How to Make Writing Fun (Part 2)
Most students feel challenged to complete their writing assignments. As an intervention elementary school teacher, I love to empower students with imaginative and engaging writing assignments. For example, my second-grade students wanted to learn more about rattlesnakes after hearing my personal story about being bitten by a rattlesnake. Here is an outline of questions they asked for our writing activity:
- How did I get bitten by the rattlesnake?
- Why do snakes bite people?
- Where was I when it happened?
- What did the bite feel like?
- Did I catch the snake or did it get away?
- What did I do after the bite?
- Did I phone 911?
- Did an ambulance transport me to the hospital?
- What did I do while waiting for the ambulance?
- What happened when I arrived at the hospital?
- What type of medication did the doctors use to fight a venomous snake bite?
- What does venomous, antivenom, and antidotes mean?
- How is antivenom created?
- What types of animals help create antivenom antidotes?
- How long did it take to get better?
- Do I still have problems with the bite?
- What can a person do so they do not get a snake bite?
Mary Ann Burke, Ed.D., Digital Education Expert, is a substitute distance learning teacher for Oak Grove School District in San Jose, California and the author of STUDENT-ENGAGED ASSESSMENT: Strategies to Empower All Learners (Rowman & Littlefield: 2020). Dr. Burke creates digital language arts and substitute teaching K – 12 activities for teachers and parents. She is the Cofounder of the Genparenting.com blog. Burke is the former Director II of Categorical & Special Projects for the Santa Clara County Office of Education that supports 31 school districts serving 272,321 students in Santa Clara County. She is also a previous Director – State & Federal Compliance for Oakland Unified School District, the former Director – Grantwriter for the Compton Unified School District, and was the initial VISTA Director for the Community Partnership Coalition in southern California. Much of her work focuses on creating innovative digital trainings and partnership programs for teachers and families to support students’ learning. These programs were featured as a best practice at a National Title I Conference, California’s Title I Conferences, AERA Conferences, an ASCD Conference, the NASSP Conference, and statewide educator conferences.
How to Get Kids Inspired to Write (Part 1)
Many parents and students continue to struggle with remote learning. As a substitute teacher/tutor for second grade students using the Google classroom platform, I provide literacy writing units for students and tutor them in reading and writing. I also help students understand how to use their preferred learning styles when tackling difficult subjects. For example, one of our students loves to sing her math solutions. Other students love to calculate math solutions. Still others write and describe the steps to solving math problems as they complete the computations. When teaching students how to write about a topic, we provide students with options on how they can complete their assignments.