Guest Post from Collaboration Cuties!

We are participating in Primary Possibilities Linky Party!  Today we are guest blogging on Jennifer’s blog!  We are so excited!  Yay!

So, maybe we should introduce ourselves?  Our blog is called Collaboration Cuties.  Amanda and Stacia make up the writers of that blog.  We collaborate and we love all things cutesy!!  We both teach 4th grade right next door to each other.  We love to share and create, but most of all, to support each other!!

Anyway, onto our post.  We noticed that Jennifer teaches Middle School, so we were like, hmmmm, what is something that would be beneficial for her and her followers?  (slight panic moment!!) Well, we think we have figured out something that Jennifer’s followers can use, as well as our followers!!  So, here goes!!

I wanted to make something for my students to do that is winter themed since we are headed back to school and it’s freezing outside- well I’m in Georgia so it’s not that cold, but almost everywhere else is 🙂 And I can still dream of snowflakes. 🙂

Well, we know that writing is a BIG component of the Common Core so I wanted to create some exciting writing activities that my students can engage in. So… I created a winter writing pack. It has prompts, graphic organizers, and cute publishing papers. I think that my students are really going to enjoy this.

Click here

They have a lot of options with the prompts – narrative, persuasive, and informational- all winter themed. And this pack can be used in all different ways. It can be adapted for any grade level or subject. So you don’t even have to do winter writing. You could write about the solar system using the informational graphic organizer or an opinion about why kids should help take care of the Earth- whatever content you are studying 🙂

I think I will start by reviewing components of narrative writing (beginning, middle, end, characters, setting, problem, solution, etc.) and read a winter story such as The Hat by Jan Brett or Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester. Both so cute!

The Hat

Tacky

We can discuss how those authors crafted their narratives and we can even record it on the narrative graphic organizer that is in the pack I made. Sometimes it helps the kids to work backwards and think like the author and talk about what steps the author must have taken to write the story. I love using mentor texts when I teach writing. And the students are never too old for picture books  🙂  They love read alouds!

Narrative Graphic Organizer

Later we will use the informational graphic organizers as we learn about the American Revolution and study important figures and events. So these graphic organizers really can be adapted to meet the needs of your students. In the lower grades, students and teachers can work together to fill in the graphic organizers. In the upper grades, students have the opportunity to brainstorm their own ideas and prewrite on the graphic organizers.

Winter Writing Pack

I hope these ideas and resources are helpful for you and your students! Thanks for letting us share with you. 

Please let us know your thoughts…and become a follower by clicking join or follow by email  🙂

*Stacia and Amanda