Creating A Writers Craft!

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

My Students

Writing is developmental and difficult. My students are working hard in reading and math due to state tests, so writing is not always a priority or an easy task for third graders. Our time is limited, so books that are mentor texts in writing and support our reading skills would be valuable.

My third grade students are inquisitive about writing and love writers workshop.

We are a large suburban school with a diverse student population of 700+ students in grades Pre-K through Fifth. My Third Graders come from all different backgrounds with all different needs. They are eager to learn and eager to share their learning. We hosted our first Writers Coffee House last month with much success. My students were shining the entire time. Now they need more author text support to push their writing further!

My Project

I reviewed lessons and the books that accompany them, that show great mentor text suggestions. I found lessons that will enhance my students' ability to show voice in their writing, develop their ideas more thoroughly, help them to carefully understand word choice and structure. For instance the book, Secret Knowledge of Grown-ups by David Wisniewski is a great idea and structure mentor text. It provides a fun idea and a fun structure for students to imitate. Another book I chose, Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin, helps to show students, in a fun way, a worm who writes down his daily thoughts that not only presents real facts about worms and their importance to the environment but it also mixes in a great use of humor. It is a great way to get my students to write from the point of view of an animal and journal their daily thoughts. These many different mentor texts will provide my students with writing support needed to magically show the true writing craft that is hiding inside them.

Supporting this project will help my third grade students to shine and show their love for writing and at the same time prepare them for their future writing adventures in the years to come.