Posts tagged #lesson plans

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.

Where to Start…

I usually begin the year like all of us; reviewing and teaching the basics. I focus a lot on sentence structure, elaboration, using appropriate grammar, mechanics, and punctuation for sure, as well as the use of vocabulary such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and the rich vocabulary found in the text. Some of these activity sheets and hands-on activities are available for independent morning work and are accessible for me to grab at any time throughout the day. The following activities are only some options to consider. Just remember there are several ways to include writing and written responses on a daily basis. The English/Language Arts for the Common Core requires writing, so whether you are teaching specific ELA strategies in reading or mini writing lessons; whether you are teaching math, science, or even social studies, your students are always writing, so don’t fret. Your students are and will be writing. Once you are comfortable with this realization, your students will be too. So let’s begin J 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 18, 2013 by Kim Waltmire and tagged start teaching common core visual literacy visual learning visual reading creative writing art Language arts teaching ELA lessons lesson plans teaching strategies writing activities English Language Arts.

Elaborated Sentences

Other Ways to Use This Lesson:

Remember to allow the opportunity for your learners to write “visually”. Let them see the picture before they write. Train them early to ‘visualize’ and see the details. Guaranteed, your students will feel more confident with this approach.

As stated earlier, this lesson can focus on one skill at a time. When you are introducing “verbs” or action words, decide which kind of verb you want them to use and circle those words in their descriptive sentence. The children can use 3 pictures or clip art and compare “verbs” to make and create a verb list or verb pictorial dictionary. This activity can give you an on-going assessment as well. Try this activity with adjectives too.

 

Elaborated puppet sticks are a creative way to excite the children when they write. Children can use colored pictures, clip art, or their own art work to glue at the end of a craft stick as a puppet. Keep the puppet sticks in a basket to be reused throughout the year. Perhaps your puppet sticks are not of people or characters. Let them create scenery or object puppets too. Depending on the objective taught, if you only want to reinforce elaborative writing, allow the children to take a stick out of the basket and write a descriptive sentence. If the children want to use two puppets as characters, let them describe the puppets in an elaborative sentence while comparing the differences and similarities. The puppet is just a visual to ‘hold’. Their writing can be as creative as an elaborative poem, descriptive paragraph or narrative. Let your experienced writers stretch their imaginations and encourage them to use ‘details’.

 

Additionally, you can use this activity every week for practice along with reinforcing various topics throughout the year. For instance, you may be reading about birds one week, so allow the children to do a similar activity using pictures of birds. If you have stickers, try them to save time. Just illustrate the background.  If time is a challenge, keep pictures or sculptures of animals/people available, with or without a background for your students to use rather than spending time illustrating. If you have time to illustrate, try stencils to trace and add details as needed.

 

Moreover, create a worksheet with several clip art pictures along the left side of the paper corresponding with a blank line for kids to write an elaborated sentence. Remind the children that color will help their descriptions as well. You can cut the elaborated sentences into strips, glue to construction paper and trim, laminate them and use throughout the year. If you use dry erase markers, the children can color code parts of a sentence by circling each part and simply erase when completed.

Lastly, experienced writers can keep their elaborated work in a personal journal or portfolio to be shared as the year progresses. All you need is a cover.  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 3, 2013 by Kim Waltmire and tagged elaborated sentences visualizing Visual learning Visual reading Visual literacy creative writing common core Writing activities writing process writing activities language arts classroom strategies lessons lesson plans complete sentences second grade first grade writing sentences detailed writing details adjectives ellaboration ELA English Language Arts School learning teach ELL Special Education activities.

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.