In this closing clip, Nicole shares some of her writing that she experimented with during writing workshop today. She used a mentor text to try out some new writing strategies.
This clip is a nice ending to the writing workshop today, because Nicole used My Mama Had A Dancin' Heart by Libba Moore Gray as a mentor text. She tried some of the author's writing techniques including word reversal and experimentation with alliteration. This provided a great chance to tie the lesson all together. If at all possible, the closure should provide some sort of connection back to the mini-lesson so that the students are getting the message both at the beginning and the end.
| STUDENT: | Traveling people. She'd go place to place every season. |
| TEACHER: | Hold on. Just at the wrong time. |
| STUDENT: | She'd go place to place on every season. She'd squish and smash her toes in the sea - seashell, salty, splashy, beach in the bright summer sun. She'd run through golden, fallen shaped leaves in the tree blowing autumn. She'd wiggle and squirm in the icy cold white snow in the snowman winter. She'd slide down the muddy, dirty, brown mud in the rainy spring. She'd go place to place from - she'd go place from place every season. |
| [Applause] | |
| TEACHER: | A compliment, Nina? |
| STUDENT: | I like how you used the technique from the book that we just read today, from Nancy Card. I like how you put a sentence at the beginning at then used it at the end too. |
| STUDENT: | And then Mr. White talked to me and he said, what was the significance? So I tried to make a list of the significance. I thought of something, but I'm finished with it. |
| TEACHER: | Good. And did you guys hear this one? Read that one phrase - read this one again and I want you to listen this time to this. I want you to listen to what you hear when she reads this. |
| STUDENT: | She'll squish and smash her toes in the seashell salty, splashy beach in the bright summer sun. |
| TEACHER: | What did you hear when she was reading that? Did you hear anything? What did you hear? Think about it. Read it one more time. |
| STUDENT: | She'll - she'd squish and smash her toes in the seashell salty, splashy beach in the bright summer sun. |
| TEACHER: | What did you hear? Aria? |
| STUDENT: | I heard the ocean and shells beneath her feet. |
| TEACHER: | So you could hear it. How did she do that? How did she get you to hear it? |
| STUDENT: | She used a lot of expression and she also put in the sound effects. |
| TEACHER: | Yeah, what were the sound effects? Squish, squash. Anybody hear anything else? |
| TEACHER: | Did you hear something else [unclear]? |
| STUDENT: | Can you read part of it again? |
| STUDENT: | She'd squish and smash her toes in the seashell, salty splashy beach in the bright summer sun. |
| TEACHER: | So you could really picture it? And could hear it? She used a really interesting technique with the same sound over and over. What sound did you keep hearing? |
| TEACHER: | Yeah, ss and shh. Do you remember what that's called, the same sound over and over in words? |
| TEACHER: | It's a writing technique that a lot of writers use. Libba Moore Gray used it. |
| STUDENT: | Onomatopoeia? |
| TEACHER: | Nope not onomatopaeia. Remember alit - |
| STUDENT: | Alliteration. |
| TEACHER: | Alliteration. She used alliteration and she got the sound across and drew a picture in your mind. So, excellent. She used that idea from Libba Moore Gray. All right, nice job. Let's give her a hand. |
| [Applause] |