Just So Writing

My fourth grade students' narratives, modeled after Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories, are finished! These kids really dazzled me with their character development, word choice, attention to audience, and skillful use of repetition. Let's look at a few examples.

The students were asked to give their writing some voice by planning how each character and the narrator would speak.

•  From "How the Seahorse Came to Be":

"Let's go paddle in the pool! Come on! Let's go! I want to go! I'm ready! Are you? Come on! Let's go now! Hurry!" barked the annoying dog.

• From "Why Penguins Don't Fly":

"Pennie," suggested Mother, "oh dear Pennie, your father and I would like to go to the North Pole! Will you come?"

"Why no! I wanna fly on my own two wings for once. I wanna go somewhere warm, like the warm waters of Wyoming!"

• From "Why Cats and Dogs Fight":

Ox woke them up and gruffed, "Workin' in the fields is becomin' harder an' harder every day. I'm gettin' older an' older. Will you two help me plow the fields?"

"Ha!" laughed Dog. "Work? Us do work? Never ever will we do work! Move along, you big, ugly Ox!"

 Ox's fur turned bright red. He rushed to Master gruffing, "Master! Master! Cat an' Dog ain't helpin' me plow the fields!"

In their planning, each student made a word bank with specific nouns, active verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. These "wow words" are sprinkled generously through their writing.

• From "How the Dolphin Got Its Tail":

So the Seahorse went home feeling very melancholy.

• From "How the Crab Got Its Claws":

Fish was devastated when he got back to his house.

• From "How the Polar Bear Came to Be":

PLOP! The Grizzly slouched down against a tree, later falling asleep and dreaming about being more like Penguin. 

Kipling addressed his audience directly, and some of my students tried this too.

• From "How the Tiger Got Its Stripes":

So yes, my dear, dear friends, the tiger was defeated. But! There is something more important than that! If you are mean to others, you will be punished.

• From "How the Dalmatian Got Its Spots":

To this day, young one, the Dalmatian still has his spots. But yet when they are born, they are still crispy, wispy white.

Although I generally steer my students away from repetition, Kipling was able to improve his writing by repeating himself. Some of my students used repetition effectively as well.

• From "How the Bird Got Its Wings":

Farmer never wanted to work so he always said to his animals, "Go catch some corvina fish. Cut der scales off den deep fry 'em."

"Yes, master," said Bird.

"Neigh," said Horse.

"N-oo," said Cow.

* * * later in the story * * *

When Bird got home Farmer yelled out, "Go harvest de crops."

"Okay," said Bird.

"Too tired," said Horse.

"N-o-pe," said Cow.

As I have mentioned before, Kipling only used the word "said" in his dialogue tags. The student-author above continued Kipling's tradition, but many students varied their dialogue tag verbs after a classroom brainstorming session, which was summarized with collaborative posters shown below.

 Using Kipling's work as a model for writing has really paid off for my students! How was this accomplished?

1. We first read and analyzed adaptations of three fables from Just So Stories. The students answered questions (RL.4.1), analyzed characters (RL.4.3), summarized and found theme (RL.4.2). Everything you need for this set of activities (including the stories) can be found in Just So Stories Reading Bundle - Grade 4.
2. We read the original version for each fable aloud and carefully analyzed Kipling's style, including perspective, the use of "said," repetition, voice, word choice, and language used by each character.
3. Each student planned his/her own Just So story using a three-page guide. All materials for analyzing Kipling's style (including printable versions of three original stories) and planning a Just So story can be found in Just So Stories - Writing. These activities are appropriate for students in fourth through seventh grades.

In addition to multiple reading standards, the writing activities directly address the following Common Core State Standards:

• W.4.3, W.5.3, W.6.3, and W.7.3 (writing narratives)
• W.4.4, W.5.4, W.6.4, and W.7.4 (developing clear, coherent writing)
• W.4.5, W.5.5, W.6.5, and W.7.5 (planning, revising, and editing)

Just So Stories

For the past few weeks, my students have been exploring Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling. Published in 1902, these stories tell how the camel got its hump, how the armadillo got its scales, how the elephant got its trunk, and more.

Since Kipling's work is now in the public domain, I was able to take three of his stories and adapt them for two different reading levels. This way my students can all read the same story, regardless of reading level. "How the Camel Got Its Hump," "The Beginning of the Armadillo," and "The Elephant's Child" (my personal favorite) were adapted for readers in the 4-5 and 6-8 reading ranges.

For the first week we used the adaptations to polish a few of our Common Core State Standards. First we read "How the Camel Got Its Hump." Since it's the shortest story, I used it to model RL.4.1 (answering questions), RL.4.2 (both summarizing and finding a theme), and RL.4.3 (describing characters). You can see an example below:

After modeling with "How the Camel Got His Hump," we moved on to guided and independent practice with the other two stories. It was some serious fun!

In the second week, we looked more carefully at Kipling's writing style. We analyzed his use of "said." (This author never used a synonym for said. He used said and nothing more!) And, of course, we had to spend some time brainstorming and listing oodles of synonyms. My favorites were the animal sound synonyms: barked, squeaked, quacked, etc. We also analyzed how he repeated key phrases (and even sentences) and his word choice, such as "scalesome, flailsome tail." We talked about the author's voice and how he established his characters' personalities by they way they spoke. 

Today the students will begin planning their own Just So stories. I'll keep you updated on their progress!

You can find complete lesson plans for Just So Reading - Grade 4 and Just So Writing - Grades 4-7 at my Teachers pay Teachers store.

Informational Texts

I am pleased to be a guest blogger at Mrs. Payton's Precious Kindergartners today, and my topic is kids and research writing.

When I was growing up, kids didn't start research writing until high school. When I began teaching, kids didn't start research writing until middle school. Who's researching today? All kids---big and little! Even kindergartners can read and write informational texts.

How can little kids do this? I've published a free document, Animals! Animals! Animals!, to give you some ideas and show you how research writing provides natural opportunities for differentiation in your classroom.

Bigger kids need bigger projects. Students in Grades 4-6 are ready for note cards, outlines, and works cited. This Animal Research Packet is one example of how big kids can handle research writing.

Gathering and synthesizing information is a big part of our daily lives. It's now second nature for us to google a topic, scan the available websites, select the most applicable, skim a few pages, and go on our merry way. Whether we realize it or not, that's a lot of high-level reading and thinking used in a matter of minutes! Our students, who are growing up in the Digital Age, need to know how to find, sort, and present information. Let's get started on those research projects!

Estimation Station

Estimation Station provides a fun, motivational way for students to practice and conceptualize measurement topics.

Each day for the past few weeks, a student in my class has been assigned a unit of measurement (for example, pounds). He or she chooses something for others to estimate (such as a filled backpack). In the morning, the student sets the item on our Estimation Station table and creates a record sheet. At the top of the page, he or she writes a question, such as "How many pounds does this backpack weigh?"

Students are allowed to visit the Estimation Station and write their answers on the sheet in the morning. When we return from lunch, the student in charge looks at the record sheet to establish the winner(s). Of course, we must then pull down the class prize box, and the winner gets to select a prize.

This year I've also added a Power Point presentation. As students are estimating, a corresponding word problem is displayed. Students must conceptualize, draw upon knowledge of measurement conversions, and practice multiple mathematical strategies.

After students have enough time to estimate, they answer by holding up their fingers (one finger for answer A, two fingers for answer B, and so on). I can immediately discern who understands and who does not. What an easy way to gather formative assessment data!

One strategy and solution are displayed. Then students are invited to discuss additional ways to approach the problem. To me, this is the most powerful part of the lesson. Learning to approach problems in different ways stimulates mathematical connections and deepens understanding.

Estimation Station is now available in my Teachers pay Teachers store! This five-week activity addresses the following Common Core State Standards:

• 4.MD.A.1 - know relative sizes of measurement units
• 4.MD.A.2 - solve measurement word problems
• 4.MD.A.3 - apply area and perimeter formulas
• 5.MD.A.1 - convert standard measures
• 5.MD.C.3 - recognize volume
• 5.MD.C.4 - measure volume
• 5.MD.C.5 - find volume with formula

Online Skills Resources

This week my class and I are gearing up for Round #2 of state testing. We held a class pow-wow and decided that we could use some practice on specific skills. One of those was simple, compound, and complex sentences. That's all well and good, but where would I find the proper resources? I turned to my favorite twenty-first century teacher helper: Google.

Thankfully, I found a great resource from Parade magazine. This handy sheet asks kids to search for simple, compound, and complex sentences in news articles. Aha! A parent had just sent me a cute article, "Oh Rats! Why Rodents Are Becoming Increasingly Popular Pets" (also from Parade). Since our class hosted two rats this spring for a nutrition experiment, my kids would love it! Today my class will search for simple, compound, and complex sentences in the rat article.

In addition to the activity on simple, compound, and complex sentences, I also found these helpful sheets from Parade:
Editorials: Fact vs. Opinion
Summarize the News
Understanding Cause and Effect
Newspaper Main Ideas

You can find oodles of skills resources at http://www.parade.com/paradeclassroom/skills_sheets.html. Thanks, Parade!

A Sentence a Day . . .

The first half of my fourth grade English book is packed with parts of speech. Chapter by chapter students learn about nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and more.

The second half of the book presents a variety of genres of writing: personal narratives, persuasive essays, descriptions, informative pieces, and so on. Students move through the genres and learn how to tackle each one,

This makes perfect sense, right? Wrong!

• Parts of speech, though necessary, are only one of the many aspects of language. And teaching them as isolated components is not effective. I've learned this from experience. Kids learn about nouns, take the test, forget about nouns, learn about verbs, take the test, forget about verbs... You get the picture.
• Writing employs nearly all language skills. In order to become effective writers, students must work on it all year long. Delegating it to the second semester robs students of important practice time.

How can this problem be solved? I believe that the "old school" had it right: sentence diagramming. I dedicate about one-fourth of my daily English instruction to grammar and mechanics. The remaining three-fourths is spent on writing and speaking. With ten or fifteen minutes of daily sentence diagramming, my students master their parts of speech in ten to twelve weeks.

The process is easy. We start small. During the first week, we review nouns, verbs, subjects, and predicates. Each day students label parts of simple sentences like this:

Ducks quack.

As the weeks progress, we add articles, conjunctions, adjectives, etc. We learn about sentence types and simple subjects and predicates. Daily sentences start to look more like this:

Close that blue and red door.

Adverbs and prepositional phrases, which have the annoying habit of moving all around in a sentence, are taught last. By focusing on one part of speech per week, students are soon flying through sentences like this:

As the ruby red sun set in the distance, a gleaming jet bent its wing and headed home.

A sentence a day is the best way! Students learn the role of each part of speech and how they interact with one another. 

You can easily "layer" parts of speech in your language arts instruction time. Need help? Check out Parts of Speech Compacted Moderate Pace or Parts of Speech Rigorous Pace at my Teachers pay Teachers store.

The Classroom Walls CAN Talk

The classroom walls CAN talk. They can tell a visitor what's going on in that room. When a parent, administrator, or evaluator visits your classroom, the walls provide a wonderful way to show and tell. You can show the important work your students are doing and tell how you are addressing the Common Core State Standards.

The title of this display is "Owls from J.K. Rowling." The other page says, "Exploring Theme: What message has the author sent to the reader?" This classroom wall tells the visitor that the students have read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and learned how to find a theme* (CCSS RL.4.2). Reading the students' papers also allows them to see that they can support their answers with evidence from the text (CCSS RL.4.1).

Here the students are showing that they can create tally tables, frequency tables, and line plots (CCSS 4.MD.B.4).

This display demonstrates students' ability to conduct research (CCSS W.4.7, W.4.8, W.4.9) and develop multiple-paragraph persuasive essays (W.4.1). Since these essays were in the form of letters to their congressmen about a bill being considered, social studies standards are also being addressed.

These are only a few ways that your walls can talk. When your students do important work, hang it up! Let your classroom walls sing your praises!


Would you like to teach your students to find a theme? Try these products at my Teachers pay Teachers store:
RL.4.2 Finding a Theme and Summarizing Lesson Plans - Use adaptations of Aesop's fables to practice finding a theme.
RL.4.2 Finding a Theme Power Point - This presentation guides students through the process of finding a theme.
RL.4.2 Summarizing and Finding a Theme with Ella Enchanted Lesson Plans
RL.4.2 Finding a Theme with Ella Enchanted Power Point
Hatchet Bundle