Mining the Notebook

The students have been doing so many amazing things in their writer's notebooks this year. Earlier this week we did an activity called M&M writing. It is a great idea to get students to write. You just put a pile of M&M's on their desk. Each color represents an idea for a list. For example the yellow M&M's represented things the students did well. If they had four yellow M&M's, then the students would list four things they do well. As soon as the students came up with an idea for that M&M they could eat the piece of candy. If you have a reluctant writer, it is a great way to get something on the paper. Then we asked the students to look at their lists and find something they wanted to write. They starred the idea, turned the page, and started to write.

All these great ideas are adding up in our notebook. Some students have already produced thirty plus pages of writing in their notebooks. We thought this would be the perfect time to show the students what they can do with all of these great ideas. This week we have started to read aloud a book called a Writer's Notebook by Ralph Fletcher.

In this book Fletcher talks about all the ways that students can use a writer's notebook. One of my favorite chapters is called Seed Ideas. The chapter talks about how the writer's notebook is a safe place to keep infant ideas. But eventually you may get struck by an idea and decide to grow the idea. You will go back and add to it. Work the idea in different way. Play with the idea. Then when you think you are ready you will take the idea out of your notebook and share it with the world. 

This is what the students have been working on this week. Finding the idea that they are most excited about in their writer's notebook. Working on growing that idea. Now we are going to get ready to share that idea by creating our first writing project of the year. One thing that may be helpful during this time is to help out at home with mining the writer's notebook for those little nuggets of gold. Sit down and look through the writer's notebook and talk about which ideas might make the best projects. These conversations will allow you to get to see all of this great writing and maybe help the decision of which idea would make the perfect first writing project.

Hope you are having a great week.