Writing and Retelling

I have been working on getting kids to use "story book" language when they retell stories. I've also been trying to have them write stories and retellings in an order that makes sense. I have no real writing program and I think this may be hurting my teaching.

Today I did a cool activity that worked really well. First I wrote a beginning and ending of a story on the board. Then I wrote transitional words between the two sentences. The kids had to come up with a story in the middle that made the beginning and ending make sense. We did it as a whole and then they took another beginning and ending to do with a partner. I plan to do this a lot to see if they improve. We shared and they talked about how different each one turned out and how much they could have added. It's great when something works out better than you had planned. I took a picture of the board.

I found this idea from an old book that I think someone got from a workshop years ago and left in my classroom. The cover is ripped off.

Anyway, I gave them these lines....

This is a story about Bernie the Bear.

First,

Next,

Then,

Also,

Bernie got all the honey he could ever want.

Try it out and tell me what went well, what didn't, how you tweaked it.

Also, PLEASE tell me what you like about your writing program and if there is something I might be able to use to improve their writing. Our district has disgraceful writing scores all around. I must figure out how to help my kids. Thanks!