My Teaching Ideas

“Sensing Fall”

To get your second grade students in the spirit for the season of fall/autumn, the following writing activity and craft usually is a lot of fun and it turns out really nice too! It’s definitely a colorful fall hallway display or bulletin board activity idea.

Begin the lesson by reading the following book to the class:

It’s Fall (Celebrate the Seasons)

After reading the book, make a list of the following senses on chart paper: see, hear, smell, touch, and taste.

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Creative writing, whether written in a Writer’s Workshop style, in a journal, or in a basic writing assignment is a crucial part of the day for any second grade child. Whether this child is an emerging writer, becoming a more productive writer, or an established writer, including creative and interesting writing topics into your curriculum is very important and it can be SO much fun!

So many creative writing lessons can stem directly from a read-aloud.

1. Have your students become the character or another character in a story and tell a new point of view.
2. Let the children rewrite a new ending to the story that you just read.
3. Instruct the children to change the story into a play, write the play in groups, make puppets, and act out their play for the rest of the class. Visit www.janbrett.com for some great materials to use with her books!
4. Only read half of a book and let them write what they think will follow.
5. Put “Imagine if….”with just about anything! (Imagine if _____happened to you, imagine if the character did something different, imagine if it took place somewhere else, etc.)

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Writer’s Workshop for Primary or Elementary Students

Writers Workshop was something new that I implemented into my classroom this past year. I was sent to a workshop myself, in order to learn how to teach it. It was an extensive training, and I still do not feel that I am doing it exactly the way it was taught, but just as with everything else I do in the classroom, I tend to do it my own way! Doing it every single day was difficult at first, as it is definitely something the children have to learn how to do themselves, so we all learned it together at the same time! I have picked up a few books and tips that are extremely helpful in putting together lots of Writer’s Workshop activities. Here’s a brief synopsis of how I did Writer’s Workshop and tips for setting it up in the classroom!

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