Posts tagged #lesson activities

It’s More than the Common Core!!!

     I absolutely enjoy teaching writing to my students. As a matter of fact, I encourage a variety of writing every day, cross-pollinating the curriculum all year long. There have been many times I have heard, “There is no time to write”; “I only write twice a week”, or “how do I include writing in all subject areas?”.  Reading and writing go together and you can’t teach one without the other. The Common Core expects our students to be able to respond to the text with writing. No matter the subject, our students must realize that what they read has a purpose. They must realize that every author has a style and an approach to their writing as well. When our students read, they are reading “writing”. Now it’s our turn to help them visualize the author’s purpose and apply their understanding with a written response. I accomplish this goal by creating various visual strategies and hands-on experiences using visuals and props. It most definitely brings the Common Core to “life” and my students enjoy the creative elements as well. There are obvious challenges for a few children with some of the basic writing skills, but when we unleash the creative side of their journey through writing, my students begin to find their “voice” and become more confident readers and writers.

I have not only created different strategies for all learning styles, I have also inspired my students to have a “choice” in the process as well. They can work individually, with partners, and even in small and large group settings. They can use props to inspire collaboration and of course there is always time to partner share and participate in presentations. All of this requires various genres of text, graphic organizers, art mediums, visuals such as paintings, sculptures, photographs, illustrations, calendar art and more.

“This doesn’t sound like writing”, one would remark, but it most definitely is. Reading and writing go together and you can’t have one without the other. As this booklet unfolds, try some of these strategies/organizers and remember writing involves reading, researching, fact finding, elaboration, visualizing, critical- thinking, creating, expressing and vocalizing. Give them the tools and I promise you, your Common Core experience will come to life, one word, one sentence, one paragraph at a time.   Check for Visual Reading and Writing Activities for the Common Core in my store. All can be found at www.visualccl.com

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Kim Waltmire and tagged Common Core writing reading teaching teacher lessons lesson plans lesson activities illustrations process partners presentation critical thinking creating creative creative writing visualizing expressing students learning styles goals curriculum primary grades.

The ART of Visual Writing with the Common Core

As a classroom teacher, I realize the importance of focusing on the parallels between art and the writing process. Often we hear children ask,” Can I draw my story?” or say,” The story in my picture is.” “Children naturally integrate their learning and curriculum through moving back and forth between words and pictures” (Ernst, 1992). Typically, as children over time learn to read and write, picture making is pushed to the sides or delegated to the art room. However, children have a continuing need for experiences with both words and pictures as they venture through their own journey in literacy.  Visual Common Core Writing recognizes all of this.

 

Children tend to write with very little detail when they have no prewriting activity to stimulate their descriptive writing process. These children need different ideas and techniques to help enhance their descriptive writing. They need to experience the wonder of artistic expression and creation. Since writing was an area of difficulty revealed during my classroom teaching experiences, I have explored various visualization techniques and use of graphic organizers that allow this personal prewriting experience to be successfully crafted in each child’s written piece.  Visual Common Core Writing celebrates all of this.

According to the Common Core, children must be able to use text types with purpose, understand production and research to build and present knowledge.  But, how do we do this? What exactly is good writing? How do we write, speak and present effectively? How can we successfully attain goals and benchmarks? How do visualization and common core graphic organizers and planners improve writing performance for all learning styles? Visual Common Core Writing addresses all of this.

Several writing experts validate that the integration of art and visual imagery into the curriculum will help enhance student’s reasoning and problem-solving abilities, as well as assist them in adopting creative and social outlets for self expression. Additionally, children will feel successful and motivated to create and use visual imagery while entering the writing process without fear of failure.  Visual Common Core Writing fosters all of this.

Visual Writing not only helps children connect with written and oral texts, it connects them to new ideas and experiences. All learning styles will benefit from this fresh hands-on approach to written expression. The quick visual techniques throughout this writing process will easily enhance narrative, expository, descriptive paragraphs and poetry. Visual writing will provide various pre-writing lessons to create an interactive atmosphere where writing topics that used to be unimaginative become more descriptive and exciting to read. Even the most reluctant writers and readers will quickly pick up their pencil and scratch the surface of their paper with their imaginative language.

Why Visual Writing? It is a springboard to ‘generate joy’ in learning and writing, develop critical thinking and help students communicate their feelings and imaginations. The Art of Visual Writing results have shown visualization techniques have improved writing scores and students are eager to publish and present their writing with enthusiasm and passion. Therefore, it is time to accept visual imagery as a valid prewriting step in our writing process. It’s time to embrace The Art of Visual Writing with the Common Core!

   It’s time to bring the Common Core to Life!

All can be found at www.visualccl.com  Check for Visual Reading and Writing Activities for the Common Core in my store for the next few blogs! I think you will like these activities.

Posted on December 26, 2013 by Kim Waltmire and tagged Common Core Visual literacy visual reading writing activities lessons lesson plans learning styles student learning reading writing lesson activities elementary primary grades writing process teacher classroom Kim Waltmire Mrs. Waltmire.

Bring Visual Writing and the Common Core to Life

                                            A Note to you…

          Bring Visual Writing and the Common Core to Life!

The easiest way to tap into visual writing as it unfolds, whether non-fiction or fiction, is giving students multiple opportunities to express themselves verbally, creatively, and critically all year-long. I do this through enriching vocabulary activities, field trips, photographs, and constant use of pictures, sculptures, cards, posters, illustrations and really good graphic organizers

 

Kids need to see real life events fitting into the framework of a complete story. The key word is “see”.  We know stories revolve around some problems and have various parts. Stories begin by telling what is about to happen. They usually have a struggle. Then the story comes to a climax, followed by the resolution. But none of this matters if they can’t visualize their writing… So let’s help them do it!

 

While a story told has a beginning, middle, and end, every scene relates directly to a character(s), their motivation, theme, and plot. A still picture, sculpture, landscape, etc  is the beginning of an unfolding story, capturing only a small amount of story detail, motivation, theme, and plot.

One approach to writing is creating a visually powerful scene… Teach your students to ask questions, explain, and describe. Allow them to use illustrations and master artist posters, sculptures, photographs, and paintings to do the job …                                       

 

                                                     You can do it!!!!!!!

                                 All can be found at www.visualccl.com

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Kim Waltmire and tagged visual arts visualizing visual representation verbs visual learning Visual reading visual literacy visual writing vocabulary Visual literacy Visual learning visual reading creative conversations Visual Display boards adjectives activities creative writing narrative writing supportive thoughts descriptive writing elaborative writing informative writing interactive lesson activities collaborative groups character development writing activities Writing activities sequence of events writing creative writing graphic organizers pictures sculptures cards visuals story writing second grade reading retelling reading literacy riddles retelling stories retell worksheets recounting stories retell notebooks art grammar writing pre-writing creating critical thinking Mrs. Waltmire presentation props props with a purpose process writing strategies writing sentences primary grades writing process paragraph writing burning questions learning small moments silhouettes students stem speaking science School Special Education story elements story order start teaching scenery student learning sequential order sentence starters sentence elaboration science and literacy special educaion writing and speaking asking questions plot poetry places partners photographs topical writing expository writing expressing display comparison writing complete sentences comprehension descriptions lesson plans lesson plan projects animalspeople authors purpose real life events stories ELL ELA elaboration elementary English Language Arts elaborated sentences text teaching detailed writing lessons learning styles still pictures scene artists master artists questions listing questions highlighting questions paintings posters landscapes Language arts ellaboration illustrations classroom strategies collaboration animals factual writing Kim Waltmire classroom language arts beginning middle end genres story details themes climax story plots see senses common core bookmarks graphics multiple intelligencies curriculum Common Core.

Writing Posters

I always start the year with sentence starters, phrases and vocabulary for kids to be inspired. I want my students to be able to refer to various writing posters to prompt their choice of vocabulary when writing all genres. Therefore, I arranged my writing posters to be cut and glued to colored paper so you can hang and refer your students to the “color” and poster title easier.

I keep the color-coded Transitional, Sentence Starter, Sound Shots, Words for “Said”, and Extended Ending posters up all year long and the kids love it.

 I will add other posters as needed or refer my experienced writers to the Narrative and Descriptive Bookmarks for a smaller/ hands-on copy. You need to try it. I promise you it will work.

                                   All can be found at www.visualccl.com   ( Writing Posters

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Kim Waltmire and tagged descriptive writing detailed writing descriptions display transitional phrases sentence starters sentence elaboration sequential order sequence of events scenery science stem stories speaking see senses Sound shote sound shots words for said vocabulary visualizing visual learning visuals Visual learning Visual reading visual arts visual literacy visual representation verbs visual writing Visual literacy activities adjectives asking questions reading literacy writing writing sentences writing process writing activities Writing activities writing strategies writing creative writing word lists pre-writing story writing bookmarks posters photographs interactive illustrations informative writing informational writing silhouettes discussion listing questions highlighting questions visual reading discussion starters topical writing teaching strategies primary grades poetry expository writing supportive thoughts narrative writing factual writing creative writing creative writing for CCSS paragraph writing comparison writing common core writing rading elaborative writing special educaion writing and speaking command of conventions for spelling and writing colorful posters master artists writing prompts complete sentences second grade authors purpose elaborated sentences themes transitional lesson plans learning lessons landscapes lesson activities learning styles Language arts lesson plan projects ELL ELA climax places plot elementary elaboration classroom strategies.

Fiction Independent Reading Activities

Fictional Independent Reading Activities

I store multiple copies of these activities/graphic organizers in reading binders during Guided Reading. I will teach the children how to use them and I differentiate the activities based on academic levels throughout the year as well. While I am meeting with small groups, my students are assigned to reading levels and respond independently or with partners, depending on my expectations. They complete activities to represent the stories they have read. If you plan ahead, place the activities/graphic organizers in a particular order of Common Core standards being introduced in your English and Language Arts Units (ELA). Sometimes I may have small guided reading groups work with me using their binder as well. Other ways to use this packet is for morning work or homework. My students are engaged and everything is organized in their binders at their differentiated level.

I also created Easy Fictional Independent Reading Activities and both of these booklets can be found at www.visualccl.com.   Enjoy!!!

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Kim Waltmire and tagged differentiation fiction homework reading retell notebooks recounting stories retelling stories retelling reading literacy real life events retell worksheets creating writing creative writing pre-writing creative writing creative writing for CCSS expressing guided reading visualizing visuals verbs visual representation Visual reading visual arts vocabulary worksheets lesson plans listing questions lessons learning styles Language arts lesson plan projects lesson activities language arts ELA comprehension common core creative comparison writing orgainzers graphic organizers.