January-Who is the Expert?

     So as my fourth graders and I embarked on this journey of writing essays, I was again reminded that I do not have to be the only expert in the room.  I began January with a change in the homework. Instead of asking students to practice their spelling words, I asked them to practice writing at home for three weeks.  On week one, they had to make a plan for a persuasive essay.  After receiving feedback from me, week two's task was to create a first draft using that plan and incorporating that feedback. Again, they received feedback, and were asked to create a final draft on the third week. I was so impressed by the level of enthusiasm with which both students and parents approached this task!

     My new learning came on week one when a student approached me and asked if he could use the Tree Map on the Inspired Writing Website to plan his writing.  Even with all of the new learning that I have had this year, how could I have forgotten one of the most valuable tools for pre-writing?  While not all of my students have access to the Internet or a even a computer, many of them do and many of my most reluctant writers are so encouraged by the freedom to use technology.  Just simply taking the need for drawing that Tree Map off of the list of things to do for a reluctant writer, was like removing a huge obstacle.  Now my students use the Thinking Maps from the website all of the time to plan their writing!