There’s never a dull day in first grade. Day one started out with a massive nose bleed from one of our sweethearts, and we still don’t know where it came from or why. Then, within the first seven days of school, we’ve encountered a zipper from a hoodie getting stuck between the gap in a first grader’s tooth that had to be “drilled” out, so to speak, by the dentist, and we’ve also had one child bite another on the playground. It just goes to show that no matter how much of a “big girl” or “big boy” you are, there are still things to learn and improve upon.
Academically, the children have learned about handwriting and how their letters start at the top. They also learned many wonderful songs including the “Hello Song” and “I Can Read Colors,” reviewed sight words, and their numbers for math. But my absolute favorite part of first grade academically is the writing workshop! My oldest son was in this very same class a couple of years ago, and I am very proud now to say that my youngest is too. Kudos go to the lead teacher of first grade as writing workshop takes a lot of work, but the benefits for the students are numerous. It improves their ability to work independently, to be creative, to learn how to spell, and to even grammar and content check their work, and last but certainly not least, to illustrate, putting the pictures together with the exact actions happening on each page, and it’s all down at a first grade level and perspective. I started out as a parent volunteer in this class during writing workshop in the 2008-2009 school year, and last year and so far this year, I have been lucky enough to continue to help as a specialty teacher here at the elementary school.
Obviously, writing is one of my passions, but I wish we could have a writing workshop at some level in every grade as I believe the magic of being able to communicate effectively through the written word works wonders in the world and in the lives of those who love to write and read. Being a part time college level English professor for many years, both in the classroom and online, I am amazed at how many adults still struggle with English, especially writing. I always require journal writing in my classes, and that’s because if you can get students writing when they don’t have to worry about grammar, spelling, etc..., then you can bring up their comfort level and reveal to them how great writing out your thoughts and feelings can be. I have never had a complaint about the journal writing assignments in my over 12+ years of teaching English. Of course, some students allow themselves to dive into it and enjoy it more than others, but I still have more positive comments from the students than anything else. It’s the same with the first graders; some write line after line after line until they are writing so small on the very bottom edge of the book page that we have to redirect them to move some of their ideas on to the next page; whereas, others can barely get one sentence down before they are done and moving on, but they are all learning and increasing their skills.
What’s so fun as a teacher of writing is that you get to know the students so well, and their personalities shine through in the stories they tell and the way they tell them. Right now, the children are writing about something they did during summer vacation. They have four pages with several lines at the bottom and room for a colorful, descriptive illustration at the top of each page. They start with an idea page that has one picture and one sentence, then move on to the 4 page booklet. It’s a great introduction to the art of writing, and I still have all of my oldest son’s books from his year in first grade. He wrote about the trip we took to the states, about superheroes, and about how the zebra got his stripes, which is part of the how and why story series they complete later in the year.
For me, it’s kind of like this blog. Writing gives me a place to let out all my ideas, creative or not, and attempt to put them into short vignettes or journals and share them with others. And after I’m done writing, I feel that I’ve really accomplished something, recorded a part of my life that’s gone, and I’ll never live again, and that’s what the kids in first grade do, preserve and share a part of their life, their experiences, their thought processes and imagination at an age that is very unique and will never be experienced again. I think it’s a beautiful thing, and it’s also a great way to teach and impart learning about writing, communicating, and so many other things. So, I say, “Write on, FIRST GRADE! WRITE ON!”
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