One of my teaching goals this year was to improve my writer’s workshop. Every year, I feel like I need to work harder at getting my students to write GOOD narratives. I started this school year with this huge goal for myself and I think things are working out pretty well so far!
A few months ago, I started teaching my kiddos about beginning, middle and end. Before that, most of my students were basically writing random sentences that didn’t really flow into good stories. I was happy to see how well most of my students were grasping this new concept. However, I had several writers who still struggled with understanding that the three parts of their story needed to create a sequence and form a meaningful story. In order to help these eager writers, I decided to break it down for them. By putting each part (beginning, middle, and end) on a different page, they seemed to better understand that each part had to have good substance in order to create a story that made sense. Also, by putting these pages together and making a “book”, my students were REALLY motivated to write and to create their very first book! They got it. I was happy. Life was good! HA!
So… I went home that day feeling quite motivated to create new flipbooks for my kiddos.
I created flipbooks for:
- Beginning, Middle, End
- Beginning, Middle, Middle, End
- First, Next, Then, Finally
- Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then
- Setting & Character
- Problem & Solution
- Setting, Characters, Problem, Solution
- Comparing Characters
- Comparing Settings
- Making Connections
- Writing Facts {1, 2}
- Writing Facts {1, 2, 3}
- Writing Facts {1, 2, 3, 4}
- Writing Facts {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
I also made a BUNCH of fun cover choices for my students to work on. They include themes that I teach during the year such as apples, snow, and ocean. I also made a bunch of covers for holidays such as Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and more.
How do I organize my writing flipbooks?
I use a binder! I love giving my students choices and I feel the best way is to display them in a center activity or a “work on writing” corner. My little writers can choose any flipbook they want from my binder, pair it with a cover, and write!
I use a binder! I love giving my students choices and I feel the best way is to display them in a center activity or a “work on writing” corner. My little writers can choose any flipbook they want from my binder, pair it with a cover, and write!
QUICK TIP: I staple the pages together so they know exactly which pages go with which book. It saves me a trip to their center while I’m working with a small group 😉
