"Raise your hand if you are afraid of the FCAT writing test?" I told the fourth graders. The majority of the students raised their hand. "Okay then you must be afraid of yourselves."
The students furrowed their brows and seemed quite befuddled. So I continued to explain my thinking. "You see, writing is nothing more than your thoughts written down on paper. So here is what you have to do. Read the prompt carefully, think about what you want to say (on paper), plan, and organize your thoughts . . . and by all means, be specific. But, please don't be afraid of the FCAT writing test. It's merely you being afraid of yourself."
One child said, "Oh, I get it. If I'm afraid of the FCAT writing test, then that means I do not have confidence in myself. Bingo!
Today I taught writing to a fourth and third grade class about "The storm was bad." The children brainstormed storm words. Clouds. Thunder. Lightning and wind and the wet stuff.
"What? What wet stuff?"
Other children raised their hands and agreed rain was the needed word. They then brainstormed sights, sounds, colors, feelings and touch words under the main storm categories. A few zingers were placed in a pig pen to the right of the categories. One child said, "Evaporation."
"Stop! This is not a science lesson. Focus on the storm!"
I was very pleased with the children's responses.
Then the fun part came. The children made a human thunderstorm. Half of the students formed a line in the front of the class. The other half of the class layed their heads down on their desks, eyes closed.
"Listen carefully," I instructed, "Keep your eyes on me at all times. Do what I do and keep doing it until my eyes meet yours again." The children made wind by rubbing their hands together, sprinkles by snapping their fingers, harder rain by slapping their legs; and finally, thunder by slapping their legs and stomping at the same time. And then the storm dissipated by reversing the actions back down to a wind.
I enjoyed volunteering today; but, I suppose the best part was when one child said, "I'm not afraid of the FCAT writing test anymore!"
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