour pickles is what I love to do early in the morning. Model starting this sentence some other ways, then look for several other sentences to try the concept with. It's amazing how simply changing sentence structure can bring creativity and variety to a story!

Teaching kids to give presentations.

2009-01-13T12:13:00.001-06:00

One of the easiest and most interesting ways for kids to learn how to give presentations involving bar graphs, line graphs, and pictographs is using the topics that interest them the most. Assign surveys for them to do with friends, family members, and classmates about what their favorites are and make a tally as the answers are given. Then they can convert their responses to whatever type of graph is most appropriate for the situation.
Here are some examples of favorites that could be graphed by your students in elementary and middle school: favorite food, color, pet, teacher, t.v. show, video game, clothes, movie, actor, singer, song, grade, book, place to visit, hobby, sport, season, dessert, animal, car, toy, board game, card game, restaurant, store, etc.
There are many more that the students will think of which would be interesting to your particular class. The choice is not as important as the integration of visual aids into the mode that is used to present information, especially as they move into the upper elementary and middle school grades. Colorful graphs really add clarity and depth to both written and oral presentations. This helps the visual learner, whether he's the one presenting or the one receiving the information. Most kids take pride in making a great visual.

Poor Idea Development - Building Up Students' Writing Habits

2008-12-10T10:15:00.002-06:00

For the past several years, the top reason students in all grades (in Texas) received a one for a score (out of 4) on the state TAKS test was weak development of ideas.
After reading so many papers over the years, I'm almost certain that the results are similar across the nation. Kids, and even adults, tend to list the ideas they wish to convey instead of adequately explaining and giving specific details as they write.

One way to demonstrate this weakness to your students in a very visual way is using basic colored building blocks like Legos (Reg. U.S. Pat. and Tm. Off.) or a generic version of blocks.

Assign a student in the classroom to be the one who stacks the blocks as the story is being read. For each sentence that develops an idea more completely, a block is stacked vertically, in direct correlation to the development of the idea. At the teacher’s discretion, a compound sentence might possibly deserve to be represented by two blocks. In contrast, when an idea is simply listed, or is underdeveloped, the blocks will again be placed accordingly, being placed side by side instead of vertical. When consecutive ideas flow well and relate to one another, allow the blocks to touch if the student remembered to use some type of transitional phrase between the ideas. If there is no connection between ideas, or there is not a smooth transition between them, leave gaps between the blocks as you place them on the table. This will show the gaps left in the writing of the story. As the writer goes from one idea to another, remember to switch the colors of the blocks to represent that change.
In the end, the blocks will become like a bar graph of how well the composition is developed, and it will show the student which areas need more work, and which ones flow well.

Student "How To" Essay Problem

2008-10-30T10:09:00.003-05:00

Students tend to leave many gaps in writing How To essays. I think when this happens they're essentially writing with the teacher in the back of their mind. They think, “She already knows that, so I won’t include it in my paper.” I tell students to pretend they are writing for a child in kindergarten or first grade who is at an age that they still need everything explained to them in great detail, with no information excluded. I have a fun test to see how thorough they are being when they write a How To paper. We actually attempt to do or make something specific, following the directions laid out by the student, from the preparation clear through to the conclusion. This shows any gaps the paper may have, or any questions left unanswered for those who are trying to follow the paper. Sometimes we can’t even get past the introduction, due to some important materials or ingredients that are missing. Other students get lost somewhere along the way when giving the steps. I tell my kids to try to remember the when to, what to, why to, how to, where to, and some precautions for each step, when appropriate. When we are able to make it through an entire paper and completely follow all of the directions with no confusion, the student knows he has done well and will receive a good score as a reward. Once again, with the idea that most kids learn more with a visual to guide them, what is better than hands-on experience? As an additional bonus, you may even end up with a snack to share at the end of the lesson!

Lost opportunities in story writing

2008-10-29T14:41:00.002-05:00

Getting there is half the fun!

Many students choose very interesting places to go in their stories, the result being an engaged, involved reader. Such papers are fun to read and to write!
Sometimes however, before the reader even realizes it, they are off and running in an adventure with no clue as to how they got there, or what the trip was even like. This is a lost opportunity! As the title states, it can be "the gettin’ there" that is half of the fun. For example, if the writer decides to take the reader to a strange place he's never been before, the reader would most definitely want to know how he ended up there. Maybe he would like to go himself some time! It would be impossible for me to include all the countless ideas I've read that people have used to get themselves (and their reader) to interesting story settings, but I want to include a short list which I think you'll enjoy: drying your hair and you get pulled inside the blow dryer, taking a shower or bath and being sucked down the drain, looking for something in the refrigerator or freezer and being pulled in by a new character, using the microwave or oven and ending up in some hot place, touching a special object that transports you to another place, eating or drinking something that takes you to another dimension, finding a normal object that turns out to be a type of time machine, going through a door or opening to find a new world on the other side, pushing a button, switch, or lever that sends you to your special place, meeting a strange character that asks you to follow him to his world. I think you get the point: instead of already just being there, one way to add interest is to include how you got there, especially if you go about in an unusual way.

Order the Story Student Activity

2008-10-27T10:53:00.003-05:00

Who's On First?

In this zany activity, the students get to be the story as they attempt to put it in the correct order. Place the sentences of a story on different strips. You may want to group longer stories by events using entire sheets or posters that the students can hold. Those who are "being the story" are moved around by the other kids in the class, according to what makes the most sense. Sometimes quite a debate can develop as to the exact order, so you may want to get the sumo-wrestling suits ready to settle any disputes! This activity is useful when the students are learning to master sequencing, cause and effect, and drawing conclusions. Using clues in the various parts of the story, they will determine the best order. Encourage them to continue rearranging the students who hold the sentences and/or paragraphs until they make sense. Finally, ask someone in the class to read the story aloud so all can decide if it sounds logical and flows well as it is, and at that point make any adjustments that may be needed. Be sure they can justify any changes they want to make in the order of the sentences or paragraphs.

Training students to show where they are in their stories.

2008-09-13T08:54:00.002-05:00

Where am I?

If students develop the skills necessary to write a focused story, there will be adequate space to include settings that involve the reader's imagination. In other words, instead of just telling the settings, they can show them, painting vivid pictures in the minds of their readers by using the senses, shape, size, color, etc. While a beginning writer will tell the setting at the beginning, your intermediate and more advanced writers have the maturity to allow their setting to evolve, if you will, throughout the entire event. Here are a few examples that show the setting of the story instead of just telling it. Read these to your students to see if they can draw conclusions from the details to figure out what might be the location of each from the clues given.

1. I raced across the burning hot sand to the waiting cold water ahead. My feet were singed and I was completely out of breath as I set my towel, umbrella, and lunch basket down. A seagull was diving at my head, apparently hoping for some scraps of food, but I had none to offer. I glanced to my right and noticed a lone fisherman casting his rod and reel in the distance. He must have been doing well because his ice chest was overflowing with fish! To my left I heard the soft laughter of a little girl and her mom as they playfully built a sand castle together. I couldn't wait much longer to splash into the water! Where am I?

2. As I stepped into the room, a mountain of books appeared around me on all sides. About thirty or forty children were milling around the room, but not one of them uttered a word. A soft spoken woman sat behind a desk near the door with the sound of a computer beeping as she scanned books under them one after another. Several teachers came in with their arms full of books, binders, and other materials. I walked to a corner of the room and pulled a book off the shelf. Where am I?

3. The room was cold, dark, and quiet. A single beam of light shone from the back of the room all the way to the front, where a humongous white screen came alive with people and places. The aroma of popcorn filled the air and the sweet, icy Dr. Pepper felt great as it slid down my parched, scratchy throat. The place was almost packed with other occupants of the soft, comfortable, cushioned seats. I took my wife’s hand and settled in for a nice relaxing time with her. She just looked at me and smiled. Where am I?

Development of Story Ideas: Less is More!

2008-09-01T20:05:00.004-05:00

Road signs and billboards are blunt and to the point, mainly because the people reading them do not have time to read anything that takes more than a few seconds when they are driving. If students could grasp this concept when they are writing a paper, it would do wonders for the development. Some students spend as much time brushing their teeth in a story as they do on the main event, and really can’t understand why that's a problem! Knowing when it is appropriate to develop an idea, or when to say it in a word and move on is sometimes difficult. This activity uses normal street signs to model where many kids go wrong in their writing. Take a sign like the first one above, for example. It basically stands for: Watch Out! Train! The picture should be enough without having to go into great detail. Here’s what an untrained student might write on his train sign: That light coming toward you......that’s not God! But if you don’t stop pretty quickly, you’ll see Him soon enough! I’m bigger than you and stronger too. Even if you get to the intersection before me, you better not take a chance, because I’m not going to stop! I don’t care what you saw actors do in those movies! Try going through before me and there will be a sad ending!
The other sign simply means Don’t Park Here, but an untrained writer might say it something like this (remember, our goal here is the development of the right ideas). Don’t even think about parking here. We'll tow you, your car, and your gramma who’s still in there to the impound. Then we’ll charge you $200 per day and that’s just the fee for putting up with your gramma! We suggest you park at the parking lot next door. We don’t like the owner of that place anyway. So you’ll do us a favor by filling his parking lot. Just don’t do any business with him and that will make us very happy! Bye!
There are hundreds of clip art programs full of road signs like these where the students can practice this activity. I know what you’re thinking! Why would I want my students to practice doing things that would be considered wrong? Well, if the student does this activity and begins to be able to distinguish between ideas that can be explained in a word or sentence, and the ones that need to be fully developed, then he has learned something from the experience. I once
heard someone say, “Everyone has a purpose in life, even if it’s to be a bad example for others.” I think that quote applies here, and this activity does a good job of showing the students that less is more when they are writing about minor details!

L.A.U.G.H.S. - Sticking to the lesson

2008-07-17T07:49:00.002-05:00

I am quite sure we've all had the experience of being in the middle of a lesson when a student blurts out, “Guess what happened to me yesterday!” If you’re like me, you would prefer to finish the lesson, but being a kindhearted, compassionate sort of individual, like most other teachers, you go ahead and let him tell his story. As you've probably found, this usually snowballs as story number one leads to story two, which leads to story number five and ten, and, well... you get the idea! Then, adding to the dilemma, this is about the time when your principal or administrator walks in, wondering what the conversation has to do with the "three R's"!
The simple truth is that we would hardly ever finish a lesson if we all took the time to listen every time a child has a story that needs sharing, so the acronym above represents an opportunity for children to share their stories at a more appropriate time during the day, rather than in the middle of your lesson!
So, the acronym stands for Life And Un-Gradable Humorous Stories.

Transitional Words: The Missing Link

2008-05-19T16:15:00.002-05:00

Transitional words and phrases help a story to flow smoothly from one idea to the next. Sometimes students need a visual aid to check whether or not their ideas are flowing effectively.
Read the students' papers to them while using a game like Jenga as you read. The generic version is ideal because the blocks come in three colors, which can represent the introduction, body and conclusion of the papers.
Stack the blocks by color and each time a student has a weak or ineffective transition, remove one of the blocks. For example, if you have the red blocks on top, and there is a weak transition in the introduction, you would remove a block from that section. If a student moved from one idea to the next with no transitional words or phrases at all this would leave gaps or holes in the writing. In this situation, you would remove two blocks from the game instead of one.
The weakly organized papers will be recognizable by the way the tower of blocks looks after the entire composition is read. It will usually fall apart, much like the story written by a student whose writing is filled with weak or nonexistent transitions.

THINKING CAPS - The Reading Writing Connection

2008-05-09T18:23:00.003-05:00

During class time, a good teacher will want to pause when he or she finds higher level vocabulary words in the story. This creates a teachable moment. After that, however, where does the word go?
Unfortunately, most of the time it becomes like a mere acquaintance: out of sight, out of mind.... never to be thought of or used again. After noticing this fact, I began using an idea that has proven very effective in my classroom.
Recognize your Reading time as an excellent opportunity to make a stronger connection to Writing and allow the students to bring their own caps or hats from home to wear. From Dr. Suess to Davy Crockett and Nemo to the simple but fun "beanie" hat; you name it; at some point over my teaching career I have probably seen it! Encourage the children to express themselves creatively - some may even want to make their own.
As oral reading takes place, they can take out their hats and wear them as a reminder to make the Writing connection. Each student will need a multi-subject notebook with a separate section for each of these items: difficult or new vocabulary, sentences written in very unique ways, similes, metaphor, idiom, onomatopoeia, personification, hyperbole, etc. For greater impact, a teacher in the lower grade levels may prefer to decide which examples are to be included, while in upper level classes, students can take ownership in ;this activity by making these decisions on their own. In this way, each notebook becomes a reflection of the individual's ability and his or her life perspective.
Later, during Writing assignments, the students will use their notebooks as a tool to improve the overall quality of their papers. Your more capable writers will often drive a greater sense of pride from working with examples they've produced themselves than those they can get from professionally designed posters or other materials made by someone other than themselves.

Better Vocabulary Exercise

2008-05-05T15:08:00.002-05:00

Even though you have told your students time after time not to use certain worn-out words, bad habits are hard to break. This activity can be utilized when you are reading compositions orally to the students and giving feedback.
Before you begin reading, write each student's name on tag board paper with a permanent marker. Each time you come across an illegal, overused or "watered down" word as you read a student's composition, squirt the tag board with his or her name one time. This makes a very strong visual, displaying which students are still using too many baby words and which are improving. The winner is the student with the driest tag board after all compositions have been read.
To convince the losers of the importance of using higher vocabulary, have them go back and change all their ineffective word choices to better ones. This will take the thrill out of those who simply use baby words because they want to see their papers get wet. Just don't spray the students!

Varied sentence structure: Sometimes shorter is better.

2008-04-20T08:22:00.002-05:00

Say it in a Word

A common mistake we make as teachers is telling students that every sentence has to be complex or compound... the longer the better. Varied sentence structure will guard against monotony and open the door for greater creativity in writing. Sometimes the most effective sentences are those which got the idea across with only one of two words.
If you were to write the word TROUBLE, what message might you be trying to portray to the reader? Perhaps that something is definitely wrong, and that the characters will be in jeopardy or danger if something doesn't change soon.
Other effective word choices might be Help! Run! or No! You class can brainstorm possibilities in teams, following up by drawing a colored picture of what the one-word sentences might represent. Run could be a person being chased by a villain or animal. Help might be a drawing of someone who is tuck and needs to be rescued.
Allow for some flexibility and creativity from your students, even if some of their one-word sentences seem a little 'out of the box'.
If there is a shriek that begins to rise up within you at the idea of actually accepting or approving a fragment or incomplete thought, you are not alone! A few strategically placed one or two-word sentences here and there, however, add spice and flavor to a composition.

Pairing off your students for MUTUAL improvement

2008-03-21T23:19:00.003-05:00

When I first started teaching, I would group a high level student with a lower one when it was time to revise and edit their stories. This made it easier for me because I could just walk around the room, monitor the students' progress, and address specific concerns or problems.
After a while I recognized a problem with that approach. The only one who was really benefiting from this, besides the teacher, was the low student. He would get quite a few suggestions from his "higher" more knowledgeable partner and, working together, they could usually move the lower student's paper to at least the next score point. When it was time to look at the higher student's paper, however, the weak writer would think it was perfect and offer very few suggestions, if any at all. The strong student would think his paper was fine after comparing himself to the weaker writer, and would turn it in the way it was.

When I realized this was happening, I began pairing my students together , two "highs", two middles, etc. on down to the lower ones. While the strong students polish each other's papers by revising and editing, I would work with the lower ones doing what I call surgery.
If the group is still too large, I would group the students who could pass the writing at minimum success level to work together while I worked with the lowest students. When I felt they had enough to work on, I switched back to the other group, offering them suggestions and critiques.
I have seen incredible improvement in the stronger students as they push and challenge each other to higher and higher levels of achievement in Writing. One partner is able to find things that the other didn't catch or might have overlooked when revising and editing on his own.
This way of grouping is more challenging for the teacher, but allows all the students to improve at a steady rate, not just the weaker ones.

Slow Motion/Emotion - Developing "Voice" in Story Writing

2008-03-16T19:52:00.000-05:00

One of the main reasons our students are not writing with as much voice as we may like is the amount of television they watch. In the olden days (as my kids like to say) we would read much more than kids do now. We were required to use our imagination. Today, T.V. nearly does away with the need for imagination; but wait - don't throw it out yet!
May I introduce an activity I call "Slow Motion/Emotion" that brings voice back into writing. Look for a DVD movie that includes events which cause at least one character to have an emotional reaction. Watch it the first time at normal speed, and then stop the movie to analyze with your students what just took place. After you feel they have the gist of what happened, watch it again, but this time slow it down to still step mode which allows you to see the movements frame by frame. Your students will take turns expressing what the character is doing with every movement of his body.
How did his face change? (eyes, mouth, eye brows...) What did the character do with his arms, legs, hips, fingers, etc.? Guess what he might have been thinking... what was going on in his mind and heart? What did he say and why did he say it that way? After seeing it again in slow motion, each will try to write out the scene, being as accurate in detail as possible using the same descriptive words as the class did. So much takes place over a few seconds in a movie that there is no way the viewer can catch it all at full speed.
What child won't jump at the opportunity to watch a movie? Now you can use this as an ally and a tool for improving voice when it comes to the emotions.

Developing Student's Story Ideas

2008-02-21T22:55:00.002-06:00

"Stuck On You"

This activity is a very strong hands-on visual that allows the students to see and hear whether their ideas are developed or not. You will need to purchase a set of paddle sticks with the suction cups on one side and the rubber ball that comes with it.
Select a story or essay to read and give the paddles to two students to hold, standing about ten feet apart. Have another student read the essay, and as long as the author is talking about the same idea, keep the ball stuck to one paddle.
As soon as he switches to a new idea, have the student holding the ball pass it to the person with the other paddle. The ball will again stay there until the author switches to another idea.
When a student writer needs more practice with development, you will notice that the balls will be moving back and forth very quickly. As they are taught to develop more fully, they will only have a few passes back and forth for the entire paper.
Yes, the students will have a blast, but they will really learn how to develop each idea more completely before jumping to the next one.

Story Writing & the Top Ten Word List

2008-02-20T20:53:00.002-06:00

During oral reading throughout the year, you and your students will come across hundres, if not thousands, of excellent words that stand out in your minds. I encourage students to have a Top Ten word list, in which they constantly search for interesting words as they read, updating the list throughout the year as better works come along. I ask them to find or create situations where they can use them in the writing of stories or any compositions.
In every high-scoring, quality student paper, you will notice an average of between five and ten highly effective word choices. A Top Ten word list forces the students to constantly be looking for new words and better ways to express themselves as they plan and write their compositions each week.

Student Language Arts Activity: Mastering the story sequence

2008-02-12T22:32:00.002-06:00

Who's On First?

In this zany activity, the students get to be the story as they attempt to put it in the correct order.
Place the sentences of a story on different strips. You may want to group longer stories by events using entire sheets or posters that the students can hold.
Those who are "being the story" are moved around by the other students, according to what makes the most sense. Sometimes quite a debate can develop as to the exact order, so you may want to get the sumo-wrestling suits ready to settle any disputes!
This activity is useful when the students are learning to master sequencing, cause and effect, and drawing conclusions.
Using clues in the various parts of the story, they will determine the best order. Encourage them to continue rearranging the students who hold the sentences and/or paragraphs until they make sense.
Finally, ask someone in the class to read the story aloud so all can decide if it sounds logical and flows well as it is, and at that point make any adjustments that may be needed. Be sure hey can justify and changes they want to make in the order of the sentences or paragraphs.

Story Writing: FOCUS EXERCISE

2008-02-10T20:21:00.000-06:00

And They're Off!

This activity can be done orally or in writing. Give your students a topic or prompt to talk or write about, and, after giving them about 30 seconds to 1 minute to think and plan, have them write for five minutes. The goal is to have the most writing that responds to the prompt without losing focus or purpose. After the five minutes have passed, ask all of your students to take turns reading their responses to the class; then decide which student kept the best focus.

Assessing your students' writing, Part 8: FINAL PRODUCT

2008-02-07T14:14:00.000-06:00

The form and presentation of the letters and words increase the reader's ability to understand and connect with the message. It is eye-pleasing.
The slant is consistent, letters are clearly formed, spacing is uniform between all the words, and the words are easy to read.
The use of a title and opening paragraph make it easy for the reader to understand the desired purpose and intention.
There is effective use of text and illustrations, maps, charts, graphs, and tables. There is a clear and understandable connection between the text and the visuals. (mainly for reports & presentations)
The penmanship and letter size allow the audience to focus on your message without distractions.

Assessing your students' writing, Part 7: SENTENCE FLUENCY

2008-01-31T16:19:00.000-06:00

The sentences are well built, with strong and varied structure that invites expressive reading.
The sentences vary in length as well as structure. Fragments, if used, add style. Dialogue, when present, sounds natural and flows with the story.
Purposeful and varied sentence beginnings add originality and energy to the story.
The use of creative and appropriate transitions between sentences and thoughts shows how each idea relates to, and builds upon the one before it.
The writer has put much thought into the sound of the words as well as the meaning. The first time the paper is read silently or aloud is easy for the reader.
The sentence construction is such that it enhances the meaning and understanding.

Assessing your students' writing, Part 6: WORD CHOICE

2008-01-19T18:44:00.000-06:00

The words chosen are specific and accurate. It is easy to understand just what the writer means.
Striking words and phrases catch the reader's eye and linger in the reader's mind.
The words and phrases are natural, effective, and appropriate for your audience.
Lively verbs add energy while specific nouns and modifiers add depth to the story.
The choices made in language enhance the meaning and clarify understanding.
The writer has taken care to put just the right word or phrase in just the right spot.
The words chosen are powerful and engaging. The writer's message is conveyed in an interesting but natural way.

Assessing your students' writing, Part 5: CONVENTIONS

2008-01-13T21:11:00.000-06:00

Writer attempts to communicate complex ideas and express himself in interesting ways.
Writer makes minor errors due to compositional risks, but these errors do not take away from the overall fluency of your paper.
Spelling is generally correct, even on more difficult words.
Punctuation is accurate, even creative, and guides the reader through the writing.
A complete understanding of the rules of capitalization is shown.
Grammar and usage are correct and contribute to the clarity and style of your paper.
The paragraphing tends to be appropriate and reinforces the organizational structure.
The writing is very close to being ready to publish.

Assessing your students' writing, Part 4: VOICE

2008-01-11T16:33:00.000-06:00

The writer is able to engage the reader and sustain connection throughout the composition.
The writing sounds authentic and original. The writer is able to express individuality and unique perspective. In other words, the ideas are fresh and creative. The writer seems to be writing from experiences and knowledge.
The flow of writing adds interest and is appropriate for the audience.
The reader feels that he knows the writer; he senses the person behind the words.
The reader can see who you are throughout the paper.
The writing is honest and personal, causing the reader to think about and react to your ideas and point of view.
The story makes the reader want to care about the things the writer cares about.

Assessing your students' writing, Part 3: DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS

2008-01-10T08:33:00.000-06:00

Thorough and specific development of each idea creates depth which enables the reader to truly appreciate and understand your ideas.
The presentation of ideas is thoughtful and insightful. An unusual perspective and unique experiences of the world are used as a basis for writing and there are interesting connections between ideas. There is a willingness to take risks that enhances the quality of the content.
Relevant, quality details give the reader important information that goes beyond the obvious or predictable to enrich the central theme or plot.
Writer demonstrates an understanding of what is important and can easily pick out those things that are most significant while writing.
There are no questions left that confuse the reader.
Specific and accurate details are presented to explain and develop your main ideas.

Assessing your students' writing, Part 2: STORY ORGANIZATION

2008-01-09T21:54:00.000-06:00

Movement from sentence to sentence and paragraph to paragraph is very smooth and controlled. Writer remembers to use meaningful transition words and phrases as he/she moves in a logical way from idea to idea.
The organizational strategy used improves the ability to present the ideas clearly and effectively.
An inviting introduction draws the reader in, and a satisfying conclusion leaves the reader with a sense of closure and completeness.
Thoughtful transitions clearly show how the ideas connect. The details make sense and fit where they are placed.
The organization flows so smoothly the reader hardly thinks about it; the choice of structure matches the purpose and audience.

Assessing your students' writing, Part 1: FOCUS and COHERENCE

2008-01-08T14:26:00.000-06:00

Here are the things you should be looking for when grading your students' composition papers.

All paragraphs, as well as the composition as a whole, are focused and sustained. The reader can see how each idea is related to the next.
Introduction and conclusion are meaningful to the composition because they add depth. The paper has a sense of completeness.
The topic is narrow and manageable. The points are made clear and are easily understood.
Most, if not all, of the writing contributes to the total quality and development of the composition.
Pacing is well-controlled. The writer knows when to slow down and explain more fully, and when to pick up the pace and move on to the next idea.
The title (if one is used) is original and captures the plot and theme of the composition.
The tone and mood of the composition is appropriate for the purpose and for the intended audience.

Story Writing : Planning activity for students

2008-01-02T09:17:00.000-06:00

This activity is a tremendous visual for students who can't seem to get the concept of organization and planning for and writing of their papers.

Gentlemen, Start Your Monkeys!
The idea is to be able to read an entire composition with continuous flow, free of unnatural breaks, gaps or holes in the writing.
Purchase three or four of the "Barrel of Monkeys" games and assign them to one of your students to manage as the papers are being read.
As long as the ideas are flowing well, with effective movement from sentence to sentence, and from idea to idea, a monkey gets added to the chain. (one per sentence)
If however, there is a break in the flow, or smoothness of the paper; if there are weak, ineffective transitions, a break in the story line occurs. Thus, the chain of monkeys stops there, and a new chain begins. This chain can continue until the story is complete or there is another break in the action.
Of course, at the beginning of the year there will be many breaks in the flow, but as your students gradually begin to notice where these breaks are and recognize them on their own, the number of chains will get lower and the length of each chain will get longer. By the end of the school year, most students will be able to write an entire paper with one continuous flow and very few breaks in the chain.
So, tell your students to "Start Your Monkeys!" and watch them have fun improving their story planning and organization.

Writing help for students & teachers

2007-12-30T08:50:00.000-06:00

The Writing "Prescription" Posters. (Click link to view posters in a new window)

To the Teacher: Your visual learners will benefit from this set of posters. They are a reminder of many revising and editing strategies you have taught them throughout the year. The pictures will automatically remind them of the strategy even after only seeing the animals one time.

To the Students: The animals on these posters need some help! They are in the waiting room at Dr. Do Lots' animal clinic. Only one of the animals is doing well, but the rest of them have specific problems that have kept them from writing effective papers. See if you can help the Doctor prescribe the WRITE medicine for each animal. Then thnk about your own writing and see if you need any help from Dr. Do Lots. Don't forget to take your medicine when you get your PRESCRIPTION from the Doctor though. Some students hear wonderful medicine from their teachers, but never improve because they forget to take their PRESCRIPTION! Get well soon!

Story Focus - One Piece of the Puzzle

2007-12-26T14:03:00.000-06:00

I have a puzzle that I show teachers and students of penguins doing about 30 or 40 things in the picture. Each one is isolated from the others, and all seem like interesting and fun activities.
I ask my audience to look carefully at the entire puzzle and decide which is the most original and unique activity in their opinion.....the one they would enjoy doing the most. Then I have them write a story, pretending that they were the ones doing the events, in place of the penguins.
They end up writing pretty focused papers about one piece of the puzzle instead of every little part. I show them that this strategy can be used in their own writing to make the papers more manageable.

Language Arts Visual Aids

2007-12-23T10:53:00.000-06:00

A student's paper is very much like an X-ray that allows the "Doctor", better known as the writing teacher, to prescribe the appropriate medicine.
Sometimes that might be a Band-aid here and there, while often a student needs some major surgery to become a good writer.
I had so much fun designing this set of twenty-six posters. These visual aids help students remember key revising and editing strategies. The set also includes strips of just the animals for the desks to remind those visual learners what to do.
I used the idea of Dr. Do Little helping animals, but in this case his name is Dr. Do Lots. I thought the teachers would appreciate that title more!

Why low composition scores?

2007-12-20T22:58:00.001-06:00

The REAL reason our students are getting low composition scores each year is due to the lack of sufficient writing training in the lower grades.

If we want our students to succeed, we must give writing training to all grade levels, not just the testing grades.

Experiencing this deficiency in students during my early years of teaching, I have developed new methods that model visual & auditory strategies at the bottom of the pyramid, then oral skills, next the reading and finally the writing skills.

In my in-class training, I show teachers how to analyze the pyramid level of their students. With that knowledge, they can then give specific instruction at that level and move up when the students are ready. To the students, I show them visual and auditory strategies at the bottom of the pyramid, then oral skills, next the Reading, and finally the Writing skills.

Building a strong foundation pays big dividends when testing time comes!