9 Sentence Story Writing {Writing Fiction}, Bricks4Kidz, and Just Be Respectful

First of all - thanks to all who made purchases in the TpT 3 Million Strong sale!!  I am super excited about the two packets I bought!

Captain's Log, stardate 9522.6: We were very busy writing our stories this week.  My students were a little hesitant at first but as time passed and they developed their stories - masterpieces were born from tiny, sparkly ideas!!  Since I am teaching Grade 2 this year and they were already familiar with 3 Sentence Story Writing from last year,  I decided to take their experience and make Level 2: 9 Sentence Story Writing!  Click on it to check it out!

Here is just one of the activities I created to go along with the packet.  

Here are some of the super, awesome stories my students produced.  I am so proud of them.  The are literally amazing in their creativity!  The sentences and flow are pretty darn great if I do say so myself!!

Story #1

Story #2

Story #3

Happy story writing!

On top of all that, oh me oh my - so glad I made it through report cards, Career Day, Choose Respect Day, Grade 2 Community Worker interviews with iPads - thanks Mrs. O for all of your hard work :)

Here is one of our hardworking Educational Assistants being interviewed by some budding reporters!

Also, Bricks4Kidz came for our in school field trip (one of my students won it by guessing the correct amount of legos in a jar - Hurrah!).  Here is a pict of the Bricks4Kidz field trip.  We made windmills that attached to little battery packs - so cool!

At this point we connected them altogether and created some serious wind power! Yeah Bricks4Kidz!

I received my iPad Minis this week too thanks to Just Be Friends and the friendship video some of our students made - it ended up being the Grand Prize Winner.  Check it out!!!!  

Here are two of my kiddos with our iPad minis - I'm not sure who is more excited - me or them!!

Finally, here is my class working on their Just Be Respectful Badge - we made a banner and talked about how good manners are respectful.  I displayed it in the hallway.  We also made up friendship handshakes!  The Just Be Friends program has excellent ideas with ties to curriculum - super easy to use for teachers and excellent for friendship building within school communities!

Have a great weekend - we deserve it!!

Do you dread story writing? Writing Fiction Made EASY!!

I don't know about you but I dreaded story writing after the very first time I taught it during my first practicum!  The editing, and the repetitious events, "said" used 100 times, and events that didn't make sense, not to mention a classroom management nightmare.  I had to find something or I was going to pull out all my hair!  I went to one of the experienced Grade 1 teachers in my school when I started teaching Grade 1.  Joan McKinley had a method that worked for her which she shared with me.  So, I took it, blended with some of my ideas, and made it my own!  Enter 3 Sentence Story Writing!  It saved my life and made story writing fun!  Here is what we wrote together last week.  Some chose to copy this along with me.  Others wrote their own story.

Still interested!!??  Here are the basics:

1. Begin story writing by writing class stories together.

2.  Teach the concepts of characters, setting and plot.

3. Use pictures for inspiration.

4.  Brainstorm and record ideas.

5.  Begin simply by writing 3 sentences: the first includes the character and the setting, the next includes the problem, and the last includes the solution.  Voila!  Story complete.  Once students understand this process they can begin to write their own simple fiction during Daily 5 or whenever they have free time.  My students each have a writing book that they use.  Be sure to allow them to share their stories as this will inspire others and keep everyone motivated!

Here is the story we just wrote for our Community Service unit this month!  Grade one spelling is encouraged.  Allowing mistakes in spelling encourages more writing and less writer's block!

If you are still interested, check out my newest packet on 3 Sentence Story Writing Community Service Edition!!  

Click on the picture below for my most popular packet on TpT.  I just updated and added 20 more inspirational pictures including tooth fairy pictures, and snow adventure pictures!  If you already purchased this packet, be sure to redownload!

Last Friday Night AND Freebie Friday 3 Sentence Story Writing

I have to tell you that on Friday we traveled to Spences Bridge to see one of my favourite bands  - The Boom Booms!!!  Just saying their name makes my little heart start to go Boom Boom!! Love them!!

So we decided to tent in Spences Bridge - my friend booked a camp site - the owner was really sweet and gave us a spot over looking the Thompson river - just gorgeous!!!  We had dinner at the coffee shop/pub/breakfast place - these small towns have multifunctional facilities!!  Then, we made our way over to the festival just in time for the Boom Booms to play the most amazing set.  Best part is that we were right in the front!!  We could see everything easily and there was room to dance like crazy!

Needless to say we had a blast!  We met some Boom Boom groupies and some locals!!  During the concert we began to notice that the train was coming through the town quite a bit to the point that the band even noticed it and commented during their set!  Each time it came through it would blow its whistle 4 times - apparently, according to the locals, they must - legally - just before it reaches a road that crosses the tracks.  Once we made it back to our tent and into bed the train continued...every hour...from both directions...lots of whistle blowing...yup...not a lot of sleep was had by all:)

We still had an amazingly, beautiful weekend with great company, amazing entertainment, and beautiful sunshine!  What is a little sleep lost when I get to hang out with some amazing ladies?

Love you girls!  Thanks for the good times!!!!

On another totally different train of thought!  I got inspired by the Friday Freebie from Scrappin Doodles so I made this little packet to share a fictional story writing technique I find works really well in my classroom!  Do you dread story writing?  Does having your students write stories give you a colossal headache?  Weep no longer!!  3 Sentence Story Writing is here!!  3 Sentence Story Writing is the amazingly simple, and easy to use story writing packet that will have your students writing independently in no time flat!!  Check it out by clicking on the picture below! The first person to comment will get it free!!!

Check out my TpT store for lots more freebies!!

Oh, and before I forget, Ryan has something to say....