Writing used to be my passion. I wrote all the time- I journaled, blogged, revised stories, poured my heart into poetry, and turned the hardest events of my life into problems for my made up characters.
So it wouldn't surprise you to know that teaching writing also used to be my passion. I can recall stories authored by kids as far as 20 years back. Why? Because it was hard. Because they poured their sweat and soul into stories that were created by them. Because they were passionate about what they were writing about. They had choice. Choice in character, choice in setting, choice in problems, and choice how to end the story. They chose the genre. They chose the audience. They chose how to publish.
Writing is a window into the soul of the writer. I could tell a lot about a student based on their writing. I could tell when a kiddo needed to be a hero, needed to be heard, or needed a friend. I learned who was friends with who, who had pets, or what sports they played. I learned who needed their voice to be heard, who needed a hug, who needed a snack, and who needed warm clothes in winter. I used to love teaching writing.
So what killed the joy? I joined a district literacy committee. Why? I thought it would help me grow as a writing teacher. I thought I would share my ideas and gain ideas from others. I don't know what happened, but the light and spark disappeared from my classroom, and it disappeared from my personal life too. I stopped journaling. I stopped blogging. I stopped writing.
I don't mean any disrespect toward the hard work of our literacy committee. They are amazing people who work incredibly hard. I think what happened was that the students in my class didn't like being told what they had to write. It was forced. It was dull. It was all non-fiction writing. Was I the only teacher on that committee who felt this way? I tried to make it fun. I tried to make it applicable. I tried. I failed.
This year started out the same. We were given a timeline. September was response journaling, October and November were informational article writing, December was essay writing. The kids groaned when they wrote. I was torn. How do I remain subordinate to our district, but fix this mess?
Over Christmas break, my son, Jordan and I were discussing his job. With an English degree, he had recently landed a short-term technical writing position within Amazon. Technical Writing? Why hadn't I thought of that earlier? Kids have been writing 'How to' stories since first grade. It wasn't on our timeline, but what would it hurt? What could we write about? It had to be something authentic. It had to be something engaging. It had to be something that they had never done before. And then I remembered the Makey Makeys. I had four kits in my room.
On the first day back from break, I asked kids to find a youtube video that explained what a MakeyMakey was. They curated, and we watched a few. I then asked them to find a video or manual online that would teach us how to use them. They did and again, we discussed it. I brought out the kits. They were so excited. For a week, I let them play during writing time. They were creating some really incredible things. Then it hit me. We need to create a manual that shows other people how to create what we were creating. We read manuals and came up with an anchor chart. We built our Makey Makey taking pictures of each step. We then uploaded the pictures into our google drive and brought them into a google doc. From there, they wrote. We drafted, revised, then published and laminated them. Our school purchased 20 Makey Makeys for our school, and our manuals are in the box with them.
Here is Brooklyn and Alivia's example of a 'How to" with Makey Makeys:
How to Make a Piano Play Using Water
These instructions will show you how to play a piano with water using a Makey Makey kit.
Materials:
Makey Makey Board
USB cord
6 Alligator clips
5 small paper cups
water
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1.Get all your materials together.
2.Fill your five small paper cups with water about 1 centimeter from the top.
3.Arrange the cups in the same position as your Makey Makey board (We are not using click part of the Makey Makey board).
4.Connect the bigger end of your USB cord to your computer and and the smaller end to the Makey Makey Board.
5.Connect one alligator clip to the up arrow on your Makey Makey Board ( in the two holes) and the other side to the cup that represents the up arrow.
a.The clip that is on the cup has to be touching to the water.
6.Connect another alligator clip to the left arrow on your Makey Makey Board (in the two holes) and the other side to the cup that represents the left arrow.
a.The clip that is on the cup has to be touching the water.
7.Connect another alligator clip to the down arrow on your Makey Makey Board (in the two holes) and the other side to the cup that represents the down arrow.
a.The clip that is on the cup has to be touching the water.
8.Connect another alligator clip to the right arrow on your Makey Makey Board ( in the two holes) and the other side to the cup that represents the right arrow.
a.The clip that is on the cup has to be touching the water.
9.Connect another alligator clip to the space button on your Makey Makey Board ( in the two holes) and the other side to the cup that represents the space button.
a.The clip that is on the cup has to be touching the water.
10 . Take the last alligator clip and connect it to any “Earth” hole. You will have to hold the other end when its time.
12.Hold the alligator clip that is not connected to anything and touch the water to play the piano.
13. Enjoy
If you have any questions: contact Brooklyn Bergeron or Alivia Norris at Discovery Elementary in Mrs. Thiery’s 5th grade classroom or email BrooklynB754@mygfschools.org
Next we watched TED talks, found patterns, and researched what made a great TED Talk. We created our anchor chart then shared our passions. We also brainstormed ways we could use our passions to make our community a better place. We wrote, revised, and published a TED talk. We memorized our speeches, videotaped them in front of a green screen, and uploaded them to our youtube channel.
They were so amazing!
From there we researched issuses in our community and brainstormed topics for a Public Service Announcement. We watched PSA's and determined their catch phrases, we learned what persuasive language sounded like. We wrote our anchor chart then got to work researching our topics. We wrote, revised, and published our PSA's on a POWTOON. Again, they were amazing!
Now with a month of school left, we are free to write narratives. Our curriculum consists of personal narratives, memoirs, and biographies. These are all awesome genres, but so are historical fiction, science fiction, fantasy, and fairy tales. Why do we take this choice away from kids? "They need to learn to write non-fiction," we're told at Professional Development. "5th Grade is just a tough year, as they become acquainted with the curriculum in prior grades, it'll get easier." The truth is there is no buy in.
Next, I needed to teach the elements of a narrative and I need them to remember them. What to do?
I borrowed 6 Spheros from Monte Gaukler at Schroeder Middle School. Again we played with them. While playing, one of the kids said... "hey it's like it's red when it's mad and blue when it's cold." Then they started naming their spheros. Then it hit me... write a narrative with the sphero as the main character. I taught the components of a narrative, gave them a graphic organizer to brainstorm, and they put themselves in groups and created a narrative. Next we wrote the narratives, revised them, and finally published them. We created a setting that the sphero could travel through, then PROGRAMED the sphero to roam through the setting, pausing to act- either shake in fear, turn a color to represent a mood, run fast or jump, or stop. The students then practiced reading their narratives and timed their voices to match their sphero program. It WAS AWESOME!!!!
Here is abby, Ayana, and Quibby's narrative brainstorming looked like:
Use this template to brainstorm for your Sphero Narrative
Group Members: Abby and Ayana and Quibby
Spheros name: Ethan
Title of Narrative: The Island
Setting: On a Island
Conflict: Can’t Get off the Island
Resolution: Gets Off The Island
Theme: Everybody Can Do Anything
Characters: Sphero, Pigs, Tiger, Wolfs
Rising Action Events:
Boat Crashes
He finds a village and they give him food and seeds. Weapons.
He explores the island then he finds food and then it was a trap and he fell in.
He stays in the trap and can’t find a way out.
He looks at the animals and they help him find a way out.
The animals become his pets.
He builds a hut.
Then he makes a garden and starts to build a new life.
Climax: He starts jumping like crazy thinking of a way to get off the island.
Falling Action Events:
He starts to build a boat.
But he doesn't want to leave his animals.
- After he finishes his boat he loads all of his stuff in and leaves but he goes back to get his pets and goes back to America.
Here are some pics from the process:
