This fall at Madera Elementary in the East Bay, we were “Creative to the Core,” learning about different kinds of writing in really fun ways while supporting California Common Core State Standards. Our eight weeks flew by like a rocket and were as fun as a waterslide in August. (Can you tell that we covered similes?)
From humorous how-to instructions to persuasive opinion pieces to good old-fashioned narratives, these third- and fourth-grade students wrote up a storm. Inspired by poetry, pictures, and each other, they came up with quite a range of work. Here are just a few of the topics we explored either as a class or individually:
· Should parents limit kids’ screen time?
· The pros & cons of starting the school day later
· What would happen if gummy bears started flowing from the kitchen faucet?
· Writing from the perspective of a turtle
· Dogs in scuba gear
In addition to individual projects, we also created group stories, challenged ourselves to write a paragraph without the letter “t” (that still makes sense!), and practiced active listening while classmates shared.
We wrote a lot, read a lot, and laughed a lot. Could there be anything better?