Start with Celebration!

Chapter 2 in my writing essentials book is focused on celebrating a student's work and turning students into writers. Allowing students to share their work with the class is a very important aspect of celebration. Students are fully engaged in each other's work. This also allows them to see examples of different abilities of work, often model work.

Routman also offers suggestions for making writing more meaningful in this chapter. One important thing was allowing the students to be creative and write about what they want to write about. If the teacher chooses a topic it should be appropriate and relatable to your students.
Some interesting topic choices could be:
-what we worry about
-our favorite places
-a day we will never forget
-What we're experts at
-all about us
-what we like or dislike
-heart poems
-our pets
-secrets of second graders (or whichever grade level)
-the best thing we ever did

 Another important component was to use a story a springboard for teaching and learning. When you begin a writing lesson it teaches students the proper way writing should be composed and develops a love and appreciation for writing, along with many other skills. Teachers should adjust the story to the their grade level of their students, keep the student's attention, and model writing in front of the students.

In my classroom, we format our writing time into a workshop time. This workshop consists of a mini-lesson, writing time, computer (typing) time, and sharing time; which we refer to as "T.A.G." This acronym stands for; Tell one thing you like about your friend's writing, Give one suggestion, and Ask one question. The kids look forward to TAG each day. However, I am guilty of cutting TAG short if we are running short on time. This chapter made me realize that sharing their writing is just too important to skip. My students will be more engaged to write if they enjoy what they are writing about and get a chance to share with their peers.

I am looking forward to taking the first step into making writing more meaningful in my classroom.

Smiles! :)