Posts tagged #reading

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.

Silhouette Visuals

           See The Art of Visual Writing Book in my store for this idea and more!

    Sometimes a visual helps the writer to formulate his/her ideas in sequential order  whether they are retelling a story or writing a new one. For example, this pre-writing visual will create a  rich vocabulary to ‘draw’ from. 

Other Ways to Use This Lesson: Silhouette Visuals

Remember to allow the opportunity for your learners to write with a purpose in mind.  Let them see the picture before they write. Train them early to ‘visualize’ and see the details or understand the reasons why they believe what they are writing.

This lesson can focus on various skills. When you are introducing Big Ideas, small moments, main topics, supportive thoughts or descriptive sentences, allow the children to draw on previous knowledge, as well as be inspired by the pictures. Try writing with collages every week and create a journal to collect genre as a class book and share in the classroom library. This activity can give you an on-going progress assessment as well.

Additionally, you can use this activity every week for practice along with reinforcing various topics throughout the year (all you need is a visual). You can also use this activity to enhance existing reading/writing programs. For instance, you may be reading about nature, so allow the children to create a picture inspired by nature. Then, coordinate the writing based on your objectives.

Moreover, allow the children to highlight adjectives and verbs in different colors, identifying its proper use when their writing is complete. Perhaps the children can use their sceneries to inspire their writing about settings or focus on a retell, main topics, as well as topic sentences.

Of course, you can also use non-fiction books/pictures to inspire factual/informative writing. This is a great time for a mini lesson on paragraph writing, research, and main ideas.

The children can create a class collage together. Inspire them to write a whole class narrative or poem ‘in the round’. Each student participates by offering one elaborative sentence each, thus, building on the sequence of events or descriptions. Allow time for discussion and encourage the class to work together. The class can copy the story or poem and it can be printed as a final copy if done on the computer or smart board. Attach to colored paper, embellish, and display as desired.

The class can also focus on particular words when their writing is complete. Have them write synonyms and antonyms to increase their vocabulary, or even creatively use their ideas for analogies. Perhaps they can take each sentence and elaborate them for practice.  You can also print the class story and cut the sentences into strips and use to put in sequential order. You can also use the sentence strips as sentences to diagram. Have the children pick-apart the sentence, labeling the parts for practice.

Recreate a story illustration or non-fiction picture with pre-made animal or object cut-outs to inspire riddles.  Use a picture to generate ideas and descriptions about the scene without giving all the information away. End the paragraph with a question and see if other kids can answer the riddle. You will be amazed at the various responses and ideas they will write about the same visual.

Another way to use their scenery is to create a main character out of scraps and glue on top of the background. This visual will be a great inspiration for character development and focusing on the main character. You can glue the existing picture to a larger piece of colored construction paper, leaving a framed-edge. Either type or write words or phrases that describe the main character along the frame.

If you want to be more creative, try using stencils, foam paper, pre-printed pattern paper, pre-made animal shapes or stickers to create a subject/character to be glued on top of the scenery. The ideas are limitless.

 Share aloud with classmates. Create a bulletin board, collect the writing and include in your classroom library.    All can be found at www.visualccl.com

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Kim Waltmire and tagged expressing primary grades presentation silhouettes visual arts visualizing main characters character development riddles science and literacy animals elaboration sequential order ELA elaborative writing sentence elaboration sequence of events narrative writing poetry expository writing informative writing paragraph writing second grade story elements story order scenery plot big ideas small moments common core common core writing supportive thoughts descriptive writing stem science English Language Arts retelling retell worksheets reading literacy recounting stories reading Visual reading visual writing visual learning visual literacy pre-writing vocabulary.

Collaborative Discussion Cards

I used collaborative discussion cards all year long and you will too! The conversations are incredible and have a purpose and your students will undoubtedly increase their understanding of the text. See Props with a Purpose in my store for more… All can be found at www.visualccl.com

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Kim Waltmire and tagged collaboration Visual reading common core writing recounting stories retelling stories primary grades props with a purpose conversations discussion cards common core reading literacy reading writing process Writing activities critical thinking text sentence starters discussion starters.

Using Cards as Writing Visuals

                                                  It’s time to write about the visuals on cards. It’s time to describe the action seen and use your imagination to create a narrative story, poem, expository paragraph and more.  Brainstorming is a wonderful way to generate new and descriptive vocabulary. Leave on a chart for inexperienced writers to use. Try the same with verbs as well.    

Remember to allow the opportunity for your learners to write with an explanation in mind.  Let them see the picture before they write. Train them early to ‘visualize’ and see the details or understand the reasons why they explaining specific directions.

 

This lesson can focus on various skills. When you are introducing the purpose of writing to explain, allow the children to draw on previous knowledge, as well as be inspired by the pictures. Try this activity every week and create a journal or a ‘how to’ booklet to collect this writing genre. This activity can give you an on-going progress assessment as well.

 

Additionally, you can use this activity every week for practice along with reinforcing writing in sequence. A fun way to change-up this lesson would be to have a copy of their writing and cut directions into strips. Use the visual as an inspiration to help a partner place the directions in sequential order. This can be a fun workshop activity. Laminate the pieces and place in an envelope for storage.

 

Additionally, allow the children to highlight adjectives and verbs in different colors, identifying its proper use. Have them write synonyms and antonyms to increase their vocabulary, or even creatively use their explanations in poetic form. Perhaps they can take each sentence and elaborate them for practice.  You can also use this activity to enhance existing story topics. For instance, you may be reading about space, so allow the children to write about ‘how’ to be an astronaut. Perhaps they can create a sculpture of a space ship, use photographs, pictures or coloring pages of their topic. If you have stickers, try them to save time. Just illustrate the background. 

                                                                                       

Remember, if time is a challenge, keep pictures or cards of animals, people, or places 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… ‘seeing is believing’.

 

Lastly, glue your work to colored paper and display illustrations or sculptures creatively. Share aloud with classmates. Collect the writing, create a bulletin board or put examples into booklets, and keep in a ‘how to’ basket to be shared by others in your classroom library.

Check for Visual Reading and Writing Activities for the Common Core and The Art of Visual Writing Book in my store for this lesson and more. All can be found at www.visualccl.com

Posted on October 15, 2013 by Kim Waltmire and tagged cards writing writing creative writing writing activities writing process writing sentences pre-writing visual writing detailed writing creative writing paragraph writing elaborative writing informative writing common core writing descriptive writing visual arts visual representation visual learning verbs visualizing Visual reading Visual learning visual literacy activities details adjectives reading narrative writing English Language Arts Language arts stem supportive thoughts story order sentence elaboration scenery creative common core critical thinking character development student learning small moments story elements science sequential order descriptions ELL ELA elaboration expressing elaborated sentences text teaching strategies topical writing authors purpose riddles retelling retelling stories recounting stories reading literacy art animals asking questions main characters teaching grammar questions sequence of events burning questions highlighting questions plot poetry presentation primary grades Special Education complete sentences display photographs Visual literacy visual reading creating conversations collaboration Common Core pictures animalspeople places illustrations.