Teaching The Author's Point Using Video Games (Plus a Giveaway)

As a literacy coach teaching persuasive reading and writing to elementary age students, I recently tried to find a topic that my students connected with and had an author’s point of view in which they might disagree.  Because let’s be honest, the ones on recycling and water are just…old.  I wanted fresh material.   

And any time teachers need fresh material, what do they do?  We steal, borrow, and take good ideas from real-life experiences - and sometimes our friends and colleagues. Well, I happened to have the real-life experience of strongly disagreeing with my teenager step-son on one particular point. (Most of us probably do with our teens)

You see, three years ago, I got a step-son who lives for fast internet and all-night playing of video games.  Since knowing Drew, I have slid in comments here and there about the negative effects of video games.  I assumed my comments would trigger his hormonal, irrational mind into thinking - Wow.  She is so smart.

This didn't happen.

But from conversations with Drew, I did realize that video games was a wonderful topic to engage my students.  And because I wanted to connect and relate to them, I decided to write a "letter" asking the principal to allow video games in school.  (You can find the letter here.)  I know!  You all thought I was going to go against it.  So did my students.

 At first, as I sat down to write my letter request and the reasons they should be in school, I literally thought “Nothing.  Nothing good comes from video games.”  

But I knew this wasn’t true.  Nor was that making an interesting letter.

So I fought to see it from Drew's perspective, and I was shocked with what I learned.  I not only discovered that kids could learn "soft skills" valued in the workplace, but I discovered how I could be a better parent to Drew and be a better teacher.

By putting myself in Drew’s (and my students’) shoes to make the point that video games should be allowed in school, I was pausing to consider what is important to them.  I looked for the things that they love about gaming that would also be considered a benefit to an adult.  

What I Learned

1. Video games challenge their brains. There is a lot of action going on in those games.  Gamers must think through decisions and problem solve.  They are trying to create, build, and conquer.  This takes problem-solving skills.  There are also other players moving in real time.  As the players are playing, they are being challenged to work as a team.
2. Video games engage children. Therefore, it cuts down on misbehavior in classrooms (and in homes).  Children & teens want to be engaged!  They want their brains to be focused and challenged.  When they are, they don’t think about snacks, water breaks, or how many students they can make laugh. Ever notice how in the middle of talking, a student will ask to go to the bathroom.  But the minute you hit play on a video, they no longer have to go?  Same thing.  Video games are engaging them because they’re focused on winning. 
3. Video games teach perseverance. They play.  They lose.  They play again.  The cycle continues as they get better and better and work towards winning.  It’s something we appreciate in athletes and mathletes.  We should appreciate it in gamers too.  This is literally the whole growth-mindset & grit theory that is trending now.  Students feel they are defeated for a millisecond when they lose, and then it’s back to another game to try again. 

How do these things make me a better teacher and/or parent?

The short answer is I realized the value of putting myself in my teen's shoes for a moment.  How often do we all need to pause in our own crusade and consider the perspective of the opposing argument?  This skill alone is something I want to teach all children to make a better world.

Specifically as a teacher, I reflected on the three things video games offer that captivate my students.  They want to be challenged.  They want to be engaged.  They want to persevere, get better, and win.

It’s my job as an educator to help facilitate these three things each day in the classroom. My instructional practices should include these things as much as possible.  Don't I want to be challenged, engaged, and grow myself?  I want to offer that to my students.

Misbehaving students aren’t always a result of my instruction, but when I have misbehaving students, I must stop and reflect.  Are the students engaged?  Are they feeling challenged, but not defeated?  Are they learning to persevere so they can win?

As a teacher and parent, I need to stop and reflect.  It’s so easy to think our kids are acting crazy/disrespectful/fill-in-the-blank and not see the situation from their perspective.

In the end, I wrote a letter "from Drew" with an author's point, reasons, and evidence that would convince a principal to allow video games.  (You can find the differentiated passages here.)  My students loved it so much, I then wrote one "from Mara" (my step-daughter), asking the principal not to allow video games in school!  These can be found here.

I truly believe RI 8 (Author's Point, Reasons, & Evidence) and W1 (Opinion writing) are two of the most important standards we can teach.  Persuasive skills, considering other people's point-of-view, and debating are skills they will use in almost every relationship, job, and stage in life.  We need to make sure we are equipping them for these life skills, and not just checking a box.

Teaching this standard made me a better teacher, and I hope it grows you as it grew me.

It also made me a better bonus mom. Truthfully, I may not ever fully get on "Team Video Games".  But I always want Drew to know I am on "Team Drew".

P.S. 
You can find my Author’s Point, Finding Logical Connections, and Differentiated Reading Passages & Activities “Video Games In School” at my TPT page.  The "No Video Games" will be FREE for the first week this is posted as a gift to the readers!

Follow me on TPT (Mrs. Wilson Wonders), Twitter @NatalieWilson43, Instagram @NatalieWilson2012, or at my own blog – Freshly Designed. 

Mentor Texts for Elementary Writing

Hi there! I'm here from K's Classroom Kreations today sharing a few of my favorite mentor texts for writing. I know many of us use read alouds and mentor texts for reading instruction, but they can be a fabulous way to inspire young writers too!

One of the first types of writing styles we commonly look at are narratives. Students LOVE telling stories that are important to them. Here are a few of my favorites:

When I Was Five by Arthur Howard is a cute story about what a child enjoyed when he was five, and what he enjoys now that he is slightly older. Students can easily connect to when they were five and share what was important to them. Making these text to self connections is important when first looking at the way an author presents himself. I like to have students follow the same sentence patterns as the book and write about when they were younger.

Any book by Patricia Polacco is really an ideal mentor text. The story Thunder Cake is great when looking at small moments and something that is so important to the character. After reading the whole story I like to focus in on the descriptive language, words that show sounds, and have students think about a time they were scared of something. What did they do to get through it? The book acts as a great launching point for conversations and writing.

In The Woods by Ermanno Cristini is a book that I have actually had since childhood. I love this wordless picture book for many reasons. I like to model how I can use the images to tell a story. This helps with the concept of words needing to match pictures. I then have students think about a time they they went into the woods. What did they see? I have also used this book when showing students how to start with images before writing. Draw a 4 scene box on a piece of blank paper. Students draw events from a small moment in order and can then use the drawings to help them while writing. A more updated wordless picture book that I love is Chalk by Bill Thomson.

Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin is such a cute book! I love showing students how this book is written from the point of view of a worm. The author does a great job of adding in speech bubbles/font choices, comedy, and perspective. We are reading this book next week as our mentor text in both reading and writing and I know my kids will get a kick out of it. I can't wait to see what they come up for their own writing based on this book. Another great book that shows an animal's (ants) point of view is Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg.

When teaching about how-to writing, I typically show my students recipes, game directions, and any other informational (and hopefully real life) example of directions. The book How to Take Your Grandmother to the Museum by Lois Wyse and Molly Rose Goldman is a funny little fictional story that puts a twist on traditional how to writing. Kids can use the book as inspiration about a time they helped someone. What did they do together? What order did everything happen in?

One of my all time favorite books for word choice is The Salamander Room by Anne Mazer. I absolutely love the descriptive language. I typically use this book in reading when introducing how we can visualize to help us understand a book better. I first read the book without showing them any of the pictures and allow them to draw their own vision. Then, we use it again with the mindset of writers and notice how the descriptive language really pulls us in. Again, students can start with a detailed illustration of a place that is special to them and learn how to use descriptive language to help their audience picture it as well. 

I don't know about your kids but many of mine always seem to "get stuck" when trying to come up with ideas to write about. I have written about ways to inspire and motivate writers before and feel that using mentor texts is just one more way to do this. 

One of my all-time favorite units in first grade is our Cinderella unit! I have literally dozens of different versions from the point of view of animals and people all over the world. Students become familiar with the plot line and learn to predict what may happen next. They can also use this knowledge to help write their own version. I help students map out how a story would flow from their characters point of view with a few questions in mind:

Who is the main character?

Who are the family members?

Where are they trying to go?

Who comes to save the day?

What does the happy ending look like?

A few years ago I had each child make their own book and bound it for them. Last year I wanted to integrate more technology. I had each child make their own book, but then also type their story into a word document. I edited the word documents and printed each out. Students added their best illustrations. I then photocopied all of the class stories back to front (1 page per child). Finally, I printed each set of class stories for every child in the classroom as an end of year gift. Although it did take a TON of ink, every child loved their book and I think it is something that their families can hang on to for years. Students were so creative with stories like Snake-arella, Unirella (unicorn), and Catarella (cats).

 The same could be done with any other series of books that you may have like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Three Little Pigs, or The Gingerbread Man (another favorite of mine/obsession!).

Another set of books to help generate ideas are by Harriet Ziefert. She has many wonderful titles but Cousins Are for Holiday Visits and Grandpas Are For Finding Worms are two that we enjoy. Students can then brainstorm any other ideas that the author "missed" when writing about the person and create their own versions of the book. They could also write about someone else that is important to them and list all of the reasons why.

When learning about opinion writing I like to use I Wanna New Room or I Wanna Iguana by Karen Kaufman Orloff. We look at the style of the book and how the author uses letters back and forth between characters as the way of telling the story. We also look at how the characters try to convince each other that their opinion is best. Students then try to convince me to do something in the classroom by either working independently or in teams, depending on the time of year. Some ideas have included "I Wanna Have Extra Recess" and "I Wanna Chew Gum".

I really enjoy fairy tales, and also fractured fairy tales. Little Red Writing by Melissa Sweet is a story about a pencil that is trying to tell about Little Red Riding Hood but keeps getting into trouble. The pages are filled with different sized words and fonts, words traveling all over the pages, speech bubbles, fun words for sounds, and tons of expression. Looking at all of the features in this book really helps students see that not all books look the same.

The What If series is so much fun! What If You Had Animal Teeth (or feet, hair, or ears) helps students focus on one topic and imagine how their life would be different. You can then have students write what it would be like if they did in fact have a certain animal's characteristics. Or, students could come up with their own What If you Had... story.

Lastly, when generating ideas, I love to use ABC books as inspiration. Students can easily brainstorm all of the details that go along with a topic. The ABC framework is also simple to use and can be done even in the beginning of the school year. Students could create a class book or individual student books based on abilities. 

I hope you have been inspired by your own library and can look at many of your favorite books through the eyes of a writer! What are some of your favorite books for mentor texts?

If you liked what you read I would love for you to connect with me through my own blog, Facebook page, Instagram, Pinterest, or Teacher’s Pay Teachers store. Thanks again for stopping by! 

Want to put a few of these books on your wish list for later? Pin here:

Responding to Text {Opinion Writing}

The students in my class have been working on opinion writing by responding to a given text (we listen to a story.) Here is a freebie and a lesson plan to use in your kindergarten or first grade classroom to help facilitate opinion writing.

The topic of this opinion writing lesson plan is seasons. Students listen to a story about four friends who disagree on their favorite season. 

After students listen to each reason, they sort the season cards. This will help students recall information from the story. Read the sentences for each of the seasons, or have the students read them to you. 

Let the students group into partners to discuss with one another what is their favorite season. Walk around the room and encourage/facilitate conversations among partners. 

Students are to write a response to the question "Which season do you think is best?" by citing examples from the text, as well as, adding their own opinions and details. 

I have added a sample rubric that is CCSS aligned to this pack to help first grade and kindergarten teachers assess their student's writing abilities. 

I hope you have enjoyed this fun and simple opinion writing freebie!

Helping Students Transition Back from Winter Break

You haven't had school in over 2 weeks so you've probably enjoyed binge watching tv, staying in your pajamas all day, and eating whatever/whenever you want (please tell me that's not just me). Getting back in the swing of school is going to be hard for you and your students, but here are a few tips to help make that transition a bit easier. 

1. Review the Rules/Expectations

Just like the 1st day of school, going over the rules after break is essential! Now is a good time to review all of the classroom rules and decide if you need any more in place. One year, I let my class come up with the rules. I know you probably think that's crazy! Well, check out this huge list they came up with. I even had to cut them off! By allowing them to create the rules, they take ownership of them. However you do your rules (student led, classroom, school wide, etc), make sure to go over them and make sure students remember the consequences of breaking the rules. 

 I personally think #10 is the BEST!!

 2. Review Procedures
Along the lines of reviewing the rules, discussing the classroom procedures is also vital. Discussing arrival/dismissal procedures, classroom jobs, bathroom/drink privileges, lunch procedures, fire/tornado drills, center time, etc. are all important things to go over. We can't assume that students will remember EVERYTHING from before break. All the hot chocolate and candy canes fog up their head for a bit. :)

3. Give Students a Break
You know how exhausted you are the first week after a break and you just can't wait for lunch, recess, and your prep so you can just sit and catch your breath, well your students are like that too. So ease them back into the long daily routine. Throw in some brain breaks like these quick cards you can put on a ring for quick access.

These Fluency & Fitness Slideshows are fun because they review skills and get in movement. 

4. Take Time to Review Old Skills

We cannot expect our students to just get back in the swing of things and start learning a new topic. Your first week back is a great time to do a quick review on the main skills you've taught already this school year. Students are going to need time to practice the skills and strategies they haven't used for the past few weeks. Winter break isn't as bad as when students come back from Summer vacation, but a refresher course is a good way to transition back into the first week. It will also save some of your sanity of planning over break, because you can just pull out old lessons and activities for this review week. 

5. Let Students Share About Their Break

Students have so much they want to share about with you and their friends when they get back to school. It's been about 2 weeks without their friends, so you know they're going to want to talk. When they arrive in the morning you can use these FREE Winter writing prompts to have students write about their break. Then you can gather around in a circle and let each student have a few minutes to share about their break. 

Hopefully your first week back after break will go smooth. It's always fun to see your students again, but don't be surprised if you get this look a few times. :)

Turkeys! Fact-Based Opinion Writing

During the week of Thanksgiving last year, my third graders did some opinion writing that was centered around the question: Should turkey be Thanksgiving's main dish?

When I posed the question to students, their feelings were surprisingly strong...

"Of course we should have turkey! We've eaten it every year in my family." Or, "Are you kidding me? Let's get rid of it! My dad always overcooks it. It's so dry and disgusting. I'd rather have pizza."

Needless to say, students could explain their opinion by pulling from their personal experiences.

But I knew we could do better.

I discussed with the class that when you are trying to build an argument to support an opinion, a carefully chosen FACT that is explained and connected to your opinion can make a big impact on your audience. 

But where to get the facts? Sure, we could launch into a bunch of research to find the perfect fact to support our opinion, but that's a whole other thing, isn't it? I really wanted to focus the activity on the writing, not research.

So that's why I had already prepared some turkey facts for them!

I had collected eight facts about turkeys, and put each one on a different card. After reading through the facts together, students cut apart their cards and worked together to sort them into categories: facts that supported YES, turkey should be the main dish; and facts that supported NO, turkey should not be the main dish.

When students shared how they sorted their facts, the differences were interesting. Sure, some facts strongly supported one opinion. For example, most students said the fact, "Turkey has more protein and less fat than other meats like chicken and beef," supports the opinion that turkey should be the main dish because it's a healthy option. But other facts, like, "An average size turkey takes about 4 hours to cook in an oven," could support either opinion. Some students said that it would be better to have a food that didn't take as long to cook, but other students said that cooking in the oven so long was a good thing: it gave families more time to visit together and it makes the turkey seem more important.

From my perspective, I just loved how students were thinking and analyzing each fact, independent of their personal opinion.

I then had students choose the facts they thought would help support their own opinion. I modeled how to effectively incorporate a fact into your argument, how you can't just throw it in and leave it up to your reader to interpret (we just found out that some facts can be interpreted differently). You needed to explain how the fact supports your opinion.

The last step was to write their opinion piece!

Afterward, I liked how the lesson went so much that I created a few more pieces to go with it, including:

• a preliminary "poll question" to hook students
• a poster of the turkey facts
• a poster of the focus question
• a planning organizer for the student writing
• an extension activity where students look at the focus question from different points-of-view.

It also includes a detailed lesson plan. If the full resource interests you, click the image below for more details.

Happy Thanksgiving! Stop by my blog, The Thinker Builder, anytime!

The "Do NOT Do This!" List for Writing Ideas

A few months ago I came across this image on Pinterest, and I completely misinterpreted its purpose:

Photo by Marshall Astor via www.byrdseed.com

It's actually a nice little article to teachers about feeling okay with not saying "yes" to every request. You can click on the image above if you'd rather read that.

But that's not what I thought the post was about. Looking at the image, I thought for sure the author had come up with a new "idea list" for students to generate, to use as a resource in their writing. I almost didn't click on it because I was so confident I'd figured it all out just from the image. 

And then I clicked on it, and found out I was wrong.

Oh well. It was a nice little article.

But I still liked my wrong idea.
So let's go with it.

The thinking behind my idea of the "Do NOT Do This!" list comes from my belief that one of the most integral qualities of a strong writer is the guts to be bold... to take a risk, take a stand, take a different path, carve a new path... to look at the act of writing as an ongoing experiment. Writers surely fail more often this way. But writers surely learn more this way. And here and there... a gem surfaces.

If you're like me, in the first few weeks of school, you help students set up different lists to brainstorm writing ideas, to load up a collection for when one is needed during the year. You've got the "I'm an expert at..." list, the "My hobbies" list, the "Happy memories" list, and of course the "Sad memories" list.

But the "Do NOT Do This!" list takes some guts. It produces writing a bit more... dangerous, more edgy. It flips some of the more common idea-generating-lists on their heads and gets students thinking differently.

The first column of the "Do NOT Do This!" list is for ideas inspired by personal experience. Students list things that you should NOT do. Tell students to think about bad decisions, injuries, close calls, accidents, betrayals, mistakes, unintentional consequences, and regrets. The innate tension within these experiences makes for a strong story.

Let me give you some examples of entries on my list:

• Do NOT throw Frisbees while cars are passing. 
• Do NOT eat a pickle before swimming.
• Do NOT come to a snake fight with only one golf club.
• Do NOT jump off a swing backwards.
• Do NOT let your puppy sleep with your favorite sweatshirt.
• Do NOT put an entire pouch of Big League Chew gum in your mouth.
• Do NOT tell an animal control officer that "you ain't scared" to wrestle a 3-foot alligator.
• Do NOT poke the hairball buried in your garden too harshly.
• Do NOT make a deal with Luke Doxhall. Ever.

Did your eyes widen at reading any of those ideas? Don't you want to know the story behind some of them? And would you believe that every one of them has a real, true experience behind them? Believe it.

The second column of the "Do NOT Do This!" list is for ideas purely from the imagination. These ideas tend to get a little wild, or silly, or even (gasp!) violent. 

Here are a few examples of the more fantastical side of the list:

• Do NOT leave a snack for the monster under your bed.
• Do NOT knock on the door of the haunted house.
• Do NOT let your little brother sneak onto your rocket ship.
• Do NOT play with a fire-breathing dragon. 
• Do NOT push the glowing purple button. Ever.

Admittedly, when I look at this column of a student's list, I often want to roll my eyes or sneer in disgust. But WAIT! Remember, this is brainstorming... bold brainstorming. Not every idea will be a hit. (I mean, do you really want to know what happened to the pickle?) But as students get more and more comfortable with what makes a story strong, one with conflict and emotions, they'll be better able to weed out, refine, and adapt their ideas.

Find more ideas for developing bold writers and deep readers at my blog, The Thinker Builder.
Pickles not included.