Fishies Can’t Write ~ Writing with Class Mascots

 

Teaching our students to master writing mechanics has always been a big challenge for both of us. 

Most of them come to us barely able to compose a complete sentence. 

Most of them need to leave writing a complete paragraph.

 

We work hard all year to move mountains build their writing confidence, but sometimes it takes a little help from our friends…Our fishy friends.

 

We’ve always maintained a class aquarium for our students. Last week, our class was swimming with excitement when they arrived to school to discover a few new class mascots had joined us!

 

Here’s what our “fishies” left for them up on our Promethean Board…

 

We got them…

Hook, Line and Sinker

What our fishies delivered next was a bit of a surprise however…It’s all fun and games until somebody gets hurt has to learn. 🙂

 

They felt so sad for our fish, quickly took the bait and jumped right on the hook to help them learn to write. 

You know what they say? 

The ability to teach someone else what you’ve learned is the most powerful proof of knowledge. 

We believe the animal kingdom counts…Right?

 

First, we proofed the paragraph up on our Promethean board as a whole class. We chose skills that we commonly see as areas of need in their free writing. For example, using the word “da” instead of “the”…We cannot make these things up. 😉

 

Then, it was their turn. After editing and correcting their own paragraph, they rewrote and then colored their sentences “stoplight style” to show where our topic, details and conclusions were within the paragraph. We’ll be adding “red lights” soon in the form of “tell me more” sentences after each detail. 

 

We knew we were asking a lot, and we still need some practice, but they were so excited they could hardly stand it…And, that is our favorite! 

As they finished, we invited them to head over to our class aquarium and read their work to our fish; Hider, Creamsicle, Dash and Spot. It was the cutest thing ever. 

Plus, they were meeting a ton of standards without even knowing it.

And, that’s our favorite!

 

…Disclaimer…

We’re not telling you to dash out and set up a class aquarium…But, they are pretty awesome. 🙂

The point is…Get creative!

Use a class mascot to get your kids writing, teaching others and learning. It’s okay to have fun while learning. And, that’s our favorite! 

 

If you are looking for more great ideas, please hop over to…

 Alternatively, you  may visit the link-up below and choose a topic that interests you. 

Thanks for visiting!

 

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