Using A Heart Map in the Writer's Workshop

I'm actually re-posting a post I did last fall on using heart maps in the writer's workshop.This is from my other blog The Lazy Perfectionist from August 14, 2012.

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Lately I've been researching new methods for teaching writing. The main method that keeps coming back to me is the use of mentor texts with writing workshops and writing notebooks. I've been really challenged to start my own writing notebook so my students can see that I, too write even though no one is making me. Students love to imitate their teachers. I'm hoping by my students seeing me write, they will want to write as well.

Tonight I spent a good hour and a half in Panera alone reading the book A Writer's Notebook: Unlocking the Writer Within You by Ralph Fletcher. It's written for kids with the hope that their teachers will read it first and apply the principles to their own lives before forcing their students to apply it to theirs.

Tonight I started my very first entry. I created a Heart Map as suggested by a couple different educators. Here she is (I must say, I did a pretty decent job.):

It's of course rather childish, but I love everything about my childhood and wish I could return all the time. My favorite part of the this map is the center. I drew Ben as a stick figure in cowboy boots holding his fishing pole and harmonica. Not much else has been on his mind this summer other than those three things.

The purpose of this heart map is to remind writers of what is near and dear to their hearts. Writers do best when they write about either what they know or what interests them. I hope to come back to this map when I need inspiration for my own writing.

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A year later, I can actually say this was probably my students' favorite activity we did all year. Some of them really do love to use markers, so I think that motivated them. However, I think all of us deep down love the chance to talk about ourselves and what we like and dislike. I know I sure had fun coming up with my heart map and then later sharing it with my students.

The important thing to keep in mind with this sort of activity is to remember to refer back to it throughout the year. I should have done a better job with this, but I was able to tell students who said "I have nothing to write about. My life is boring." that they could always refer back to their heart map and choose something from there to write about.

I hope to come up with some equally creative ideas this year to spur more students on towards loving their Writer's Notebooks. 

If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

Introducing Writer's Workshop in the 6th Grade Classroom

Today I'm linking up with Jivey for Workshop Wednesday.

I started Writer's Workshop last year in my classroom. I work at a small private school that isn't under the mandates of the state, so we kind of do our own thing. I wish we had a little more accountability, but I do appreciate the freedom I have to try what works best for us rather than feeling pressure from the state. (This is not to say I'm against state guidance. I'm all for it as long as the lawmakers are making informed decisions.)

Anyways, I'm pretty sure I'm the only teacher at my school doing any sort of workshop format so I'm kind of winging it. :)

Last year I went through some online videos that really helped me get the whole Writer's Workshop thing figured out. I also read Aimee Buckner's Notebook Know-How and Ralph Fletcher's Writer's Notebook to help me get started.

Buckner suggests starting Writer's Workshop with a activity focusing on one's name. She suggested reading the book Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes since it's all about names. I didn't use it last year, because I was too cheap to buy it, and I ran out of time to go to the library. This summer I was able to find it for super cheap at a thrift store, so I intend to use it to introduce my Writer's Notebook this upcoming school year. Anyways, last year I shared my story about how I got my name. I had previously written it in my Writer's Notebook and read it directly to the class. I then had them briefly write about their names as their very first entry in their Writer's Notebook. Most of them did very well with this, but I had a few stubborn boys who didn't think they had anything to write about. I then had the few who wanted to share their story with the class. It was a lot of fun to hear their stories especially since we had several new students in our class last year.

After this activity, I explained to the class how Writer's Workshop would work and that they were expected to write a daily page every day first thing when they arrived at school. I shared some ideas with them about what they could write about. The daily pages were pretty rough towards the end of the year. They had sort of lost their steam. I think I will provide some more guidance to help them out this year. Some of them were just boring diary entries. For example: "Today I had basketball practice. Then I went to McDonald's. Then I watched Duck Dynasty. Then I did my homework. Then I went to bed." There was then some variation on this theme EVERY SINGLE DAY! ARGH!

One thing I did very poorly was not modelling my own writing enough for the class. Sure, I would write when I needed to give them a specific example for how to do something in Writer's Workshop, but I didn't model DAILY writing for them. I hope to improve upon that this coming year.

One thing I really think helps get students excited about Writer's Workshop is having lots of engaging activities for them from the get-go. They would always get excited when I would tell them to pull out their Writer's Notebooks or when I would pull out the easel to show them an anchor chart. I just need to keep the momentum all year. I slacked off in this regard as the year went on.

I'm planning to implement Reader's Workshop this year. I'm really revamping what I do for Reading instruction because it has been incredibly sub-par in the past. I'll have to share what I'm doing once I'm finished. It's a huge project!

Tips for Using Anchor Charts in the 6th Grade Classroom

Last year was the first year I used anchor charts in my classroom. I had previously thought they were a lower-elementary tool, and that my 6th graders would've thought I was treating them like babies. How wrong I was!

Every time I would set up the easel and chart paper, they would get excited. I primarily used anchor charts in Writer's Workshop, and they loved it when they got to use fun pens or markers to copy them into their Writer's Notebooks. I have grand plans to use anchor charts even more this year. This year I will continue to use them in Writer's Workshop as well as during Reading and Grammar (which both spill into Writer's Workshop).

Here are a couple of tips for using anchor charts in no particular order:

1. Don't use Post-It chart paper unless you have plenty of display space to use them and don't really want to re-use the charts. I thought that Post-It chart paper would be the most convenient to use because I could stick the charts anywhere then. My room has very little display space, and I wanted to re-use a lot of my charts and got really frustrated with how the sticky part of the chart would stick to the other pages and make wrinkles and waste paper space, etc. I did end up putting some plain chart paper (plus a little glue) on the sticky parts of the Post-It paper to make them store better. But, I will be getting plain old chart paper for the 2013-2014 school year. You can be sure of that!

2. Have a sturdy display. I write ALL over my white boards, so those aren't always the best options for displaying anchor charts. I also don't have those handy cork strips above my boards to hang up the charts. So, I bought a cheap, flimsy easel at Staples to use. It's supposed to be easily transportable, so it falls apart all the time. I'm looking into using an IKEA clothes rack as a display cart of sorts. I got that idea from here. I still have to do a little more research on the feasibility of this plan. I'll just keep using my flimsy easel in the meantime because I'm an absolute cheapskate when it comes to purchasing things for my classroom.

3. Create as many anchor charts ahead of time as you can. It's really hard to write neatly or creatively on the chart paper when your class is watching. Plus, I have a really hard time writing neatly sideways, and I try to have my back to the class as little as possible. Also, if you have a flimsy display you will have a hard time writing neatly without it falling off (speaking from experience). My favorite way to prepare an anchor chart is on the floor with my can of Mr. Sketch scented markers at my side. Ahhh...is there anything better than scented Mr. Sketch?

4. Take pictures of all of your anchor charts so you can easily re-create the ones you don't save. I jutst did this yesterday while I was working in my classroom. I saved pretty much all of them last year because I wasn't sure how I wanted to handle them yet, and I'm extremely vain and love to admire my work (even when it's not perfect). Anyways, I threw a bunch of them away yesterday but took pictures of them before I did so I could re-create them next year. I saved the ones that still looked good but might still re-do them anyways.

5. Make them bold and colorful. I know it's hard to do this when you're crunched for time, but your kiddos will love you for it. Most kids love color and pay better attention when your teaching tools are colorful. Don't worry about having cutesy handwriting or stellar sketching skills. You could even print out words and clip art if you are really that obsessive about having the PERFECT classroom displays. I could be, but I'm too lazy. Lazy perfectionist at its finest. When you are creating the anchor chart with your class, which can be very effective, don't worry too much about this because the idea is to keep the class engaged.

6. Have a good storage system if you are planning to re-use them. This is a tip that I haven't really followed quite yet. I have very little storage in my classroom, so most of the ideas I've found on Pinterest don't quite work for me. But, if you do have great closets or deep cabinets, just type in "anchor chart storage" into the search bar in Pinterest. There are lots of great ideas for this out there.

Here are some of my better anchor charts from last year. I wasn't too original with any of them, so I'll try to post their original links under them.

Original Source: here

Original Source: here (plus an EXCELLENT lesson to go with it!)

Original Source: here (this is actually from a collection of excellent posters that are free on TpT!)

Original Source: here

Original Source: here (straight from Scholastic!)

Original Source: here (Miss Klohn's Classroom has some AMAZING anchor charts for middle school!)

I sadly can't find the link to this, but I think it may have come from Aimee Buckner's book Notebook Know-How. This is an excellent book to get you started on implementing the Writer's Notebook in the classroom. Let me know if you know where this chart came from. That lame thumb drawing...all me (my students made fun of me like crazy).

Well, hopefully this very long post was a least somewhat helpful to you. I know none of my ideas are original and I don't follow my own advice very well, but hey you can still learn something from this rambling. Thanks for stopping by!