Finally... Mentor Text Linky & a New Linky!

Well, Courtney and I have been busy bees the past couple of weeks--getting our rooms ready and having our first full week of school... Needless to say, we have not been around the blogging world for some time. :0(  

Mentor Text Linky

We are so glad to be able to link up with Collaboration Cuties once again for their wonderful Must Read Mentor Text Linky! 

This week's topic is social studies mentor texts, so we are sharing a character ed text that we both used this week, My Mouth is a Volcano by Julia Cook.  This may have been shared a previous week--if so, this is a reminder of a "must read".

 

Synopsis:  Louis has a problem. His words slide down from his head, wiggle, jiggle, and his tongue pushes them against his teeth and he erupts! His words are so important that he erupts when other people are talking.  The worst part is that he does not even realize what he is doing and blames it on his volcano.  Louis learns a valuable lesson when other people erupt--right when he is having his important time... 

This picture book is a perfect read aloud for the first week of school, especially if you have already noticed eruptions in your own classroom.  While it is a funny story, the kids really do get the gist of how Louis' experiences apply to them.  Louis' mom teaches him a great strategy to help him save his important words for a time when he is not interrupting.  Students can practice this strategy after reading the text, and the strategy becomes a great reference for students throughout the year.  I remind my students, "Push those words out your nose and breathe them back in when I (or whoever is talking) have finished."  

Fly on over to Teachers Notebook to grab some great discussion/writing questions to go along with the text, AND visit Julia's website!

NEW LINKY: Traits Tuesday!

Courtney and I just had the wonderful opportunity of attending a summer literacy institute where Ruth Culhum and Gay Su Pinnell spoke and led breakout sessions!  We were searching Ruth's website last year to see if she would be presenting anywhere near us this summer, and we were pleasantly surprised to find out that she was a keynote speaker and session leader at the institute.  Her speech and session were inspiring, as she shared her love for picture books and using them to teach kids about the different traits of writing.  She also shared how the traits coincide with the Common Core Standards for Writing. 

As we begin our school year, we thought we would try sponsoring our VERY FIRST linky, Traits Tuesday.  We are starting this linky as a means of learning through the sharing of ideas, resources, and experiences among fellow teachers. We would love to hear how you teach your students the traits of good writing!

Traits Tuesday will start this coming Tuesday! We have included a topic guide for next week's and September's posts below...

Week of August 27 - How do you start your year with the traits? How do you begin talking about the traits with your students? What trait/s do you start with at your grade level? Do you have a favorite beginning of the year lesson/writing to introduce a trait?

We look forward to learning from all of you! Please come join us next Tuesday, August 27 for Traits Tuesday!

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All the best for a wonderful week, and we hope to see you back here on Tuesday!