Dynamic Literacy
Writing Projects
Writing was an intensive part of our everyday life at Cherries School. While applying our phonics skills from Fundations Curriculum, we practiced the process of drafting and editing our work. Using the Feelings Matrix and descriptive vocabulary from read-alouds, students at Cherries School became confident authors.
Some of our favorite writing projects included:
Weekly Journaling:
Students kept journals with optional weekly prompts about their lives. Utilizing the Feelings Matrix, we wrote about our experiences of the week and our hopes for next week.
Entries also included: letters to ourselves in 10 years, thoughts on invisibility, a secret language, and The Hobbit fan fiction.
Cluny’s Revenge:
Inspired by our read-aloud of the Redwall series by Brian Jacques, students worked together to write a sequel. Working as a group to map the story, students drafted a plot filled with twists and turns, developed characters, and story details.
During our project time, students used a cardboard box to make a diorama of their story with handcrafted props. Then, we used their diorama to retell and clarify their original story.
Persuasive Writing:
A student favorite writing project was persuasive letters to their parents. Students chose a topic and created a truly persuasive argument for a realistic ask. While Z didn’t end up getting more take-out, R was able to grow a mane of new hair.
Parents reported an increase in persuasive language, a happy change to whining.
Kiki and the Mysterious Maze:
Z and A worked together on the writing process for a mystery book. Their first step was to independently write the first draft. They traded pages and created a second draft with spelling edits.
Finally, students and I worked together over three weeks to edit their story for voice, character description, language, and grammar. Expanding their book into a truly fantastic read (as you can see by the blurb). Parents and grandparents were thrilled to hear the story read aloud at our Spring Showcase.
Reading Curriculum Plus
I began the year by collecting Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills 6 (DIBELS) data on all students. Finding a great diversity of skills, I split the children into four reading groups, each beginning with different sections of Lvl K, 1, and 3 in the Wilson Fundations reading program.
But reading didn’t stop there! Students expanded the curriculum in library time, guided reading, posters, teaching younger students, and even when a tornado hit the room and our Fundations reading materials needed to be reorganized.
All students grew their reading percentiles according to EOY DIBELS scores. During the midyear screener, one student was identified as Strategic. Following up with his parents, the student began the evaluating process for a reading-based learning disability.
