Bright Ideas: Writing Celebrations

Hello, Friends!

Today, I am linking up with some of my favorite bloggers to show you a bright idea from my classroom.

Today's focus is all about writing and how my class celebrates at the end of each unit.  Writing seems to be one of those subjects that teachers and students either love or hate.  I love writing, but teaching it is always a struggle.  My students know that at the end of each unit, they will be sharing their favorite published piece.  That seems to help a little.  They know that their friends will be reading their writing.  My 3rd graders want everyone to think that their writing is the best.

So, how does a writing celebration look in my classroom?

First, we sit in a circle on the carpet and share our topics and our favorite sentence.  Then, my students place their published writing at their table.  They walk around and read everyone's writing.  During this time, I pass out snacks.  They love walking around and reading everyone's writing.  Having a snack seems to be enjoyable as well. ;-)

At the end, we gather back on the carpet.  Students share what they liked about each other's writing during this time.  Such a great way to feed confidence in my little writers.  

At our first writing celebration, we talk about how to give good compliments.  We also talk about how everyone writes differently just as every real author writes different as well.

So, that's it.  Simple, easy, and a a great way to motivate writers to do their best work. 

If you enjoyed this bright idea, make sure you are following me on Facebook and TpT for lots more fun and bright ideas.

For more bright ideas from a variety of other bloggers, please browse through the link-up

below and choose a topic/grade level that interests you. Thanks for visiting! 

An InLinkz Link-up

Lots of love,

Five for Friday

Happy Friday, Friends!

Today, I am linking up with Doodle Bugs to share some of the things I've been up to this week.

My baby turned 3 on Monday.  How do I have a 3 year old and why does time seem to fly so fast the older I get? 

I learned in September that I was being paired with a 4K teacher at my school for our Classroom Buddies.  To be honest, I was a little terrified.  They are so little...what could we possibly do together?  Well, I'm so glad that we were paired together.  My students have LOVED helping the little ones and having fun together.  Below the 4K buddy picked out a picture book for my 3rd graders to read to them.  LOVE! 

Yes, this picture is blurry but their smiles are not.  We learned about all of the different battles fought in South Carolina during the American Revolution this week.  Below these are my Patriots throwing paper balls at my Loyalists.  They LOVED it.  So much fun! 

Yay for an optional teacher workday!  I woke up husband up at 6:30.  Went back to sleep and Brayden woke me up around 8.  Yay for sleeping in!  I'm enjoying spending the whole day with my munchkin'.

I am almost 35 weeks pregnant and my baby has already dropped.  I never dropped with my first time, so this worries me just a little.  My C-Section is scheduled for February 16th, but I really think he's gonna be here before then.  Better get to getting all of my ducks in a row. We aren't quite ready for Gavin to enter the world yet.  I can't wait to meet him, but need a few more weeks to get everything together! 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday! 

Lots of love,