Spring into Writing

The birds are singing, the flowers are blooming, and hope is spreading all around us. Yes, it's spring!

This year, we needed the signs of new life that spring brings more than ever. 

Whether your students are in the classroom or joining you from home, consider all the ways you can bring fresh life into their daily learning experience. Perhaps you'll adopt a class bunny (for the courageous!), plant seeds, or go on a geometry treasure hunt in nature.

 Some of my favorite writing lessons came from taking students outside in the spring to observe and write about the growing flora and fauna.  One spring we fit all our writing standards into an insect unit. We wrote insect poetry, scientific journaling on the butterfly life cycle (watching pupas emerge in the classroom), creative writing inspired by Chris Van Allsburg's, Two Bad Ants, and of course our very own entomologist reports on each student's insect of choice.

Those of you already teaching with GLAD® strategies can imagine the plethora of strategy connections an insect unit holds. Narratives and Comparatives and Process Grids oh my! Learning Logs and Expert Groups and Found Poetry…. well, you get the picture! 

The newness of spring sparks creativity.

It's an opportune time to focus on writing.  This year, we want to ensure students not only have prompted writing experiences but extra time for unprompted writing, such as interactive journals or creative writing assignments. Unprompted writing will help students process and express what they've been experiencing this past year.  You'll see that emerge in their fantasy stories, biographical entries and letters to pen pals around the world.

To spark this avenue of expression, consider introducing your class to a variety of writing quotes.  Ask them which one is their favorite and why?  Which one sparks something in their hearts and why? What are the ways that writing changes our lives?

We're creating a connection and a love for writing as an extension of who we are and the story or message we each have to share. 

Here are some quotes to get you started

• “Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish.” – John Jakes 

• “I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” – Anne Frank

• “I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions.” – James A. Michener  

• “Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” – Louis L’Amour

• “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.” – Anne Lamott

• “You can make anything by writing.” – C.S. Lewis

• “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” – Toni Morrison

• “You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald

• “Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” – William Wadsworth

• “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” – Robert Frost

• “Write the kind of story you would like to read. People will give you all sorts of advice about writing, but if you are not writing something you like, no one else will like it either.” – Meg Cabot