Writing

We had a neat opportunity during writing this week.  The children were able to participate in a live webcast with the author Kevin Henkes. He gave a presentation about his life and explained how he was inspired to write different books.  This allowed the kids to see that authors are real people that write about real experiences in life.  Many of his books and characters are based upon people and situations in his life.  The kids really enjoyed seeing many books in his slide show like Chrysanthemum, Lily's Purple Plastic Purse,  and Julius the Baby of the World.  Mr. Henkes also introduced a new chapter book that he has just published, The Year of Billy Miller.  Several children seemed very motivated and ready to find this book and read it!!

We will use children's books very frequently as "mentor texts" which give examples for what we are going to write.  During our autobiography unit, which we are just finishing up, the children listened to Tomie dePaola's 26 Fairmount Avenue.  While we read this small chapter book, we discussed that Tomie was writing about his life.  He included facts about his family, his hobbies, where he lived, and many other facts.

One other topic we have explored in writing is letter writing. By the end of the year, the children should be able to correctly format and punctuate a letter including a heading, greeting, body, closing and signature.  The kids will have second grade pen pals in another class and we will write back and forth to practice formatting letters and writing with a purpose.

We look forward to beginning a bit of poetry writing in the near future!