Elementary Writing Samples, Middle School Writing Examples, Sample Essays February 24, 2011
Here is the best collection of sample essays I have come across. A kind teacher up in Oregon who is using “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” sent me the links. She is thrilled that the number of students scoring high has doubled since using “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay.”
Included are writing samples for grade 3, grade 4, grade 5, grade 6, grade 7, grade 8, and high school. Each grade has student sample essays and scoring commentary.
One nice thing about this collection of sample essays is most every grade contains four different types of writing:
1. Expository sample essays
2. Imaginative sample essays
3. Narrative sample essays
4. Persuasive sample essays (Starts in grade 5)
Another great thing about this collection of elementary writing samples and middle school writing examples is that there are five different scoring levels for each type of writing:
1. Low paper
2. Medium low
3. Medium
4. Medium High
5. High
Read the rest of this entry »
Kids Writing Prompts & Story Ideas – Spring and Easter February 22, 2011
Spring… testing… just around the corner. I feel a chill. We practiced some writing from time-to-time throughout the school year… actually… I guess it was really just grammar. Are the kids ready? Hey wait; winters gone, it’s spring. Time for a new beginning… YES… SPRING IS A TIME FOR NEW BEGINNINGS! Before year’s end, my students will be writing fantastic organized essays in under 30 minutes. The groundhog was wrong. There will not be six more weeks of confused writing… and frustrated writers. (Click here)
Spring Compare and Contrast Essay
• Spring in an agricultural society of the past vs. spring in a modern technological society.
• Spring and Easter traditions in different parts of the word.
• Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter.
• Easter when I was real young vs. Easter now that I am an old kid.
• What I saw all winter and what I see as spring emerges.
• Spring in different parts of the country and the world.
• Compare and contrast famous spring poems by William Shakespeare, William Blake, Robert Frost, and Robert Louis Stevenson.
• Spring arriving compared to spring exiting.
• Winter fashions vs. spring fashions.
• Easter compared to Christmas.
• My teacher in winter vs. my teacher in spring.
Spring Cause and Effect Essay
• What happens in spring and what makes it happen?
• What are the causes of the changing seasons and what are the effects?
• A beautiful spring day and how it affects both people and animals.
• What makes the plants start growing in spring?
• How more hours of daylight and sunshine affect people.
Spring Persuasive Essay Read the rest of this entry »
Links to All 50 States’ Content Standards Plus CCSS February 19, 2011
How familiar are you with your state content standards? What do you know about the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) initiative? Here is your chance to get caught up. Below you will find links to all 50 states’ content standards.
There are links to each state’s:
• Main content-standards page
• English Language Arts standards page
• Common Core State Standards page
(Some states’ websites are set up to make the main page the place where everyone needs to start.)
I began the quest while comparing a variety of K-12 state writing standards. (It was quite eye-opening to compare a single content area across many different grades.) If you are interested in teaching writing, be sure to take a look at that post.
Common Core State Standards Initiative
• Common Core State Standards – Main
• Common Core State Standards Download
Alabama
• Alabama State Content Standards – Main
• Alabama English Language Arts Standards PDF
Read the rest of this entry »
Summer Writing Prompts for Children February 18, 2011
Writing Prompts and Story Ideas – Summer
Be sure to learn more about how to use writing prompts with students here:
1. Using Writing Prompts with Kids: Tips, Tricks, Pros and Cons of Writing Prompts
2. How to Use Writing Prompts in Teaching Writing
Wishing you and your students total essay writing success! Have a great summer!
Summertime Cause and Effect Essay
• My lazy days cause my parents to…
• It gets hotter and hotter and hotter and pretty soon everyone is…
• I goofed off all school year and now I pay the price in summer.
• I worked hard all school year and my parents are really proud of my effort. Now it’s summer.
• Cause and effect of a sunburn.
• Kids have summer vacation, what is the effect for the parents?
• In the pool and at the beach all day, what’s the effect?
Summertime Persuasive Essay
• Summer should be equal in length to the school year.
• Parents must not over program kids during the summer. Summer is our time to relax.
• In this modern age, summer vacation is too long and should be reduced to something more reasonable.
• Summer vacation should be a time for self-learning as opposed to guided learning. Students must engage in learning activities over the summer.
• Summertime is fun time. No work! All fun!
• Families must take at least one family vacation during the summer.
• This is how you should spend your summer…
• Going to camp is terrible, or going to camp is great!
Summertime Process Essay / How-To Essay
Why Thesis Statements Are Important for Kids February 2, 2011
Should you teach thesis statements? If so, in what grade should you teach thesis statements? Hey, are thesis statements even important? 
Most people don’t really understand what a thesis statement is, and even the people who do know what a thesis statement is don’t really understand why it is important.
Until a few years ago, I didn’t really get them. I didn’t think they were important.
I did get straight A’s when getting my teaching credential and I can honestly say I never thought about the term “thesis statement” while getting them. How important are thesis statements if this is possible? In college, getting good grades was just one of my many interests, but I’m quite sure I cared even less about thesis statements in college than when I got my teaching credential… and I did just fine.
To me, the word thesis statement was simply a term that English majors liked to use.
Thesis Statements in Elementary and Middle School?
The 5th grade California State Writing Standards state:
Grade 5 Writing Strategies 1.0 – Students write clear, coherent, and focused essays.
By definition, an essay has a thesis statement. Okay, so thesis statements may be important. HOWEVER, when elementary and middle school students are struggling with paragraphs and grammar, thesis statements can SEEM unimportant.
Explorations: Quick Writes, Journaling, Brainstorms, Note Taking, Free Writes, and Lists September 12, 2010
Explorations: The Ultimate Journal for Elementary and Middle School Students
Early in my teaching career I read a book that said to call an activity, “Our Time.” Since the name “Our Time” had nothing to do with the activity, I thought it was a pretty ridiculous (and manipulative) idea.
What I came to see was that even though “Our Time” had nothing to do with the activity, it did have everything to do with students understanding exactly what was expected of them during that time.
Over time, this rather absurd “Our Time” clarified for me that when you classify something and name it, it becomes a shortcut for understanding and communication. In teaching, it becomes a shortcut for students and a shortcut with students.
Explorations: A Shortcut for Exploring Writing and Exploring Learning
Explorations focuses on:
1. Real writing for a real purpose
2. Reflecting on what is being learned
3. The prewriting process
“Explorations” clearly defines six types of writing. It gives a name to each and clear guidelines for each. In one sense it “compartmentalizes” these six types of writing inside of a single journal.
How to Use Journals in the Elementary & Middle School Classroom September 8, 2010
Time for Journal Writing
The main issue with journals is “time.” Is it worth the time? There are so few hours for all we need to accomplish, are journals a good use of time?
Truth is, teachers need to use precious classroom time wisely. I’m going to give you a lot to think about in order to make sure you create a fantastic journaling system for your classroom. Journal usage can be VERY different from grade to grade, and from teacher to teacher. There is no “right way” to use a journal, but there are a few “wrong ways” to use them.
In some upcoming posts I am going to outline a couple fantastic journals I have used over the years. However, even if you decide one of them is the greatest system ever, you will still need to make a lot of the hard decision on how you will be implementing it. You know your students, and you know yourself. Make your decisions based on what you are likely to follow through on.
If you are looking to teach your students to write, and you are feeling a little lost, please go to the homepage and check out the “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” writing program. I guarantee if you teach grades 2-6, or remedial writing in middle school, it will help you maximize any goals you hope to achieve with journals.
Journals – First off, you can make them a good use of time. In fact, you can make them a fabulous use of time, but you have to develop a strategic plan as to:
- What your expectations are.
- How it fits in within the curriculum.
- How you will implement it.
Harmful Unmonitored Journals in the Classroom
Top Tips for Improving Student Engagement July 14, 2010
There is little more important in the world of education today than improving student engagement.
If you want:
• Yourself to enjoy teaching.
• Your students to enjoy school.
• Your students’ test scores to go up.
• The day to pass smoothly and quickly.
• The administration to stay off your back.
• AND————
• Your students to learn!
Then “student engagement” is what you want to make a science of!
Many permissive teachers with out of control classrooms believe they have engaged students. They believe, “This is what the kids want to do, and if I don’t let them, then they won’t like school.”
The truth is it is quite the opposite. The truth is it is like a sugar high for them, and in the end, it leaves them feeling bad about how they are spending their days.
Student Engagement Defined
What Would The Ultimate K-12 Writing Curriculum Look Like? July 12, 2010
Do you struggle with teaching writing? Do your students struggle with writing? Does their writing frustrate you? Does your writing instruction bore them? Do you believe there has to be a more effective way to teach writing? Have you tried different methods? Have you explored different theories? Do you believe that there must be a method or a theory… that works effectively for each and every student and for each and every teacher? Well, that time is near. I call it “The Ultimate Writing Curriculum.” My team of scientists and myself are currently working hard creating it.
This ultimate writing curriculum will take students from kindergarten all the way through twelfth grade. It will be an interactive software database guiding and monitoring each and every student enrolled in the program. This writing program will be both interactive and adaptive. It will incorporate grade-by-grade analysis, as well as student-by-student analysis. This ultimate writing curriculum will span all the subjects across the entire curriculum. Additionally, it will incorporate all state standards from across the nation, as well as incorporate all known theories, strategies, and ideas surrounding effective writing instruction. Yes, I am hard at work… and I do have a ways to go…
Hamburger Paragraphs Don’t Work July 11, 2010
If hamburger paragraphs worked, there would be no problem teaching writing and all students would be fantastic writers. Hamburger paragraphs have been around almost as long as paragraphs have been around. If hamburger paragraphs worked, the writing problem would be solved. If hamburger paragraphs worked, there would never have been a writing problem.
Hamburger paragraphs don't work!
The title of this essay is not “Hamburger Paragraphs are not Fun” or “Hamburger Paragraphs are not Colorful.” They are fun and they are colorful. They just don’t work.
NO CONNECTION
The thing about teaching writing, the thing about teaching paragraphs, the thing about teaching paragraph writing to children, is that you must teach how ideas are connected.
Nothing in a hamburger is connected. A bun is not connected to meat. Lettuce and buns have no connection. An onion is nothing like mustard. There is no connection between the parts. In other words, you are teaching kids that you take all kinds of things which are not connected, and you put them together. The parts in a hamburger do go well together, but they are not connected when separated. There is a difference. Hamburgers do not teach coherence and they do not teach unity.
To a child, any detail can be lettuce; any detail can be a tomato. The bun does enclose all the inner contents, but so does a box. In fact, I would say the box the burger came in does a better job of teaching paragraph structure than the bun does.
The main problem for students who don’t write fantastic paragraphs… and well-structured multi-paragraph essays is that they do not see how ideas are connected. Ask your students. This is what they don’t get.
